Na Píobairí Uilleann

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An Píobaire

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7 4 27 20110920 27 ~ AS OTHERS SEE US ~ IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, Louis the Fourteenth of France, casting about for new amusements for his favourites, res- cued the bagpipe, or, as the French called it, the ‘cornemuse’, from its low surroundings, and introduced it into his Arcadian festivities. We may picture a dignified Marquis and Mar- quise, as Watteau has painted them, in the fan- tastic garb of shepherds and shepherdesses, frolicking to the music of the bagpipes, in the forest glades of Versailles or Fontainebleu. The great bagpipe of the Highlands is inspir- iting in war, and was first used in battle in the early part of the fifteenth century. Up to that date, warriors depended for their inspiration on the war-songs of the Bards, but doubtless the piercing tones of the bagpipes carried further, and were more thrilling. One of the amusements of a Scotch tour nowa- days is to watch the pipers playing and dancing on the quays where the steamers touch. Their gay tartan attire and quaint instruments, with their gaudy bags and fringes, make a bright note of colour, and, judging by the money col- lected, bagpiping must be a fairly profitable employment. The Irish bagpipe is a much more complete in- strument than the Scotch, although it is steadily dying out. In the latter, only one of the pipes has notes. This one is termed the ‘Chanter’, the other pipes (known as ‘Drones’) having only one fixed sound, and causing the curious droning sound which accompanies the melody, whether lament or merry dance, played on the ‘chanter’. In the Irish form, the drone-pipes also have notes, ensuring much more variety; in- deed, this instrument is capable, in good hands, of great sweetness and delicacy of tone. It is blown by bellows instead of the mouth, which probably prevents jerki- ness and makes the sound steadier. O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us, An’ foolish notion: What airs in dress an’ gait wad lea’e us, An’ e’en devotion! (From: Robert Burns – “To a Louse, on seeing one on a Lady’s Bonnet at Church”) Old Irish Bagpipe The excerpt and illustration above are taken from the periodical Chatterbox (The American News Co., 1906)

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2011-09-22T00:00:00

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