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Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 36, Page 6

Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 36, Page 6
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Píobaire, An
volume Number
2
issue Content
BAGPIPE MUSEUM Neweastle-upon-TyneSome observations by3oe CraneIf, in the near future, youare in the North of Englandyou could do worse thancall into the BagpipeMuseum in the Blackgate ofNewcastle-(Jpon-Tyne. It isthe only one of its kind inthe world as yet, but itmay not, unfortunately sur-vive much longer due tothe Society of Antiquariesand the Local Governmentbeing unable to agree tothe funding required tokeep this unique collectionon display. Although mainlydedicated to Northumbrianpipes, there are a greatmany other kinds of pipesand memorabilia connectedwith bagpipes of all kinds,over 00 sets in all.The Museum is situateddirectly over the famedHigh Level Bridge, cele-brated in the Hornpipe ofthe same name composedby Dundee Fiddler 3amesHill who spent his workinglife in Gateshead, south ofthe river Tyne in the lastcentury and of whom weknow very little apart fromhis compositions, namedafter local race horses andpublic houses such as TheBees Wing, The Hawk,The Wonder etc. TheCastle which gave its nameto the city was built 800ayears ago and is an excel-lent example of Normanarchitecture, much rebuiltbecause of a lifetime ofaction and skirmish. TheBlack Gate to the Northpart of the Castle housesthe museum on the secondfloor. It was housed hereafter the death of the re-clusive W.A. Cocks (1892-971 of Ryton-on-Tyne whocollected pipes and contri-buted the bulk of the col-lection. Part of the displayshows a large section ofNorthumbrian Small pipesof various shapes, sizes,keys, and notoriety.One of the sets is madeentirely in Brass for thepurpose of going to war,(however impractical) - thewar being the AmericanWar of Independence - ironicwhen George Washingtonsancestors come from onlysix miles down the road.Most of the great pipemakers work is included,notably Robert Reid, anumbrella maker of NorthShields, who made sets inivory and silver that are asmuch sought after for theirtone as their intrinsic value.Robert Reid also madeUilleann Pipes and it isinteresting that there werea number of makers andplayers of the Uilleannpipes extant in the NorthEast of England during thelast century including musichal l acts featuring theunion pipes. One cornerof the room is dedicated tothe hybrid pipes played inthe North East of England,the Borders and LowlandScotland. They have screw-in extentions to the chanterand single baritone regula-tors, and are of course,bellows blown.Along with reed makingimplements, reeds in var-bus stages of construction,rearners and woods, thereare cases of documents,tune books, and moreexotic pipes from India,Italy etc. There is a sec-tion consisting of HighlandPipes and another with setsof Uilleann pipes - onebeing the Harrington setmentioned in recent articlesby Sean Donnelly and GeoffWoof f.There are records, cas-settes, booklets and post-cards on sale, mainly ofNorthumbrian pipers andpiping, as well as the cur-rent tune books and con-struction manuals.Although the emphasisof the museum is on theNorthumbrian Pipes asmight be imagined in theheartlands of the instru-ment, the museum is ofinterest to all pipers andpipe-makers.a6
issue Number
36
page Number
6
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
1987-07-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 36

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