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08 Jul 09 - 03:19 PM (#2674988) Subject: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST,ben dover & phil mac avity why oh wy are the pipes, both highland and lowland not seen more on the folk scene, i did see that one brave morris side at broadstairs had two sets of breton pipes, i think it was royal liberty, whats wrong with people the pipes are so folk its unbelivable, yet very few people seem to play the things, whatch out broadstairs me an my mate are comin pipes an all, thats if we can skive off work. Seriously a much malined instument that can be so versatile, i include the irish pipes as they all seen to be put down in one way or another, RISE UP YOU PIPERS, RISE UP. |
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08 Jul 09 - 03:55 PM (#2675015) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: oldhippie you related to ben dover & c. howard feels? It would be nice to have a short list of those bands and singers that do use bagpipe accompaniment on their CDs. I get a lot of requests for pipe music. |
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08 Jul 09 - 04:13 PM (#2675029) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Will Fly Here's a very good Sussex band - The Twaggers - with Derrick Hughes playing the Northumbrian small pipes: Noble Squire Dacre & Biddleston Hornpipe |
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08 Jul 09 - 04:15 PM (#2675031) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST Croft No.5 Clan Wallace The Dropkick Murphys Enter the Haggis Grier Coppins -Canadian bagpiper, led an ad-hoc group known as Victims of Bagpipism also leads the Toronto-based band Taxi Chain The late Canadian-born Scottish musician Martyn Bennett (1971-2005) played Highland bagpipe and Scottish smallpipe in combination with hip-hop and electronic dance music on all of his albums. |
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08 Jul 09 - 04:16 PM (#2675032) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Rifleman (inactive) oops that GUEST was me, cookie went AWOL for a moment.... |
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08 Jul 09 - 04:18 PM (#2675034) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Paul Burke The highland pipes (and gaitas) are a bit full- bodied for the average singer, I can't imagine anyone singing with Breton pipes (I assume you mean the biniou) and I suspect that even Irish pipes are a bit hard to balance with the voice- it's probably no accident that you see them more with amplified bands, where you can adjust the relative volumes easily, than purely acoustically. Northumbrian pipes are much more suited to the unaccompanied human voice. Having said that, there is an Eastern European tradition of singing with bagpipe accompaniment, though the songs I've heard tend to be of the more strident sort. |
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08 Jul 09 - 04:19 PM (#2675037) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST,BEN DOON, not forgetin red hot chilli pipers, they can rock ya boat |
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08 Jul 09 - 04:37 PM (#2675060) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Leadfingers As Mr Burke said , the main problem is Balance ! Especially Scottish Highland (War) Pipes . you need to spend SERIOUS pennies on P A to get something that will satisfactoraly mix pipes and other instruments . And I used to play in a Pipe Band when I was a lad , so I DO know what I am talking about . With some Pipes you CAN adjust the volume a bit with reed adjustments , but the bag pressure with Highland pipes rather cuts that idea out . |
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08 Jul 09 - 05:27 PM (#2675127) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Sarah the flute I play Scottish smallpipes with the Flying Chaucers as well as my flute. - well not at the same time! The irish pipes are alive and well at the Kilkenny Tavern as well as some Highland Bagpipes. We often have 2 sets of Irish pipes and on one memorable occasion there were 4 !!! Sarah |
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08 Jul 09 - 07:13 PM (#2675236) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Nick E First a question; are small pipes the same Uliean pipes (SP?) Second, to mind come I think of Tom Lenihan and Neil Anderson as semi folkie/rockers with strong bagpipe content. |
