written in haste. Most of it is written from memory after four and
three-quarter years separation from MSS., books and notes, and I have
no doubt that mistakes will be discovered later. Further, it does not
profess to be complete, for there are some vocables not included, the
meaning of which is not yet clear to me.
The two volumes of the MS. contain 169 tunes of which I can trace in
no other collection, printed or MS., 65 tunes: moreover, many tunes
which exist already in printed collections are written in entirely
different settings, and under different names from those known by
present day players. To illustrate this I have included at the end
of this paper the MS. style of An Ceapadh Eucorach (translated
as the "Unjust Incarceration"). This setting, apart from smaller
differences, contains one line in each part which, so far as my
knowledge goes, is unknown to-day, and which in my opinion is an
essential part of the theme, leading the 3rd line up to the musical
climax of the ordinarily accepted 4th line.[17] The names of the
tunes as written in the Index or as headings in the MS. present a
very difficult problem. Some are in English; some are in recognisable
Gaelic; some are in unrecognisable Gaelic, some give the first few
notes of the tune, and some are ludicrous mistranslations of Gaelic
into English. Only approximately 42 out of the total have anything
like the names by which the tunes are known to-day.
It is to be hoped that some day soon the whole MS. will be printed,
so that enthusiasts who have the time may really get to work and
unravel some of the conundrums which still remain so. I have a
feeling that the vocables used in so many Gaelic songs are distantly
related to canntaireachd, and research into this might conceivably
throw light on the larger question of the origin of canntaireachd.
It would also be interesting to know of any examples of similar
notations in foreign countries. But the main thing to be done by all
pipers at the present day is to make real attempts to discover other
canntaireachd manuscripts: and the ideal should be that all MSS. now
known to exist or discovered at a later date should be made available
for comparison and information of other players; this is best done
by publication in as near the original form as possible, and failing
that by loan or gift to some responsible piping society, such as the
Scottish Pipers Society, The Piobaireachd Society, the Caledonian
Pipers Society, London, The Inverness Pipers Society, The Highland
Pipers Society, Edinburgh, or any other well-known society. This
would ensure that the information would get into the hands of those
who can most easily disseminate it.
AN CEAPADH EUCORACH
(From the Campbell MS. vol. i. p. 1.)
1st called _Kepper Eggarich_.
Hiharin hioen[18], hodrooen, himen hoen, hiotroenem, hihodrooen,
hiotroenem hihodroen hioem hiharinen
2nd Hiharin hioen hodrooen, himotrao hoen, hiotroenem, hihodrooen
hiotroenem, hihodroen, hioem hiharinen
3rd Hihodrotra, cheredea hoen, hadrea hoen, hihorodoenem,
hihodrotra, cherededea[19] hihodroen hioem, hiharinen
4th Hihararache, hived[(are]ve[20] cheho, haem, barivecheho,
hiharara[21]hohic, hihodrotraem, barived[(are]vechea,[20]
hihodroen, hioem, hiharinen
5th Chedari Ie, hiririeha diliedrehia, cheredeaho himbarihia,
cheho, hadre himbaria, chedaria, hioem hiharinen.
_The First Motion_
1st Hinen hinen hioen, hoen, hoen, hinen, himen, hinen, hoen,
hioen, hioen, himen, hoen hoen hinen hioen, hioen, himen hoen
hoen hioem, hinen hinen hinen.
2nd Hinen hinen hioen hihoen[22] hoen hinen himen haen hoen,
hioen hioen, himen hoen hoen hinen hioen hioen himen hoen hoen
hioem, hinen three times.
3rd Hoen hoen haem, chehin chehin, hoen haem, chehin hoen hioen
hioen, himen hoen hoen haem, chehin chehin chehin hoen hoen
hioem, hinen three times.
4th Haen haem, chehin hien hien chehin haem hien chehin haen haen
hioem, hoen hoen haem hien hien chehin hoen hoen hioem, hinen
three times.
5th Chehin hien, dilien hien hien, haen dilien, chehin hien,
chehin chehin, hoen hien hien, chehin haem, chehin hien, chehin
hien, hioem, hinen three times.
_The 2nd Motion, called Tolive_
1st Hindarid hindarid hiodarid hodarid hodarid hindarid himdarid
hindarid hodarid hiodarid hiodarid himdarid hodarid hodarid
hindarid hiodarid hiodarid himdarid hodarid hodarid hiodarem,
hindarid three times.
