Pastoral Pipes and early Union Pipes

[GalegoMan]

Hi friends,
I'm reading a lot about uilleann pipes' history and I'm very interested about its origin. I've read the forum's topics too, but I'm still confused about when the pastoral pipes passed along to be union pipes and what differences exists among pastoral and union. That's what I've read:

1.- John Geoghegan, 1746, presents his pastoral tutor book. At this moment the pastoral pipes has two drones. So at the middle of the XVII century there wasn't union pipes yet, I suppose.
2.-To the end of XVIIc. pastoral pipes have three drones and one regulator, and later four drones and two regulators at the top of its development.
3.-Some people say that pastoral pipes with 3 drones and one regulator is or a) the union pipes itself or b) the precursor of the union pipes.
4.-Roderick Cannon (Piobaireachd Society) says that the "union pipes" already exists in 1728 (William Hoghart's picture) (before Geoghean!).
5.-Other people say that in a London Times' article from 1789 was the first time that the term "union pipes" was writed (about the piper called Courtenay)
6.-In 1890, in a Grattan Flood article, appears for first time the name "uilleann".

So,
-was the "union pipes" the same that the pastoral pipes with one regulator? or is the pastoral pipes with one regulator and without foot-joint the real union pipes?
then,
-must we consider that union pipes was early uilleann pipes (before the three drones and three regulators), or this pipes was always called union or uilleann at the same time, indistinctly?

What dou you know about this?

This is an old irish photo. Take a look to the long chanter. At this age there wasn't "half sets", and this pipes has only drones. What kind of pipes is it? Union pipes? Early Uilleann? I'm piped!


Thank you!

[carel]

thank you for the research
I am also interested in this matter
but cannot tell you more


concerning this piper which pipes have only drones.
I think I see one regulator
left at his bottomhand I see (in photoshop) something like 2 keys.

[texasbagpiper]

Mr Jim Dailey has made a set that only has drones( no bends either)... It looks similar to the picture...

<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/te ... ypipes.bmp" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

[texasbagpiper]

Now that I look at the picture, I think It might have a bass with bends....????

[The Sporting Pitchfork]

There are a number of other threads dealing with this stuff. Perhaps somebody less lazy than my self would be kind enough to post links.

From what I understand it, Breandan Breathnach figured that the union/uilleann pipes first developed as an instrument in their own right in the mid-1770s. The pastoral pipes were likely developed around the start of the 1700s and were played in Ireland, Scotland, and Northumberland until the mid-19th century, when the advent of things like accordions and a whole host of social changes helped speed their demise.

Pastoral pipes appeared in the configurations you describe (1-2 regulators, 3-4 drones) and had a chanter pitched around D, with a middle C leading tone. The chanter can be fingered more or less like a Highland or Border chanter, though I have no idea if this was the originally intended fingering. Hamish Moore plays a set of pastoral pipes made in 1806 on his first two albums, "Cauld Wind Pipes" (1986) and "Open Ended" (1987). Both albums are available on vinyl only and are well worth tracking down.

Early union pipes were pitched anywhere between Bb and Eb. Their pitch was usually not intended to necessarily correspond to a specific tone but was based on the length of the chanter. A little under 15 inches was somewhere in the D range, 16 inches was around C, 17 was between B and C, and 18 was closer to around Bb. (Someone please correct me if I've got this messed up!). Initially, one regulator was standard, but three reg sets were common enough by the end of the 18th century.

[sean an piobaire]