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08 Jul 09 - 07:47 PM (#2675266) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Jack Campin Uillean pipes are a development of smallpipes - smallpipes have parallel-bore chanters, uillean pipes are a kind of smallpipe that can overblow and have keys (the intermediate step, smallpipes that overblow and don't have fancy mechanisms, are the "pastoral pipes", which are now rather obscure). It occurs to me that I don't understand how that's acoustically possible. A parallel-bore chanter ought to overblow like a clarinet, at the twelfth. An uillean or pastoral pipe overblows at the octave. What gives? Is the chanter made just conical enough to turn it into an oboe? The best balance between vocals and pipes I've heard is Norman McKinnon singing in Gaelic with Adrian Schofield on the Northumbrian pipes - I doubt if anybody had tried that before, and it works brilliantly. |
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08 Jul 09 - 10:57 PM (#2675359) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST Hasn't seemed to bother :- Planxty Bothy Band Battlefield Tannahill Weavers Chieftains etc, etc, over the years! |
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08 Jul 09 - 11:10 PM (#2675364) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: JohnB You have obviously never heard the totally brilliant Sheffield group, Crucible. Or Orange Peel Morris when we can get Robin to came and play with us, which used to happen more than it does now, so sad. JohnB |
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09 Jul 09 - 02:05 AM (#2675409) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Paul Burke I've never heard Crucible, but the remaining list given by our guest were all recording studio or stage based bands- I doubt if any of them gave many totally acoustic performances. The basic problem is that the reed/ bore combination dictates the volume- there's very little scope to adjust the reed without affecting tuning, overblow characteristics etc. Morris is another matter- with all due respect, no one expects a polished vocal performance, you have at least half-a-dozen singers, and it's performed oudoors. In the middle ages, bagpipes were classed generally as outdoor instruments. Jack, there's a good explanation on the UNSW musical acoustics website of why cones overblow an octave while cyliders do a twelfth. They've moved the actual page since I bookmarked it, so you'll have to hunt a bit. |
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09 Jul 09 - 04:32 AM (#2675461) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Marilyn The Time Bandits are a band local to us here in Cheshire, UK. Listen to track 2 : Laride - magic! Their piper, Helen de Lemos, plays border pipes made by John Swayne. On the other tracks (St Paul's Steeple and Pepper's Black) she plays recorder, another much maligned but beautiful instrument (well, it's beautiful when Helen plays it!). Marilyn |
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09 Jul 09 - 04:42 AM (#2675469) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST,Peter Laban Jack Campin doesn't know much about Uilleann pipes. That much is clear. |
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09 Jul 09 - 05:01 AM (#2675484) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST,pil mac avity Battle of the pipes, bring em on, dig em out of te cupboards dust em off an drag em out, time for the pipers |
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09 Jul 09 - 05:31 AM (#2675508) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Suegorgeous Kathryn Tickell |
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09 Jul 09 - 05:59 AM (#2675521) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Jack Blandiver One of the very finest pipers round right now is Paul Martin. His playing can also be heard as part of the very wonderful Horseplay and the spectral feral medievalism that is Wulffengrim. |
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09 Jul 09 - 06:24 AM (#2675531) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Tradsinger Lots of fine Spanish and Portuguese bands have bagpipes: Miradoiro, LLan de Cubal, Tejedor, La Musgana, Galanda Galandum, Trasga, etc All worth checking out on Youtube. Tradsinger |
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09 Jul 09 - 06:50 AM (#2675554) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Jack Campin Jack Campin doesn't know much about Uilleann pipes. That much is clear. Well, if you know more than I do, let's hear it. Since you've communicated no information at all so far, the only way is up. I haven't seen a scaled drawing of the bore; externally they look like a cylindrical pipe. |
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09 Jul 09 - 06:54 AM (#2675557) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Lady Nancy I sang to Adrian Schofield's Northumbrian pipes several years ago at a concert in Ilkley (West Yorkshire) but sadly we never recorded it! I've also sung to the Scottish Small-pipes for the last 16 years and one day I will play my own set to accompany myself with my partner playing a harmony on his. Now THAT will be beautiful! Thanks Ray Sloan - the pipes work beautifully together even though they were made several years apart... LN |