2nd Hindarid hindarid hiodarid hodarid hodarid hindarid himdarid
hadarid hodarid hiodarid hiodarid himdarid hodarid hodarid
hindarid hiodarid hiodarid himdarid hodarid hodarid hiodarem
hindarid three times.
3rd Hodarid hodarid hadarem, chedarid chedarid, hodarid hadarem,
chedarid hodarid, hiodarid hiodarid, himdarid hodarid hodarid,
hadarem, chedarid three times, hodarid hodarid, hiodarem hindarid
three times.
4th Hadarid hadarem, chedarid hidarid hidarid chedarid hadarem
hidarid, chedarid hadarid hadarid hiodarem, hodarid hodarid
hadarem hidarid hidarid chedarid hodarid hodarid hiodarem,
hindarid three times.
5th Chedarid hidarid Idarid hidarid hidarid hadarid Idarid
chedarid hidarid chedarid chedarid hodarid hidarid hidarid
chedarid hadrem,[23] chedarid hidarid chedarid hidarid hiodarem,
hindarid three times.
_Part 3rd, Crolive_
1st Hinbandre hinbandre, hiobandre hobandre hobandre hinbandre
himbandre hinbandre hobandre hiobandre hiobandre himbandre
hobandre hobandre hinbandre hiobandre hiobandre himbandre
hobandre hobandre hiobaemdre hinbandre hinbandre hinbandre
hinbandre.
2nd Hinbandre hinbandre hiobandre hobandre hobandre hinbandre
himbandre habandre hobandre hiobandre hiobandre himbandre
hobandre hobandre hinbandre hiobandre hiobandre himbandre
hobandre hobandre hiobaemdre, hinbandre hinbandre hinbandre.
3rd Hobandre hobandre habamdre chebandre chebandre hobandre
habamdre chebandre hobandre hiobandre hiobandre himbandre
hobandre hobandre habaemdre, chebandre three times, hobandre
hobandre hiobamdre hinbandre hinbandre hinbandre.
4th Habandre habaemdre chebandre hibandre hibandre chebandre
habaemdre hibandre chebandre habandre habandre hiobaemdre
hobandre hobandre habaemdre hibandre hibandre chebandre hobandre
hobandre hiobaemdre, hinbandre three times.
5th Chebandre hibandre Ibandre hibandre hibandre habandre Ibandre
chebandre hibandre chebandre chebandre hobandre hibandre hibandre
chebandre habaemdre chebandre hibandre chebandre hibandre
hiobaemdre hinbandre three times.
THE IRISH PIPES:
THEIR HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT, AND DIVERGENCE FROM THE SIMPLE HIGHLAND
TYPE
By W. H. GRATTAN FLOOD, Mus.D., K.S.G.
There is ample evidence that the bagpipe was used in pre-Christian
Ireland, whence it was brought to Scotland. It is referred to in
the Brehon Laws of the fifth century. Irish writers allude to it
as _Cuisle_ and as _Piob mor_--and this is the warlike instrument
which was adopted by our Scottish brethren and became the national
instrument of Scotland.
During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Irish pipers
accompanied the Irish troops that fought in Gascony and Flanders
under King Edward I. Strange, too, that Irish pipers were heard, in
opposition to the Scots, at the battle of Falkirk (July 22, 1298),
and it is surmised that the strident tones of the Irish _piob mor_
suggested to the Scotch the employment of this warlike instrument
in battle. At Creçy (August 26, 1346) the Irish pipes were also
in evidence, and again at Harfleur (1418) and at Rouen (1419).
Incidentally, it may be stated that there is no sound historical
evidence for the Scotch bagpipes in battle at Harlaw (1411), but it
would appear that they were employed at the battle of Inverlochy
(1431). Irish pipers were heard to advantage in Henry VIII.'s
Tournay campaign (1513) and also at the siege of Boulogne (1544).
This association of Irish pipers leading the charge is strikingly
pourtrayed in the _Mask of Irishmen_ played before Queen Mary at
the English Court, on April 25, 1557, in which there were six Irish
_Kerne_ and two _Bagpipers_.
Here is Stanihurst's description of the Irish _piob mor_, in 1575:
"The Irish, likewise, instead of the trumpet, make use of a wooden
pipe of the most ingenious structure, to which is joined a leather
bag, very closely bound with bands. A pipe is inserted in the side
of this skin, through which the piper, with his swollen neck and
puffed-up cheeks, _blows in the same manner as we do through a tube_.
