English bagpipes
Encyclopedia
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
played in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Of these, the only continuous tradition is that of the Northumbrian smallpipes
Northumbrian smallpipes
The Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows-blown bagpipes from the North East of England.In a survey of the bagpipes in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University, the organologist Anthony Baines wrote: It is perhaps the most civilized of the bagpipes, making no attempt to go farther than the...
, which are used in the northeastern
North East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
county of Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
.
Although bagpipes had formerly been used in other parts of England dating back at least to the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, all but the Northumbrian smallpipes died out. Their reconstruction is a contested issue, as several distinct types of "extinct" bagpipes have been claimed and "reconstructed" based upon iconography or textual clues from English historical sources, though in all cases no undisputed physical examples remain.
Bagpipes are mentioned in English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
as early as The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at...
by Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
, written between the 1380s and 1390s. Writing in the Prologue
General Prologue
The General Prologue is the assumed title of the series of portraits that precedes The Canterbury Tales. It was the work of 14th century English writer and courtier Geoffrey Chaucer.-Synopsis:...
about the Miller
The Miller's Prologue and Tale
"The Miller's Tale" is the second of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales , told by the drunken miller Robyn to "quite" "The Knight's Tale"....
, the lines read:
Stone and wood carvings of bagpipes of many different types began to appear in English cathedrals
Architecture of the medieval cathedrals of England
The medieval cathedrals of England, dating from between approximately 1040 and 1540, are a group of twenty-six buildings which together constitute a major aspect of the country’s artistic heritage and are among the most significant material symbols of Christianity. Though diversified in style, they...
and churches beginning in the 14th century; examples of such carvings may be found in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, and Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
.
Regional pipes
- Lancashire: The Lancashire bagpipeLancashire bagpipeThe Lancashire bagpipe or Lancashire greatpipe has been attested in literature, and commentators have noticed that the Lacanshire bagpipe was also believed proof against witchcraft.-Historical attestation:...
or Lancashire greatpipe has been attested in literature, and commentators have noticed that the Lacanshire bagpipe was also believed proof against witchcraft.
- Leicestershire: Numerous reproductions of the LeicestershireLeicestershireLeicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
smallpipes have been made by pipemaker Julian GoodacreJulian GoodacreJulian Goodacre is a maker and researcher of the historical bagpipes of the British Isles, based in Peebles, Scotland. Goodacre has particularly specialised in reviving the extinct English bagpipes, Welsh bagpipes, and Cornish bagpipes. -References:...
since the late 20th Century.
- Lincolnshire: The Lincolnshire bagpipesLincolnshire bagpipesThe Lincolnshire bagpipes are a type of bagpipe native to Lincolnshire in eastern England. The instrument was extinct in the modern era, with a 1901 commentator noting that it had become defunct by 1850. Later researchers identified the last traditional piper as John Hunsley, a 19th century farmer...
were mentioned in literature since the time of Shakespeare, and in 2010 sets were re-created based on artistic depictions found in LincolnshireLincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
churches.
- Yorkshire: The Yorkshire bagpipes are attested in literature, but are currently extinct.
- Worcestershire: The Worcestershire bagpipe has likewise been attested in literature, with the men of that county noted as famed for their love of piping. The instrument is currently extinct.
Controversy over the validity of "reconstruction"
This process of reconstruction is controversial. Some British pipers and pipemakers, such as Julian GoodacreJulian Goodacre
Julian Goodacre is a maker and researcher of the historical bagpipes of the British Isles, based in Peebles, Scotland. Goodacre has particularly specialised in reviving the extinct English bagpipes, Welsh bagpipes, and Cornish bagpipes. -References:...
, have "reconstructed" several types of claimed extinct bagpipes, based on iconography and inconclusive textual clues. Other enthusiasts dispute these findings, as detailed in James Merryweather's article Regional Bagipes: History or Bunk?
While dismissing much research as optimistic interpretations of the source materials, Merryweather claimed to have found indisputable evidence of a bagpiper in Liverpool in 1571. Per Merryweather, the records of the Liverpool Wait
Wait (musician)
Waits or Waites were British town pipers. From medieval times up to the beginning of the 19th century, every British town and city of any note had a band of Waites...
makes a single mention of one "henrie halewod bagpiper”.
Other bagpipes of the British Isles undergoing reconstruction
- Cornish bagpipesCornish bagpipesCornish bagpipes are the forms of bagpipe once common in Cornwall. Bagpipes and pipes are mentioned in Cornish documentary sources from c.1150 to 1830 and bagpipes are present in Cornish iconography from the 15th and 16th centuries....
- Welsh pipesWelsh pipesWelsh bagpipes have been played, documented, represented or described in Wales since the fourteenth century...
(claimed physical examples survive from the 17th and 18th centuries) - Zetland pipesZetland pipesThe Zetland pipes were a type of bagpipe designed and crafted by Pipe Major Royce Lerwick in the 1990s.-Historical impetus:Lerwick believed that the bagpipes had been introduced to the British Isles by the Vikings. His "Zetland pipes" were intended to resemble single-drone, single-reeded pipes...
Sources
- Stewart, Pete (2001). Robin With the Bagpipe: The English Bagpipe and Its Music. Ashby Parva: White House Tune Books. ISBN 0907772528.
- English Manuscript Studies, 1100-1700 - Google Books Result
- JSTOR: Pipers' Pabulum
- JSTOR: Music in the World's Proverbs
- JSTOR: Two-Chanter Bagpipes in England
- JSTOR: Chaucer's Millers and Their Bagpipes
- The Witches of Lancashire - Google Books Result
- Lancashire - Records of Early English Drama
- Notes on Lancashire parish Registers
- The Fiddler’s Companion, Andrew Kuntz
- R D Cannon, The Bagpipe in Northern England, Folk Musical Journal Number 2 (1971)
- Alfred Welby The Lincolnshire Bagpipe Oxford University Press, 1930.
- M.H. Dobbs The Lincolnshire Bagpipe Oxford University Press, 1930.
- Stephen Taggart The Lincolnshire Bagpipes Early Music, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Jul., 1976), pp. 363-365.
- Franz Montgomery The Musical Instruments in "The Canterbury Tales". The Musical Quarterly 1931 XVII(4):439-448; doi:10.1093/mq/XVII.4.439
Historical images
- http://www.prydein.com/pipes/2chanter/index.html
- http://www.prydein.com/pipes/2chanter/pagetwo/index.html
- http://www.prydein.com/pipes/exeter/index.html
- http://www.prydein.com/pipes/tapestry/index.html