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09 Jul 09 - 07:16 AM (#2675565) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Nessie Vicki Swan plays small pipes to great effect in her sets with Jonny Dyer (along with many other instruments, the lass is so talented!) Vanessa |
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09 Jul 09 - 07:35 AM (#2675575) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Jack Blandiver Jack Campin doesn't know much about Uilleann pipes. That much is clear. Unlike your response, Peter, Jack's reply is quite reasonable, asking as he does for further information on the somewhat baffling acoustical properties of the Uillean bagpipe chanter. As a surmise, his Is the chanter made just conical enough to turn it into an oboe? is accurate enough I would have thought. Why not enlighten us further? |
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09 Jul 09 - 08:09 AM (#2675592) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Wolfhound person The bore of the Uilleann pipes is conical, as are the Pastoral pipes, and Border / Lowland pipes. And GHB. The angle of the cone differs on each, and makers argue for ever about the exact angles, some guarding their own recipe rigorously. I believe Pastoral pipes are the narrowest (1:50 gradient?), Uilleann are about 1:40; with Border pipes about 1:25/30. I don't know what the taper is on GHB. Parallel bore pipes overblow a twelfth. SSP do not overblow well, NSP will do it but it's very much a minority pastime. Paws |
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09 Jul 09 - 08:10 AM (#2675593) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Suegorgeous Peter - even supposing Jack did know nothing - what exactly would your point be? Why do people constantly make these nasty side-swipes just for the sake of having a go? seems to happen sooner or later on practically every thread... |
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09 Jul 09 - 08:21 AM (#2675598) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Banjiman You can see and hear the Mrs (Wendy Arrowsmith) singing with Uillean piper Uilliam Haicéad here if you want to. A bit of a standard (She Moves Through The Fair), but they do "The Great Silkie" together on her first album as well. Don't have a video of that though. .... and leave Jack alone! |
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09 Jul 09 - 08:35 AM (#2675614) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Gibb Sahib Might as well ask, "Why aren't there more women in men's restrooms?" You might like it to be so as part of a personal fantasy, but to ask the question like that shows little understanding of the history, practicalities, and cultural context of bagpipes. Why would there be a need for them in "the folk scene" any more than there's a need for a gamelan gong there? |
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09 Jul 09 - 08:36 AM (#2675615) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Jack Campin What I'd like to hear as an accompaniment to "The Great Silkie" is one of Julian Goodacre's Cornish double pipes. They were just made to imitate a monster from the deep. It's not quite a bagpipe but this is awesome: Barnaby Brown and Patsy Seddon |
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09 Jul 09 - 08:38 AM (#2675617) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST,Jemmagurney The Bagpipe society hold an annual weekend (the blowout) with concerts and workshops and sessions in june (i think). Mostly english and french pipes I think, rather than highland or uillean. If you ever need a strong dose of bagpipes, I think this is the place to be. :) |
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09 Jul 09 - 08:46 AM (#2675621) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Jack Campin Two people I can think of who accompany their own singing on smallpipes are Allan Macdonald (in Gaelic) and Davie Robertson (for Scots ballads). Dunno if either of them have recorded this, but it's well worth looking out for. |
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09 Jul 09 - 09:05 AM (#2675632) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Rasener Lster Simpson plays bagpipes http://www.moorfolk.co.uk/lestersimpson.htm So do Something Nasty In The Woodshed http://www.myspace.com/somethingnastyinthewoodshed Uillean Pipers Cara's Mike Ryan http://www.carasmusic.com/ John Devine who also plays in Wild Willy Barrett's Sleeping Dogz http://www.johndevinemusic.com/index.html Ther is also |