Senor Galego! Grasias mucho por photogaphia de El Gaitero Irelandais: Gandsey! I've been playing a copy of the Hugh Robertson Pastoral Pipes for 2 years now and I think I can add some thing to this. It seems that Geoghan was in the pit orchestra for John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" which used popular tunes with new texts that were part of the dialogue of the play, just the "sung" part. The play was first performed in January, 1728, in London.
The main theme was a "Mock" Pastoral about theives and prostitutes in London,far removed from the Countryside, and meant to be Satirical comment on society. It was a fashion for Pastorals on the stages in France and the association of the Musette du Cour, that (perhaps) inspired the pipers and pipemakers to have a bagpipe for the Cotillion dance that appears in the play (although the stage directions only refer to the Harper, who was onstage with the actors and was paid for his music, as part of the "stage business").
I think that the "lag time" of 15 years or so, from the 1st mention of Geoghan and the publishing of his Tutor in 1746, showed that it quickly "caught on", at least in terms of the tempo of life in those days and the not- so- rapid communcation then, than what we "enjoy" today. Much has been made about the ethnicity of Irish invention of the Uilleann Pipes, and certainly the early association of J. Geoghan lends credence to this, however, if you look to the centers of manufacture; London, Newcastle, Edinburgh, you have to admit that the developement of this pipe might owe much to the "Piping Culture" of these areas. In my opinion it was a cultural cross- pollination, We have Italy(Sordellina,Phagotum), Central Europe(Dudy,Bock) France(Musette) and England/ Scotland (Northumbrian, Lowland pipes) for bellows and "regulators' on pipes well before Geoghan. We also have the notice, reprinted in "Ranting Pipe and Trembling String" (1971 Canada) where a musician in Aberdeen, Scotland advertises "Lessons for Flute,Hautbois, and Irish Organ pipes" circa 1780. We have Joseph MacDonald's "Put Down" (pinching notes, too weak for the field, imitating Italian music without proper basses, merely a drone)circa 1775, where he does't mention the word "Irish" Some time in the 1790s we have notice of Courtney and then O'Farrell (with his tutor for" Union Pipes") and the loss of the foot joint from the chanter. Certainly we have John Egan making pipes in Dublin (circa 1800), and then the developement from one regulator sets with (Up to 4 or 5 drones) to the 5 regulator sets (in 15, 15 1/2,16, 16 1/2, etc. chanter lenghts) by then 1830s, associated with Ireland (Dudley Colclough's tutor for "The Irish Pipes" 1830). However the 1 and 2 regulator sets continued to be made in England (the Reids of North Sheilds,father and son) and Scotland (Hugh Robertson Castle Hill, Edinburgh) See Sean Reid Society CD-Rom vol.2!
Jonathan Swayne told me that he knows of about 70 sets of Pastoral Pipes and he has measured up about 15 of them, so I think that's a good survival rate for Pipes from the late 1700s to early 1800s. We will never know all the twists and turns of the" Uilleann" Pipes. but there is an Outline! Sean Folsom

[GalegoMan]

Thank you all for your explanation!

Mr. Sean An Piobaire: when you've talked about primitive european bellows-blown bagpipes... I remembered the galician Gaita De Barquín and its origin (our bellows-blown bagpipe http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=24836 ) and the importance of the bagpipes' development across the Santiago's Road pilgrimage (there's a traditional "british road" and also a "french road" to Compostela that already exists before christianity) like a cultural way of "cultural cross- pollination". When I look at this old bellows-blown pipes (from Poland, Balkans, french cabrette, gaita de barquín...) I see that they are always quite similar to its mouth-blown bagpipe antecesor along continental Europe (basicly the same pipes with a bellows attached). I think that this kind of cultural interchanges was very important to the european folk bagpipes' development.

[Unseen122]

From what I understand the term "Union Pipes" comes from the Regs and Chanter playing in UNISON whic later became UNION so they may not be refering the the Union Pipes as we know them now.

[PJ]

There seems to be no definative agreement on the source of the name, but many subscribe to that view - union means union of chanter, regs and drones.

There are others (a small minority) who think it's a reference to political union. Briefly, Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) enjoyed the economic benefits of the Industial Revolution in the 1700s. In Ireland, for many years during the late 1700 there was a movement towards political union with Great Britain which culminated with the Act of Union in 1801. The Act of Union merged the Dublin Parliament with Westminister and created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (this was subsequently to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as we know it today). Initially the Irish hoped to benefit from the economic success of the industrial revolution, but alas it was not to be, due mainly to the absence of natural resources (particularly coal).

I don't know whether the above version is true but I like to tell it to people who ask me in sessions what my instrument is called - I've a pitifully small repertoire and usually by the time I finish telling them, it's closing time.

[buskerSean]

alas, this was not to be as Ireland was just treated as a colony and exploited to the max, like the rest of the British Empire.

[sean an piobaire]

