Flatulists seem to have been quite popular, even into the 19th & 20th Century. There's an engraving** of an medieval Irish reciter and harper performing at an outdoor feast, with two braigetoiri (professional farters) in the background. (One perilously near to a rather large bonfire.) One seems to be 'playing' in hands-free mode, the other is hands-on.

Makes any complaints about bodhrans fade into insignificance, doesn't it?

sian

** for those interested in 'chapter and verse' the engraving is from John Derricke's 'The Image of Irelande' (London, 1581; STC 6734; facsimile edns, Edinburgh, A.&C. Black, 1883; Belfast, Blackstaff, 1985)