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09 Jul 09 - 09:10 AM (#2675638) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST,SallyM - at work Regarding the original query, I do know of a few pipers around my area (North Bucks & South Beds) who play various types of pipes in sessions - uillean, border and northumbrian - but they certainly do seem to have frequent 'off' days. It seems that bagpipes of all types are quite fickle, temperamental instruments to play and suffer quickly from heat and humidity changes. They have often been brought out of cases then put straight back again after a few squeaky blows with a lot of grumbling and cursing from the owner ! However there must be several closet players lurking around somewhere : The Bagpipe Society and their 'Blow-out' festivals must be sight - and sound - to hehold ! Sal the Gal |
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09 Jul 09 - 09:12 AM (#2675640) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Rasener Hit the button too quick There is also Sam Sweeney from Kerfuffle who plays bagpipes http://www.myspace.com/kerfufflemusic Andy May from Jez Lowe and The Bad Pennies plays Northumbrian smallpipes http://www.jezlowe.com/band.asp |
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09 Jul 09 - 09:19 AM (#2675644) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Bernard Another vote for Chester's Time Bandits here! Helen de L is so in control of her plumbing! An interesting combination is the pipes and Hurdy Gurdy - oh, and they've a new CD out called 'The Cold Air of Morning'. And Vicki Swan - oh, and don't forget Garva (briefly known as 'Fir Play') - at Lymm Folk Club we often get to see both John Murphy and his son Liam playing Uillean pipes together! Uillean - elbow, in case anyone didn't know! I think one reason why you don't see more pipes is the simple fact that they are so difficult to play well... tuning and maintenance is much more involved than, say, a guitar, where you can get away with changing the strings every ten years or so... ;o) |
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09 Jul 09 - 02:37 PM (#2675884) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST,romanyman on another puter I love the pipes my stepdad was a piper it was probably the only ting i did like about him but thats another story, yes royal lib have pipers, and theres nothing wrong with that, i wish id paid more attention, when i had the chance now i wish i could play them as many morris tunes could be played on these beasties, i think probably the small pipes would blend in well , but hey the war pipe would add a hell of a sound, hmmmmm is it too late to get a set, hmmmmmmmm may be trade in te melodeon nnnnaaaahhh well maybe oh i dunno |
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09 Jul 09 - 03:16 PM (#2675935) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Rifleman (inactive) "An interesting combination is the pipes and Hurdy Gurdy" Blowzabella |
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09 Jul 09 - 03:28 PM (#2675943) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Rasener Hey Romanyman I saw Patrick Purves with the Alford Morris team play the bagpipes when I booked them for a special day at Market rasen. So there is another one. He was good as well. He went on the plinth this week in London. Click on this link http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/news/Morris-man-plays-plinth/article-1145386-detail/article.html |
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09 Jul 09 - 05:00 PM (#2676024) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: boosh What about Mark Saul? |
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09 Jul 09 - 06:41 PM (#2676095) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST,Peter Laban I haven't seen a scaled drawing of the bore; externally they look like a cylindrical pipe Sorry for being short Jack but the interweb is full of people making statements about things they know little about. Na Piobairi Uilleann or The Seán Reid Society both have websites where some basic, and more advanced, information about the instrument. Reading up is a simple job, but I suppose it's easier to blurt out something and place the onus of providing the proper information on others. And by the way, I have yet to see a chanter that looks even slightly cylindical. Keys on a chanter are not, by the way, 'fancy mechanisms' nor do they have anything to do with overblowing. Like keys on other woodwinds they cover holes that provide chromatic semitones to the chanter's natural diatonic scale. |
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10 Jul 09 - 02:04 AM (#2676302) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Paul Burke I haven't measured, but I suspect that 'flat' Irish pipe chanters are less steeply coned than D chanters. Cetrtainly the holes are relatively smaller, and the tone generally a lot more intimate and less strident. But back to the original question. Which morris side uses two sets of Breton pipes? They are among the least tractable of bagpipes, and have largely been replaced by GBH pipes in Brittany itself. |
