The Piper on the Green

 

Some musical instruments invite you to play them.
Who can resist banging on a drum,
strumming a guitar,
blasting a bugle,
or even tinkling the keys of a piano. 

But there are other instruments
that on first appearance 
invoke confusion, even fear,
as to how they make any sound,
much less a musical tune.  

This instrument is one of those musical oddities.
It is both a multi-reed woodwind instrument
and a pneumatic machine that requires its operator
to pat his head, rub his belly, and dance a jig,
all at the same time.

Today I present one of
Ireland's great contributions to music,
the Uilleann Pipes,
an instrument of fiendish design
that requires the dexterity of 12 fingers
and the coordination of a sleight-of-hand artist.

 

My first example is an colorful illustration found on a postcard. A jaunty fellow in a brown top hat, tailcoat, cravate, and plus-fours breeches stands playing a contraption made of multiple tubes attached to a bag. Beside him on a dirt lane are some children and in the background are thatched cottages and curiously a tower that looks like an obelisk. The caption reads: Irish Piper. 

The artist's purpose was surely just to paint a picturesque Irish image for a tourist souvenir, but they also concentrated on correctly rendering this instrument's bewildering details. Unlike most bagpipes, like the Scottish Highland Pipes, which are inflated by a player's lung power, the Irish Uilleann Pipes (pronounced IL-ən or IL-yən) use a small wedge-shaped bellows strapped under the player's right arm. In fact the name Uilleann is derived from the Irish terms "píobaí uilleann" literally "pipes of the elbow".

Uilleann pipes by Dave Williams
Source: Wikimedia

The bellows are connected by a short hose to a bag under the left arm which fills with air to pressurize the attached pipes—a chanter, three drones, and three regulator pipes. The main pipe, the chanter, plays the melody using a double reed, not unlike an oboe, which vibrates a sound as air passes through it. With extra fingerhole keys the chanter has a chromatic range of two octaves. The end of the chanter is open but is played closed by resting the end on the player's thigh. It can be lifted off to add extra notes and make a staccato rhythm effect. The three drones use single reeds and are tuned to the lowest note of the chanter, a D, in a unison, 1 octave, and 2 octave lower. The three regulators are closed-end pipes, labeled as tenor, baritone, and bass, which have several wide keys to play different pitches when depressed by the player's right wrist. They use double reeds similar to the chanter's reed and provide chords to accompany the chanter's melody line. The drones also have keys to turn them on or off according to the music. If that sounds not too complicated, consider that uilleann pipes have seven reeds/pipes to adjust before they will play in tune. This is not an instrument for a faint-hearted musician. 

     

Historically, the first bagpipes in Ireland were the mouth-blown Highland Pipes from Scotland, which became known as the "Great Irish Warpipes". The uilleann, or union pipes, as they were sometimes called, were developed in the 18th century around the time of two other bellows-blown pipes, the Northumbrian smallpipes and the Scottish Lowland border bagpipes. But those instruments have simpler chanters with a quieter tone and limited scale compared to the uilleann pipes.    

In my experience as a collector of vintage photographs of musicians, photos of Irish uilleann pipe players are very rare to find. This gentleman might be mistaken for an illustration as he appears to sit in a strange green-lighted studio. It's a black and white photo that was tinted by an unknown photographer. Notice that his tie is tinted blue. The man, dressed in fine business suit, is in his mature years with a bald pate and bushy grey mustache. He is holding a full set of uilleann pipes with his right hand over the regulator keys. Unfortunately the dark contrast makes it difficult to see the instrument's bellows and bag. I think he looks like an expert piper who is proudly posing with his instrument for a special portrait.    

On the back is a dedication:

Affectionatley
                                Dad 
June 28 — 17

The CYKO brand stamp-box on the back identifies the cardstock as a product of the Ansco photopaper company in Binghamton New York. But this man might have lived anywhere in the United States, though presumably some place with a large population of Irish immigrants. 

The date of June 1917 was a challenging time for Irish folk. Only the year before in April 1916, Irish republicans started the bloody Easter Rebellion against British rule in Ireland. The rebellion lasted six days and resulted in 485 people killed, of which 260 were civilians, 143 were British military and police personnel, and 82 were Irish rebels, including 16 rebels executed for their roles in the uprising, plus thousands more wounded.  

A year later in March 1917 Britain's Prime Minister David Lloyd George announced that Britain was ready to confer self-government to the parts of Ireland that wanted it, except the north-eastern part which would not be "coerced". Meanwhile in 1917 Irish units in the British army were still fighting on the battlefields in France. The waters around Ireland also remained very dangerous as during the previous months since the start of the Great War numerous merchant ships and passenger liners were attacked and sunk at great loss of life by German submarines. 

This man's opinions on the war, the civil strife in Ireland, or the efforts to create an Irish Free State are, of course, unknown. But that green tint of his portrait, along with holding his uilleann pipes, was a choice that I think has much more significance than just celebrating St. Patrick's day. It's a subtle statement about Irish identity and culture, too. I'm sure it made his children proud. 

Uilleann pipes, circa 1910
Source: National Museum of Ireland, Dublin

I first discovered the sound of the Uilleann Pipes in the music of the Irish folk band. The Chieftains, as played by Paddy Moloney (1938–2021). I had collected many of their albums for several years before I first saw him play live in a concert. His virtuosity amazed me and for a short time I considered taking up the uilleann pipes as I already played a set of Dutch renaissance pipes in an early music group. But on further consideration I wisely decided the Irish pipes required a musical agility that I lacked and a dedication of time I did not have. But I still love listening to the wide variety of tonal colors that the Uilleann Pipes can make when held in the right hands. And elbows.  

Here is a short video from 2018
of Jerry O'Sullivan explaining
and demonstrating the Uilleann Pipes. 

And here is uilleann piper Darragh Ó Héiligh
performing the classic Irish tune,
"Sí Bheag Sí Mhór" ~ "little fairy hill - big fairy hill", 
attributed to the blind harper Turlough O'Carolan
from around 1670 – 1738.

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where green houses come in sepia tones.