The Irish standard., 1907-04-27
The IRISH PIPER
Picturesque Figure In Ireland
a Generation Ago.
The Last Of the Race Has Re-
Gently Passed Away.

An interesting figure in the social
life Of Ireland of our fathers time
was the Irish piper. says Eamoun Cea-
nit in the Irish Independent. No viii
lage was without one: no parish that
could not boast of two; no countryside
that had not its half dozen. At we'd
ding, wake. and ceilidh the chanter's
sound made merry music for the dane
ers. At the cross roads of a summers
evening the boys and girls We're wont
to assemble for their only amusement.
The pipes were tuned, the signal given,
and the road resounded to the patter OF
many toes. while the air trenbled with
the echoed laughter of the dancing
crowd. But that time is no more.
Gone are the merry crossroad dancers.
Gone is the piper All but forgotten
is his music. Only III these later days
of Gaelic enthusiasm have the pipes
begun to come into their own again.
Many an old set has been furnished
up to speak in moving accents to the
feet of the young folk and the hearts
OF the old. In the times when pipers
were as common as blackberries in
autumn there We're greater and lesser
lights among the brethren Of the chant
err. There was Crump. the Great
Munster Piper There was Paddy
Comedy of Galway. many of whose
tunes have been recorded. There was
the "Duhallow Piper who rode his
own horse, and was welcomed to the
fireside of the gentry as became a
man of worth and a musician. The story
is told that he arrived one day to play
at a certain house remote from his
own district. where a goodly number
Of guests had assembled to hear him.
The host, thinking he had to deal with
an ordinary piper, placed in the hall a
chair and a table on which was bot
tie Of wine and a glass. The piper en-
tered, saw the preparations made for
his performance, noted the ignominious
position in which he was expected to
play. drank a glass of wine, tossed a
half-crown to the servant, and was
gone before the astonished guests had
time to grasp what was happening.
Sets Of pipes We're made in many parts
of Ireland. The best known makers
were Kenna. Ryan, Harrington, Reid,
Coyne. Crotty, and Egan. Coyne was
"a Dublin maker whose shop was in
Thomas street. Scores of his sets are
still extant, and one good example is
on view in the museum, Kildare street.
The principal characteristic of his
make is the heavy mounting
He generally used polished ebony for
the wooden parts, the keys being of
brass, and the mountings of brass and
pure ivory. With the exception Of
Coyne, who was the last of the WELL
known makers, pipes were generally
made by unskilled men. Egan, whose
pipes are universally pronounced to be
the most perfect. never seems to have
had an established workshop or resi-
dence. He worked when the mood
pleased him, and had to be constantly
urged on by the vigilant would-b be- pur-
chaser Notwithstanding these disad-
vantages, he seems to have turned out
scores of sets which are still to be
found in all parts Of the country. His
workmanship compares favorably with
that of the best instrument makers of
the present day. Egan was Con-
naught man. but spent a great deal of
his later years in Liverpool. 1t has
been remarked that the best Irish
pipes (Egan's) came from England
while the best Highland sets (Coynes)
We're made in Ireland. Another famous
player and maker of pipes was Taylor,
a Drogheda man, who went to Amer
Tea. where he was taken up by large
firm of musical instrument manufac-
turers. to whose order he turned out
hundreds of large. loud. double chanter
sets suited to the American concert
hall.
A complete set of Union Pipes"
consists of a seven-keyed chanter upon
which the treble is played; three or
four regulators" or keyed tubes, rest
ing on the players knee. and which, in
the hands Of skilful performer. can be
made to produce a pleasant harmony:
three drones tuned, as are the regulat-
ors. in fifths and emitting a pleasant
buzzing sound. A double" reed made
in Spanish cane vibrates in the chant
err and in each of the regulators. Clap
ping reeds made from twigs of the al
der tree produce the sound of the
drones. Owing to the drones being
tuned to the key to which a great deal
of Irish music is played on the instru-
ment the effect is pleasant rather than
otherwiSe Violent rlje,ord So+u.ee,,