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10 Jul 09 - 04:09 AM (#2676357) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST,Peter Laban Flat chanters are more narrow and, as you said, smaller holed , not less conical. Are Biniou kozh harder to handle? In my experience, I had a spate playing the biniou during the 1970s and still have them, one chanter reed and one drone are easier to handle than say, the Uilleann pipes. They will damage your hearing and break glass though. |
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10 Jul 09 - 03:09 PM (#2676848) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Anne Lister I've had Steafan Hannigan play assorted pipes (Uillean, Scottish small, Northumbrian and Highland) and various chanters on all my albums. We have also done some live acoustic gigs together from time to time and it's hard work to sing with any of the small pipes when there's no p.a.! However it's worth remembering that the Highland pipes were considered a weapon of war for a good reason, and played inside they're not a very sociable way to treat an audience. I remember one recording session using the Highland pipes when the recording engineer and I took refuge under the recording desk ....but oh, what a glorious sound to work with when we were mixing! Anne |
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10 Jul 09 - 08:31 PM (#2677101) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: InOBU http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=60569783484&ref=ts (dear mud elves, can some do a blue clickie?) Go here, pipes in a folk band... Sorcha Dorcha, the hardest working band in Irish music (as Cathal McConnell said of us...) All the best Lorcan Otway - Uilleann Piper - S.D. (as well as whistle player, button accordian player, singer, guitar player, bodhran player, flute player, chief porter, etc. of the band Sorcha Dorcha) |
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11 Jul 09 - 01:38 AM (#2677217) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Rasener Iam not a mud elf, but here you go http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=60569783484&ref=ts So do you have a myspace account then? |
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11 Jul 09 - 07:07 AM (#2677334) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: Jack Campin Having said that, there is an Eastern European tradition of singing with bagpipe accompaniment, though the songs I've heard tend to be of the more strident sort. It's usually dance music so you have to make a fair bit of noise. A bit east of Europe, singing (in Laz) with a bagpipe: Laz horon on the tulum. The interesting thing about this is that the pipe is mouthblown - the bag is so big that you can play on through a whole line of the song before losing pressure. This is also done in Hemshin (Muslim Armenian valley in north-east Turkey near Rize) which may be where bagpipes were invented. There are a lot of YouTubes of Hemsin tulum playing and I don't have time right now to find one that demonstrates singing with it in the Hemsin dialect of Armenian, but there must be some. This kind of double-chanter pipe was traditionally distributed from Iran to Tunisia. |
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01 Jul 16 - 04:05 PM (#3798643) Subject: Folklore: The Friars of Urlaur pt 1 From: keberoxu from Co. Roscommon, where there is a Lake Urlaur, or Loch Árlár In times long ago there was a House of Friars on the edge of Loch Urlaur, but there is nothing in it now except the old walls, with the water of the lake beating up against them when the wind blows from the south. Whilst the friars were living in that house there was happiness in Ireland, and many is the youth who got good instruction from the friars in that house, who is now a saint in heaven. But there was a change to come and it came heavy. Some evil spirit found out its way to Loch Urlaur. It came at first in the shape of a black boar, with tusks on it as long as a pike, and as sharp as the point of a needle. The friars did not know what was in it, but they were not long in doubt about it; for it let a screech out of it that was heard seven miles on each side of it; it rose up then on its hind feet and was there screeching and dancing for a couple of hours. Then it leaped into the loch, and no sooner did it do that than there rose an awful storm. Furious waves rose upon the loch; then came the lightning and the thunder, and everybody thought that it was the end of the world that was in it. There was fear and astonishment on the friars, and they did not know what they ought to do. When the storm departed they went to the edge of the loch. There was a chair cut out of the rock about twenty feet from the edge, and they saw the black boar sitting in the stone chair that was cut out in the rock. "Get me my curragh," said the Father Superior [these were Dominicans, so no abbot], and I'll banish the thief." They got him holy water and his curragh, and two of