The skin, being thus filled with air, begins to swell, and the player
presses against it with his arm; thus a loud and shrill sound is
produced through two wooden pipes of different lengths. In addition
to these, there is yet a fourth pipe (the chanter), perforated in
different places (having five or six holes), which the player so
regulates by the dexterity of his fingers in the shutting and opening
of the holes, that he can cause the upper pipes to send forth either
a loud or a low sound at pleasure."
A few years after Stanihurst presented this description of the Irish
_piob mor_, a new development of this instrument came into vogue,
that is, about the year 1580, and almost immediately came into
favour. This development was the Irish _Uilleann_ (elbow) pipes, or
domestic pipes, in which the wind was supplied by a bag blown by the
elbow. Shakespearian commentators have been puzzled over the term
"woollen" pipes in the _Merchant of Venice_ (Act iv. Sc. 1); but the
great bard of Avon, who derived much information regarding Ireland
from Stanihurst and Dowland (if he did not actually visit Ireland at
the close of the sixteenth century), used the Irish term _Uilleann_,
equating it with "woollen"--a corruption which subsequently blossomed
forth as "Union pipes." All during the seventeenth century the
_Uilleann_ pipes became immensely popular, and were used as an
accompaniment for dancing, especially the _Rinnce Fada_ (The Long
Dance), the qualifying word _Fada_ becoming Anglicised as "the
Fading," also alluded to by Shakespeare (_Winter's Tale_, Act iv.
Sc. 3). Subsequently keys or regulators were added, a feature that
we also find in the _Surdelina_, or Neapolitan bagpipe, in 1625,
as described by Père Mersenne. It is of interest to note that the
great English composer, William Byrd, _circâ_ 1590, wrote a piece of
programme music called "Mr. Byrd's Battle," in which there are three
movements; the _Irish March_, the _Bagpipe_, and the _Drone_. Thus
the Irish bagpipe furnished the musical form known as "pedal point"
or "drone bass."
When the Regiment of Irish Guards was formed in 1662, provision was
made for a drum major, twenty-four drummers, and a piper to the
King's Company. At the siege of Derry in 1689, the Jacobite regiments
had each fourteen pipers and eighty-six drums.
Further improvements in the _Uilleann_ pipes were effected between
the years 1700 and 1720, and, in consequence, they were taken up by
musical amateurs or "gentlemen pipers," of whom Larry Grogan, Parson
Sterling, and Walter Jackson were famous.
The Irish _piob mor_ was heard at the battle of Fontenoy (May 11,
1745), on which occasion the pipers played "St. Patrick's Day in the
Morning," and "The White Cockade"--two characteristic Irish airs.
Irish pipers were also heard during the American War of Independence,
and, in 1778, Barney Thompson, from Hillsborough, Co. Down, was pipe
major of Lord Rawdon's "Volunteers of Ireland," which corps merged
into the 100th Regiment in 1780.
The revival of the Irish bagpipes in Irish regiments is due to Major
Doyle, in September, 1793. A few months previously, on May 23, his
brother, Colonel Doyle, in command of the 14th Regiment, found the
fortunes of the day at the siege of Famara going against the British
troops, when, by a happy inspiration, he ordered his band to play
up the French revolutionary march of "Ça Ira," and shouted to his
troops: "Come on, boys, and we'll beat 'em to their own damned tune."
As a result, Doyle's regiment successfully routed the French, to
the strains of "Ça Ira," which has ever since been the quick-step
of the West Yorkshire Regiment (the old 14th). The Colonel wrote to
his brother the Major, who was M.P. for Mullingar, telling him of
the advantage of a good band, and, as at that very time (August)
Major Doyle had been commissioned by King George III. to form a new
Irish regiment, originally called "Major Doyle's Legion," the Major
recruited a gallant body of his countrymen, known as "The Prince of
Wales' Royal Irish Regiment"--with a band of Irish pipers.
Not long afterwards, in October 1793, Colonel de Burgh (brother of
the Marquis of Clanrickarde) formed the "Royal Connaught Rangers,"
with a fine band of pipers and drummers. The Wexford Regiment (the
38th), commanded by Lord Loftus, had also a pipe band ere the close
of the year 1794 or early in 1795. Several years later there were
pipers attached to the Tyrones (4th Inniskilling Fusiliers).
