John Peacock (piper)
Encyclopedia
John Peacock was one of the finest Northumbrian smallpipers of his age, and probably a fiddler also, and the last of the Newcastle Waits
. He was born in Morpeth about 1756, and died in Newcastle, 'in distress'. He studied the smallpipes with 'old' William Lamshaw, of Morpeth, and later with Joseph Turnbull, of Alnwick.
His playing was highly regarded in his lifetime: Thomas Bewick
, the engraver, who also lived and worked in Newcastle, wrote Some time before the American War broke out, there had been a lack of musical performers upon our streets, and in this interval, I used to engage John Peacock, our inimitable performer, to play on the Northumberland or Small-pipes; and with his old tunes, his lilts, his pauses, and his variations, I was always excessively pleased. William Green, piper to the Duke of Northumberland, considered him the best small pipes player he ever heard in his life.
He is also closely associated with the first printed collection of music for smallpipes, A Favorite Collection of Tunes with Variations Adapted for the Northumberland Small Pipes, Violin, or Flute, published by William Wright, of Newcastle, in about 1800.
As well as containing 50 tunes for smallpipes, this also contains an engraving, generally thought to have been done in the workshop of Thomas Bewick
, showing 2 chanters and their fingering charts; one is a simple keyless chanter with an octave range from G to g, the other is J. Peacock's New Invented Pipe Chanter with the addition of Four Keys, these keys were for the notes low D, E, F sharp, and high a.
Peacock was thus probably the first player of the instrument to play an extended keyed chanter. Such chanters continued to be developed in the first decades of the 19th century, by John Dunn
, in association with Peacock, and by Robert Reid
.
Thomas Bewick encouraged Peacock to teach pupils to become masters of this kind of music; one of these pupils was Bewick's own son, Robert Eliot Bewick
.
Some of the Peacock variation sets such as Cuckold come out of the Amrey, based on the Scottish tune Struan Robertson's Rant, are not known from any earlier source. The collection also contains adaptations of other music, particularly some Scottish fiddle music, to smallpipes. Some of these pieces, like My Ain Kind Dearie, need the keyed chanter with its extended range; this tune in particular is notable for the detailed notation of the variation and the ornaments. This may give some idea what Bewick meant by 'his lilts, his pauses and his variations'. Some tunes in the collection, such as The Black and the Grey, are adaptations to a single-octave chanter of Border Pipe
tunes, with a nine note range; necessarily something of the original was lost, and this adaptation in particular is less successful, however some others, such as Over the Border, work very well in Peacock's version.
The whole collection, with some notes on the tunes, may be viewed online on the FARNE archive, or at http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/musicfiles/manuscripts/peacock.pdf. The music was republished by the Northumbrian Pipers' Society in 1999.
The manuscript tunebooks of Peacock's pupil, Robert Bewick
, contain some twenty single octave variation sets not found in the Peacock collection; it is possible that they too formed part of Peacock's repertoire, or were developed from versions of Peacock's, being stylistically very similar to those in 'A Favorite Collection'.
to John Peacock in 1797; this set now lacks the original chanter, but still carries the original engraved ferrule on the drone-stock reading: 'The Gift of John Dunn to John Peacock Newcastle 1797'. The engraved inscription is generally thought to have been done in the workshop of Thomas Bewick. The set was acquired by the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne
in 2004, and is now in the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum
.
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...
. He was born in Morpeth about 1756, and died in Newcastle, 'in distress'. He studied the smallpipes with 'old' William Lamshaw, of Morpeth, and later with Joseph Turnbull, of Alnwick.
His playing was highly regarded in his lifetime: Thomas Bewick
Thomas Bewick
Thomas Bewick was an English wood engraver and ornithologist.- Early life and apprenticeship :Bewick was born at Cherryburn House in the village of Mickley, in the parish of Ovingham, Northumberland, England, near Newcastle upon Tyne on 12 August 1753...
, the engraver, who also lived and worked in Newcastle, wrote Some time before the American War broke out, there had been a lack of musical performers upon our streets, and in this interval, I used to engage John Peacock, our inimitable performer, to play on the Northumberland or Small-pipes; and with his old tunes, his lilts, his pauses, and his variations, I was always excessively pleased. William Green, piper to the Duke of Northumberland, considered him the best small pipes player he ever heard in his life.
He is also closely associated with the first printed collection of music for smallpipes, A Favorite Collection of Tunes with Variations Adapted for the Northumberland Small Pipes, Violin, or Flute, published by William Wright, of Newcastle, in about 1800.
As well as containing 50 tunes for smallpipes, this also contains an engraving, generally thought to have been done in the workshop of Thomas Bewick
Thomas Bewick
Thomas Bewick was an English wood engraver and ornithologist.- Early life and apprenticeship :Bewick was born at Cherryburn House in the village of Mickley, in the parish of Ovingham, Northumberland, England, near Newcastle upon Tyne on 12 August 1753...
, showing 2 chanters and their fingering charts; one is a simple keyless chanter with an octave range from G to g, the other is J. Peacock's New Invented Pipe Chanter with the addition of Four Keys, these keys were for the notes low D, E, F sharp, and high a.