them got in with him. But as soon as they came near to the black boar, he leaped into the water, the storm and the waves arose, and the curragh and the three who were in it were thrown high upon the land with broken bones. They sent for a doctor and for the bishop. When they told the story to the bishop he said, "There is a limb of the devil in the shape of the friar amongst you, but I'll find him out without delay." Friar Lucas turned out to be the friar they were seeking for; he flung down a cross that he had round his neck, smote his foot on it, burst into a great laugh, turned on his heel, and made for the stone chair. When the rogue got that far, he whipped off his friar's habit and flung it out into the loch. When he stripped himself, the brothers saw that there was hair on him from the sole of his foot to the top of his head, as long as a goat's beard. He was not long alone; from the bottom of the loch, the black boar came to him, and they began romping and dancing on the rock. (to be continued) |
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01 Jul 16 - 04:18 PM (#3798645) Subject: Folklore: the Friars of Urlaur, pt 2 From: keberoxu (pt. 2) Then the bishop enquired what place did "friar Lucas" come from. The Superior said that he came a month ago from the north, and that he had a friar's habit on him when he came, and that the Superior had asked no account from him of what had brought him to this place. "You are too blind to be a Superior," said the bishop, "since you do not recognise a devil from a friar." While the bishop was talking, the eyes of everyone present were on him, and they did not notice till the black boar came behind them and the rogue that had been a friar riding on the boar. "Get the villain, get him," says the bishop. "You didn't get me yourself," says the villain, "when I was your pet hound, and when you were giving me the meat that you would not give to the poor people who were weak with the hunger; I thank you for it, and I'll have a hot corner for you when you leave this world." The black boar gave no rest to the friars either by night or day; he himself, and the rogue of a companion that he had, were persecuting them in many a way, and neither the brothers themselves nor the bishop were able to destroy or banish them. One night the brothers had a dream, and it was not one friar alone who had it, but every man in the house. On the morning of the next day, after the matin prayers, the Superior said, "I was dreaming, friars, last night about the evil spirit of the loch, and there was a ghost or an angel present, who said to me that it was not in the power of any man living to banish the evil spirit, except in the powere of a piper whose name was Donnchadh Ó Grádaigh who is living in Tavraun, a man who did more good in this world than all the priests and friars in the country." "I had the same dream too," says every man of them. "It is against our faith to believe in dreams," says the Superior, "but this was more than a dream; I saw an angel beside my bed clothed in white linen." "Indeed I saw the same thing," says every man of them. (to be continued) |
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01 Jul 16 - 04:28 PM (#3798646) Subject: Folklore: The Friars of Urlaur, pt. 3 From: keberoxu (pt. 3) "It was a messenger of God who was in it," said the Superior, and with that he desired two friars to go for the piper. They went to Tavraun to look for him, and they found him in the pub, half-drunk. They asked him to come with them to the Superior of the religious brothers at Urlaur. "I'll not go one foot out of this place until I get my pay," says the piper. "I was at a wedding last night and I was not paid yet." "Take our word that you will be paid," said the friars. "I won't take any man's word, money down, or I'll stop where I am." There was no use in talk or flattery, they had to return home again without the piper. They told their story to their Superior, and he gave them money to go back for the piper. They went back, gave the money to the piper, and asked him to come with them. "Wait until I drink another 'cnaighín,' I can't play hearty music till I have drunk enough." "We won't ask you to play music, it's another business we have for you." Ó Grádaigh drank a couple of 'craigíns,' put the pipes under his oxter, and said, "I'm ready to go with ye now." "Leave the pipes behind you," said the brothers, "you won't want them." "I wouldn't leave my pipes behind me if it was to Heaven I was going," says the piper. When the piper came into the presence of the Superior, the Father began examining him about the good works he had done during his life. "I never did any good work during my life that I have any remembrance of," said the piper. |
