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Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 12, Page 4

Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 12, Page 4
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Píobaire, An
volume Number
2
issue Content
FROM THE ARCHIVERakish Paddy Johnny DamnJohnny Doran was always a welcomevisitor to John Kellys shop in Capel Street,Dublin whore when the usual lutationswere over, he was taken upslahs 10 the livingquarters and Mrs Kelly immediately put downthe kettle and cut the homemade broad towhich Johnny was partiaL While preparationsfox the meal were underway Johnny had thepipes strapped on and was playing away max abheadh Via dha ra leis. One Monday eveninglate in 1947 Johnny came on one such visitand his manner and the way he kept puttinghis hand to his chest as if he were sufferingfrom some pain or discomfort made JohnKelly uneasy. I was suddenly struck by apremonition of some disastr, seys John,and excusing myself I left the room, hurriedto a phone and rang the Folklore Commis-sion on the off-chance that, although longafter offIce hours, I might get CaoimhinDanagber there. I was in luck, I mentionedmy fears and Danagher replied Bring himright over now. John Kelly and JohnnyDoran with Andy and Mick Conroy, walk-ed across the city to the Commission, then at82 Stephens Green and so were made theonly recordings ever of Doran. He playedaway, running from one tune into another, allthe while staring al the revolving turntable.He was so pleased with his experience andwelcome that he said to John Kelly he wouldplay any time for that man, whereupon afurther session was arranged for the Wednes-day, On the following Friday morning Johnnywas lacing his shoes, stooping down with onefoot on a stool in l ii , caravan which was beat-A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BAGPIPE MUSIC RODERICK I). CANNON(John Donald Pub.) U.K. price 15.00.In die preface of this work Dr. Cannon declares his aim to be to identify midlocate all the music printed for each type of bawipe played In the British Isles, todistinguish the various editions of each book, to ascertain dates and authorship, andto collect together any background lnfonnatlon which might be of Interest either toplayers or to music historians.At the outset I must say that as myknowledge of the subject is confined tothe union pipes It is only the sections ofthe book referring to those pipes thatI can fairly review.It must be said that the author has toa great extent succeeded In his intention.WIth the exception of some modemexamples, to which I will return later,he has recorded every published workS on waste ground near Back Lane in Corn-market, when a wall nearby collapsed,toppled onto the roof of the caravan andsmashed down on Johnny. He was paralysedfrom the waist down and sustained otherinjuries which proved fataL He died in theCounty Home In AIhy, Co. Kildare.Rakish Paddy occurs in two selections ofreels played on that occasion. The notationgiven here Is from the first, when he playedThe Bunch of Keys, then Rakish Paddy andwent in again to the Bunch of Keys. The high-light in this display ofvirtuoslty is the mannerin which Johnny Doran floated the long Cnaturals which characterise this reel.mwsk OWA OV 4...Breandan Dreathnac1containing music for the union pipes,or perhaps it would be safer to say thathe has not discovered anything that wasnot previously known to members ofNa Plobairi Uilleann. Between bibliog-raphy proper (18) and an addendum(4):twenty-two publications aro listed,not counting variants. This is a surpris-ingly large body of material and onemust be grateful to have been presentedin this book with such a valuable toolfor the study of the instrument and itsmusic. Each entry in the listing consistsof a detailed, page-by-page description of the item concerned. Also, whenevera reprinting of a work has involved anychange whatsoever the author hasconsidered it a new edition and hasaccordingjy alotted it an individualsub-listing. So meticulously detailed arethe entries that even marginally differenteditions of the same work may bedistinguished, especially important inthe case of incomplete or damagedcopies.Some interesting facts emerge fromD x. Cannons research. Although theScottish and the Northumbrian pipeswere in use earlier than the union pipes,it Was for the latter instrument that atutor and printed music first appeared,in around 1745, with the publication inLondon of a tutor for the pastoral ornew bagpipe. The first Scottish andNorthumbrian printed music appearedin 1803 and 1805 respectIvely. The firsttutor and music having appeared inLondon, new works continued to bepublished there and In Scotland at Inter-vals regular enough to indicate asustained interest in the instrument InBritain, an interest which, to judge froththe printed record, appears to havelasted about a century, dying out onlyaround 1850.After the appearance of the firstbook in around 1745 the market wascept fairly regularly supplied with newor updated works, but after 1821 anastonishing hiatus appears in the record.ct lI. 0 * #- .e. t...4 ...Johnny Dora ,, (right) wkh Pat Cash and son. NFVJ Is Indebted to John Mccaffrey Dablin, foppermission to use this photo which he took at the Green Lanes, Terenure, at 0,rfrtn,as 1941.
issue Number
12
page Number
4
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
1982-02-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 12

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