Peacock was thus probably the first player of the instrument to play an extended keyed chanter. Such chanters continued to be developed in the first decades of the 19th century, by John Dunn
John Dunn (bagpipe maker)
John Dunn was a noted pipemaker, or maker of bagpipes. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Dunn was a cabinet maker by profession, initially a junior partner with George Brummell . In the trade directories, he also appears in his own right as a turner and a plumb maker and turner . His address...
, in association with Peacock, and by Robert Reid
Robert Reid (pipemaker)
Robert Reid is widely acknowledged as the creator of the modern form of the Northumbrian Smallpipes. He lived and worked at first in Newcastle upon Tyne, but moved later to the nearby town of North Shields at the mouth of the Tyne, probably in 1802. North Shields was a busy port at this time...
.
Thomas Bewick encouraged Peacock to teach pupils to become masters of this kind of music; one of these pupils was Bewick's own son, Robert Eliot Bewick
Robert Bewick
Robert Bewick was the son of the engraver Thomas Bewick. Thomas had wished to encourage the Northumbrian smallpipes, and to support the piper John Peacock; in his autobiographical Memoir, written in the 1820's, he wrote Some time before the American War broke out, there had been a lack of...
.
Peacock's Tunes
This, the first published book of music for Northumbrian smallpipes, contains much of the most characteristic music of the instrument, variation sets with a single-octave range. It is the main source for this body of music. Some of these tunes may be compared with earlier versions from the William Dixon manuscript, from more than 60 years earlier. Some of these are very similar - Cut and Dry Dolly is an elaboration on Dixon's Cut and Dry Dolly the new way, while I saw my Love come passing by me is also very like its precursor in Dixon. A pair which can be compared closely are Peacock's Wylam Away, and Dixon's Gingling Geordie; apart from inessential differences in key and note length, most strains in the one have close parallels with some strain in the other. However the strains occur in a different order, and melodic figures may be swapped in order between the two versions of a given strain. Evidently these versions were current over the intervening 60-70 years. Other Peacock variation sets are less closely related to the Dixon versions; in particular My Hinny sits ower late up is much shorter than, and rather different from, Dixon's Adam a Bell.Some of the Peacock variation sets such as Cuckold come out of the Amrey, based on the Scottish tune Struan Robertson's Rant, are not known from any earlier source. The collection also contains adaptations of other music, particularly some Scottish fiddle music, to smallpipes. Some of these pieces, like My Ain Kind Dearie, need the keyed chanter with its extended range; this tune in particular is notable for the detailed notation of the variation and the ornaments. This may give some idea what Bewick meant by 'his lilts, his pauses and his variations'. Some tunes in the collection, such as The Black and the Grey, are adaptations to a single-octave chanter of Border Pipe
Border pipes
The border pipes are a type of bagpipe related to the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe. It is perhaps confusable with the Scottish smallpipe, although it is a quite different and much older instrument...
tunes, with a nine note range; necessarily something of the original was lost, and this adaptation in particular is less successful, however some others, such as Over the Border, work very well in Peacock's version.
The whole collection, with some notes on the tunes, may be viewed online on the FARNE archive, or at http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/musicfiles/manuscripts/peacock.pdf. The music was republished by the Northumbrian Pipers' Society in 1999.
The manuscript tunebooks of Peacock's pupil, Robert Bewick
Robert Bewick
Robert Bewick was the son of the engraver Thomas Bewick. Thomas had wished to encourage the Northumbrian smallpipes, and to support the piper John Peacock; in his autobiographical Memoir, written in the 1820's, he wrote Some time before the American War broke out, there had been a lack of...
, contain some twenty single octave variation sets not found in the Peacock collection; it is possible that they too formed part of Peacock's repertoire, or were developed from versions of Peacock's, being stylistically very similar to those in 'A Favorite Collection'.
Peacock's Pipes
A set of pipes with a single-octave chanter was presented by John Dunn (bagpipe maker)John Dunn (bagpipe maker)
John Dunn was a noted pipemaker, or maker of bagpipes. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Dunn was a cabinet maker by profession, initially a junior partner with George Brummell . In the trade directories, he also appears in his own right as a turner and a plumb maker and turner . His address...
to John Peacock in 1797; this set now lacks the original chanter, but still carries the original engraved ferrule on the drone-stock reading: 'The Gift of John Dunn to John Peacock Newcastle 1797'. The engraved inscription is generally thought to have been done in the workshop of Thomas Bewick. The set was acquired by the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne
Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne
The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, the oldest provincial antiquarian society in England, was founded in 1813..It has had a long interest in the archaeology of the north-east of England, particularly of Hadrian's Wall, but also covering prehistoric and mediaeval periods, as well as...
in 2004, and is now in the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum
Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum
The Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum is located in Morpeth Chantry, Morpeth, Northumberland, England.The museum, founded in 1987, contains a large collection of historic bagpipes, especially, but not exclusively, historic Northumbrian smallpipes and Border pipes, mainly based on the collection of...
.