However, after the year 1815, the vogue of a pipe band in Irish
regiments waned, and it was not till 1903 that the Queen's County
Militia--the 4th Battalion of the P.O.W. Leinster Regiment--again
took up the war pipes, thanks to the enthusiasm and generosity of
their commander, Lieut.-Col. Lord Castletown, K.P.
To the Tyrone Fusiliers, a link battalion of the 27th Royal
Inniskilling Fusiliers, is due the revival of the Irish _Piob mor_ in
1859. Some years later, Colonel Cox, commanding the 87th Royal Irish
Fusiliers, supplied eight sets of war pipes, as well as two drums, to
eight Irish pipers in his regiment. More recently, the 4th Battalion
of the Leinster Regiment (late Queen's County Militia) formed a pipe
band under the direction of their gallant Colonel, my dear friend,
Lord Castletown of Upper Ossory, K.P., who presented the pipes, in
1903. Since then all five battalions of this regiment have pipe
bands, mainly through the enthusiastic zeal of Captain Orpen Palmer
who published an excellent little book for the war pipes in 1913.
Other Irish regiments having pipe bands are the 2nd Battalion of the
Dublin Fusiliers and the 3rd Battalion of the 18th Royal Irish.
In conclusion it may be briefly said that the Irish war pipe of
to-day is the same as the Scottish or Highland war pipe. On the other
hand, the Irish _Uilleann_ pipes may be regarded as a miniature
organ. The old war pipe is only capable of eight notes with certain
limitations, whereas the _Uilleann_ pipes are of two full octaves,
including chromatic intervals, and are thus capable of performing
most classes of music, added to which the four keys of the regulator
on the chanter make for a wonderful effect.
THE TUITION OF YOUNG REGIMENTAL PIPERS
By JOHN GRANT, Pipe Major
There is an establishment for the training of bandsmen at Kneller
Hall, Twickenham, known as "The Royal Military School of Music,"
where regular soldiers are trained in a very efficient manner both
in theory and practice, for brass bands. Each pupil remains for a
considerable period, extending from one to three years, and not
only do they become good performers on the various instruments,
but they qualify for the rank of bandmaster in any regiment. A
bandmaster holds the rank of a warrant officer, and, in some cases, a
commissioned officer.
Some months ago a colonial soldier asked the question in a Highland
newspaper why the pipe major in a Highland regiment did not also
hold the rank of a warrant officer. In fact pipe major is only an
honorary rank. In reality he is only "sergeant piper." It would be
very interesting to know the difference between the person in charge
of the one band and the other. When the regiment is on the march the
one band leads the men as well as the other. In fact many prefer a
pipe band to a brass band on a long route march. In a pipe band the
pipe major has to train his pipers efficiently in the performance of
their music just the same as the bandmaster of a brass band, and why
should a pipe major not be raised to the rank of a warrant officer
along with his brother bandmaster? True it is that in a brass band
there are many instruments for the bandmaster to teach and bring in
in their proper places, in order to have a perfect band. But then the
pipe major has the same task in front of him in training a perfect
pipe band. In fact--if I may be allowed the analogy--in the case of a
brass band a bandmaster might have many glaring errors and flaws in
instrumentation and harmony in his band, and this is passed over by
the average listener but detected by the expert conductor. The brass
band, from its construction, has more scope for covering errors than
the pipe band.
The regimental pipe band is so constructed that each performer must
play in perfect unison, with pipes all timed in unison, and every
finger should be lifted and laid down together, a thing which is much
more difficult to do than is the case with a brass band. The errors
in a badly trained pipe band are much more easily detected where
every performer has to play in perfect unison, than the errors in a
brass band, where different instruments take different parts.
The next important point is the bandmaster has been properly trained
in his profession at the "Royal Military School of Music," Kneller
Hall, but the pipe major in a pipe band has not had this coveted
opportunity. There is no school where pipe music is taught in theory
and practice, and that may be one of the chief reasons why the pipe
major falls short of the trained bandmaster. If a military school of
piping were instituted by the War Office, such an institution would
supply a long felt want. The piper could then be educated in piping,
to understand music in theory, and be instructed in practice on a
sound basis and fixed system.
Few pipers in pipe bands, if any, are trained at the proper age,
_i.e._, 12-14-16 years, except in industrial schools, where they are
in many cases improperly taught. When the boy is young his fingers
will do anything because they are very supple, but at the age of
twenty they become stiff and set against perfect manipulation. At
this age theory is picked up in a masterly fashion, and the pupil is
unconscious of difficulties in fingering, which simplifies everything
in the process of his training.