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01 Jul 16 - 04:36 PM (#3798649) Subject: Folklore: The Friars of Urlaur, pt. 4 From: keberoxu (continued: part 4) "Did you give away any alms during your life?" asked the Father Superior. "Indeed, I remember now, that I did give a tenpenny piece one night. She was a daughter of Mary O'Donnell. She was in great want of the tenpenny piece, and she was going to sell herself to get it, when I gave it to her. After a little while she thought about the mortal sin that she was going to commit, she gave up the world and its temptations and went into a convent, and people say that she passed a pious life. She died about seven years ago, and I heard that there were angels playing melodious music in the room when she was dying, and it's a pity I wasn't there listening to them, for the tune would be mine now!" "Well," said the Superior, "there's an evil spirit in the loch outside that's persecuting us day and night, and we had a revelation from an angel who came to us in a dream, that there was not a man alive able to banish the evil spirit but you." "A male angel or female?" says the piper. "It was a woman we saw," says the Superior, "she was dressed in white linen." "Then I'll bet you five tenpenny pieces that it was Mary O'Donnell's daughter was in it," says the piper. "It is not lawful for us to bet," says the Superior, "but if you banish the evil spirit of the loch, you will get twenty tenpenny pieces." "Give me a couple of 'craigíns' of good whiskey to give me courage," says the piper. "There is not a drop of spirits in the house," says the Superior, "you know that we don't taste it at all." "Unless you give me a drop to drink," says the piper, "go and do the work yourself." They had to send for a couple of craigíns, and when the piper drank it, he said that he was ready, and asked them to show him the evil spirit. (to be continued) |
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01 Jul 16 - 04:50 PM (#3798650) Subject: Folklore: The Friars of Urlaur, pt. 5 From: keberoxu (part 5) They went to the brink of the loch, and they told him that the evil spirit used to come on to the rock every time that they struck the bell to announce the "Welcome of the Angel" [the Angelus?]. "Go and strike it now," says the piper. The friars went, and began to strike the bell, and it was not long till the black boar and its rider came swimming to the rock. When they got up on the rock, the boar let a loud screech, and the rogue began dancing. The piper looked at them and said, "wait till I give ye music." With that he squeezed on his pipes, and began playing, and on the moment the black boar and its rider leapt into the loch and made for the piper. He was thinking of running away, when a great white dove came out of the sky, over the boar and its rider, shot lightning down on top of them, and killed them. The waves of the loch threw the bodies up on the edge, and the piper went and told the Superior and the brothers that the evil spirit of the loch and its rider were dead on the shore. They all came out, and when they saw that their enemies were dead, they uttered three shouts for excess of joy. They did not know then what they would do with the corpses. They gave forty tenpenny pieces to the piper and told him to throw the bodies into a hole far from the convent. The piper got a lot of tinkers who were going the way, and gave them ten tenpenny pieces to take the corpses a mile from the house of the friars, and to throw them into a deep hole into a 'sgraith-logadaigh' -- a shaking-scraw. The tinkers took up the corpses, the piper walked out before them playing music, and they never stopped till they cast the bodies into the hole, and the 'sgraith-logadaigh' closed over the corpses, and nobody ever saw them since. The 'Hole of the Black Boar' is to be seen still. The piper and the tinkers went to the pub, drank until they were drunk, then began fighting, and you may be certain that the piper did not come out of Urlaur with a whole skin. The friars built up the walls in the roof of the convent and passed prosperous years in it, until the accursed foreigners came who banished the friars and threw down the greater part of the house to the ground. The piper died a happy death, and it was the opinion of the people that he went to Heaven, and that it may be so with us all! pp 328 - 351, volume I, Abhráin Diadha Chuige Connacht / Religious Songs of Connacht, edited by Douglas Hyde (an Craoibhín Aoibhinn). Dublin: M.H.Gill & Son, 1906. |
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01 Jul 16 - 05:03 PM (#3798652) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: GUEST Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 |
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02 Jul 16 - 09:41 PM (#3798816) Subject: RE: bagpipes in folk, From: ChanteyLass I hear this young Uilleann piper from time to time, usually at the Blackstone River Theatre in Cumberland, RI. He lives just across the state line in Massachusetts. https://torrinryan.com |