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Píobaire, An, Volume 1, Issue 24, Page 2

Píobaire, An, Volume 1, Issue 24, Page 2
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Píobaire, An
volume Number
1
issue Content
_____________________________________________________________________________ - -(149)bLMARD XEATING HYLAND, THE TiPPERARY PIPER .Fdward ilyland was born at Cahir, in 1780. His mother was oneof the Keatings of Tubrid, that family which gave to Irelandthe priest, poet, patriot, and historian, Geoffrey Keating.At an early age Hyland evinced considerable talent, but justas Iris friends had arranged that he should study for the Churchhe was attacked it that prevaccination period by small pox,through which he lo5t his sight at the aae of fifteen.. Inthose penal days the bagpipe was one of the remaining joys ofthe Irish peasantry, and the ring of the pipers tune in theGlen of a summers night, was the poor peasants almost onlyrecreative solace. The piper was always sure of a living anda kind reception among all classes in town and country; andwhen blindness deprived youIig Hyland of any other means oflivelihood, he took to playing the bagpipes. The lessonslocally received did not satisfy the young musician, and hetherefore travelled through the dountry to improve himself,and finally took up his abode at Dublin. Sir John Stevensonheard him play, and greatly adniired his performance, butnoticed in it a want of technical and theoretical skill. Therebeing then a great desire to transmit the melodies of thecountry in a pure form to posterity, Edward HylaPd, was madethe medium, and obtained distinguished patronage. He receivedlessons in melody and harmony from Sir John Stevenson, and wastaught variation as a separate musical form. The result wasthat some years later, although capab]e of the highest executionupon his instrument, it was as if the art pf singing had beenapplied to the bagpipes when Hyland played such airs as TheCoulin, Last Rose of Summer, or 0 Blame not the Bard,When George l v. visited Dublin in 1821, this blind exponent ofthe Irish national instrument was presented to the King, whowas so pleased with his performance that he ordered the minstrelto be supplied with a new instrument of the first quality. Inthis way he became the recipient of a set of Union pipes (oneinstrument) which cost fifty guineas, with a purse containingfifty guineas from his Dublin friends and admirers. The unionof the drone and chanter, the chromatic scale, and other in provements in the new pipes, gave new powers to the performer,and opportunities of employing the various suspensions andchords of the dominant seventh and ninth. Personally he wasconsidered a pious, gentlemanly, and patriotic man. His con-ceptions were very keen. When after twenty years absence hereturned to his native town, to attend his mothers funeral,it happened that considerable difference of opinion as to thesite in the Square of a spr ing well, lgn since covered up, onwhich it was intended to erect a pump. The blind man markedthe place with his stick, and it w s found to be correct. Heappeared to have no trouble in telling the time by his watch,and when any of his friends visited him in Dublin, he shewedthem over all the objects of intere t in the city. His des-criptive scene The Fox Chase, was prompted by the verses ofa contei porary Iiarby Ryan the imitative, but gifted poetof Bansha. This piece, with the hounds in full cry, and othersporting imitations accompanying the tune, would make a respect-able adjunct to the programme music of the present day. It issaid that Gandsey, Lord Headleys piper, another dark man,was entranced when he heard The Fox Chase. He not only madethe nearest approval to the composers performance, but addedsome interesting effects of his own. It is to be feared thatthe music of this characteristic piece is lost to the presentgeneration. Hyland died at Dublin in 1845.Extract from, Cork Examiner, October, 1889 ..
issue Number
24
page Number
2
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
1975-10-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Píobaire, An, Volume 1, Issue 24

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