At no period in the history of our nation was there greater need for
a military school of piping than at the present moment. There are
hundreds of young pipers required to fill the places of those who
have fallen in action. As can be seen from the record contained in
this volume many pipe bands have suffered most heavily. In fact some
have been entirely wiped out.
From experience of class-work in piping it has been proved that the
training of young pipers at the age of fourteen to sixteen years
under a fixed system is an ideal method of creating good performers.
Boys who have never had a finger on the chanter before, are started
in classes of from eight to ten in number. This prevents them from
making an improper use of the chanter or creating bad fingering
which, if allowed to go too far, can never be got out of. Each pupil
should be provided with a properly made chanter, and all the chanters
in the class should be of the same make and correctly tuned, so that,
while at practice in class-work, they are all in perfect unison.
If one or two improperly made and badly tuned chanters are used
in a class, this is the cause of two great evils. The performer's
ear becomes less sensitive to the notes in proper pitch; and it
discourages the training of a pupil to detect improper sounds and
slovenly fingering. If there are two or three chanters out of tune in
a class of ten they prevent the instructor from detecting errors in
fingering.
The use of a properly tuned chanter tends to cultivate a good ear,
whereas if the ear is used to improper sounds it loses its power of
detecting the difference between what is real and that which is false.
In class-work it is hardly possible to get ten pupils with equal
powers of picking up tunes and correct fingering. The ear may be
compared to a machine which records musical compositions and sounds.
In this respect the perfect machine has already been found. The
phonograph will record and reproduce a tune in perfect form, but then
it is only a reproduction, whereas the musician has life and power to
create new and original tunes.
Take the human ear. Where it is perfect it will record a tune with
the same accuracy as the machine; but, where the ear is defective,
it will only take in what it is capable of. In cases where there
is only a slight defect in ear, and where a pupil is somewhat slow
at fingering, care must be taken that the slow pupil is brought up
in line with the smart pupil. This makes the results in class-work
equal. Many instructors of piping fail because they overlook slovenly
fingering. Each pupil must be made to finger exactly. The slovenly
player spoils the class and every band into which he may go, so that,
if a class is to be properly taught, each pupil must come to know
his class mate as a musician as well as a companion. Each performer
in a pipe band must form part of a machine, as it were, which acts
systematically as a clock, in order to give good results and render a
tune like one man. A properly trained class with a sufficiently long
period of training will, in time, finger together in a manner which
is most surprising as regards regularity.
As an example of irregularity in fingering, take for instance--one
pupil is playing in perfect time, one graces his note a little too
soon and another a little too late. This gives three different
renderings as regards time, and how could they become pleasing to the
ear or ever attain regularity in time or fingering?
"Patience is a virtue," and an instructor of piping must be imbued
with that qualification. Without patience there can be no climax, no
perfection, and no goal to aim at. One may compel a person to do work
even by punishment, but to compel a pupil to play the pipes would be
hopeless. If a pupil has to be forced to play an instrument against
his will, the music will be anything but pleasing to the listener's
ear. Then it will lack expression, the most important and wonderful
thing in all musical performances. To be successful as an instructor
of piping one must first win the hearts of his pupils, so that they
will like and respect him; speak firmly but kindly to them; enforce
strict discipline and good behaviour; and conduct his school just the
same as all well-governed establishments of education. One hour's
instruction should be given at a time, and this should be given by
the instructor of the school himself. Although boys are boys, they
are sensitive to insult and degradation, and they will not accept
tuition from another boy, even although he is a good performer. It
has been found to be the case that intelligent pupils must have
instruction from the proper source, and, when one boy teaches
another, their time is wasted and they drift into slovenly and
careless fingering. This constitutes a reason for strict supervision
on the part of an instructor himself in a school of piping, so
that the best results may be attained and good order and obedience
maintained.
In bagpipe music, theory is entirely neglected. The average piper
is able to read the names of the notes: G A B C D E F G and A, and
he plays from them and pays little attention to their value. They
may be all crotchets, quavers or semi-quavers, for all he cares. In
almost every case the piper has already heard the tune played on the
chanter, and the relative value of the notes mean nothing to him.
Then, one hears illegal syncopation, _e.g._, the taking of the value
from the lengthened note and giving it to the next one, which should
be the shortest note in the beat, especially in six-eight time. Then,
in writing down an original tune without a knowledge of the theory of
music, the average piper is of no use.