Hello pipers! The "UNION" in Union Pipe, could have been the Bass Drone and it's double- back construction, inside the hollow main stock. First there's the reed and the standing part it's plugged into, then this first standing part has a "U" shaped brass tube that plugs into the number two standing part that conveys the vibrating air back to the main stock. THEN in the top plug of the Main stock there are two covered holes, "inter- connected", which carries the air stream in a turn- around manner, UP to the third standing part, which carries the "SLIDER" on its' DISTAL tenon for tuning. Whew! A lot of verbage to discribe that without a photo! Anyhow, this ingenious feature, or parts of it, are not that unique, when you consider the construction of the RACKETT (or pocket BASSOON) and the adaptation of the Rackett for the Drones("Shuttle"-Drones) of the Musette du Cour, (In the mid to late 1600s, the Hotteterre-Phillador instrument makers of Normandy,added the Petit Chalumeau, a stop- ended "Regulator" that extended the range by a fifth above the octave of the chanter without overblowing, which was impossible on a cyclindrical bore). Also of note, is the Bass drone construction of the Limousin Chevrette, which comes in 3 parts, the 1st part being the "CAN"or cyclinder that has the back and forth bores inside, and looks (and sounds) like an early Uilleann Pipe Bass Drone, before the all- metal loop that makes Bass drones a simple 2 part affair. Plumbers still call the "U" bend a UNION, so there you are! Proof of some sort! Thanks to Cross-Cultural Currents,Y PORQUE NO? ADIOS COMPADRES! XUAN EL GAITERO.... Please read the articles about the Pastoral Pipes/Union Pipes by Denis Brooks (EL MAESTRO) in the Pipers Review Newsletter IRISH PIPER'S CLUB, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON. DENIS IS THE MAN!

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

U for Union...U for Union...[chomps cigar]...I...LIKE IT! It's got zip! It's got pizzazz! We'll put it on every marquee of every theater in my chain!

Denis didn't write about that one, this of your own devising, Sean? Kenna the elder was a wheelwright, among many other things - maybe wagons have mainstocks somewhere in there? Audsley's Art of Organ Building has a section on "Regulation." Another English book on organs mentioned regulation - evening out the power of the notes over a rank's compass, so the bass wouldn't overpower the treble, and so on. Kenna of course was also said to have built or rebuilt an organ - Sean Donnelly checked into the history of organs in Mullingar, where Kenna worked. Looking into other trades or musical traditions turns up interesting connections.
Lest some of you think Sean's symbolism is a bit far-fetched, a Coyne set that turned up in Australia had a British coin for its drone switch stopper - I want to say a guinea, but that would have been a bit dear for such a trivial purpose - anyway the coin had the Thistle, Rose, and Shamrock stamped onto its reverse side, symbolizing the Union of Scotland, England, and Ireland. No Leek! The Rose had been filed off, breaking the Union - quite possibly a capital offense in the mid-19th century, as the set's current owner, Phil Wardle, wrote.
Also there was M. Dunn, who liked to stamp the Mason's mark on his chanters. "How to spot a Mason." I've no doubt the old boys were all astute dues-payers.

[GalegoMan]

Well, another possibility in a traditional way that I've read:
when pastoral pipes return to be a folk instrument in the union pipes format (pastoral pipes was a high society instrument, non folk) the irish population and/or traditional pipers calls this new elbow-powered pipes with a logical name: uilleann pipes. Due to the english language pressure vs gaelic, the original word was corrupted to the "union" term, a term that was used only in "cult" and "formal" environment, like press, books...
But uilleann was the original name. And only due to the gaelic language's awakening at the end of XIX century, was possible the uilleann pipes' first apparition (on a written way) in a document, favoured by irish associations like the Gaelic League...

Really I think that is very difficult to obtain a true information about folk instruments, because its history is often parcial, and we can see only one side of the truth: we only can be sure about documented history, and this history was writed often by members of a non folk class, with few sensibility to registering what cultural changes was happening in the social classes below them.

[sean an piobaire]

Lo siento! Senor Galego! Uilleann is Gaelic for angle, elbow, a bend in a material object of wood, metal, and etc. This term was applied to Irish Pipes by Grattan Flood in his book "The Story of the Bagpipe"( circa 1911) Mr. Flood was an Organist, and also an ardent Irish nationalist, who claimed that "Union" was a corruption of "Uilleann" Now as we all know, any bellows blown
pipe is an "Elbow" pipe! I just call them Irish Pipes and have done with it! The subject is so muddied that you can't really get an historic progression out of Pastoral/Union/Uilleann, and as the English and Scots didn't add more complex regulator arrangements, or play them professionaly (on stage) by the middle of the 19th century, they were definitely " pegged" as an Irish Bagpipe. Now I know that there's alot of resistance to this, just as a few Scots think that any attention to "other" pipes demean the GHB! If it wasn't for the Scots Pipes I wouldn't have ever started on this "voyage of dicovery" and I love the Highland Pipes there's nothing like them! Gaitas come close to it of course! The shivers up the spine and so on! Yes, Kevin, my Union speculation come from many conversationswith Denis B., rather than the Newletter articles about the Pastoral Pipes by Denis Brooks....also articles I have read in NPU's newsletters going back to 1973, when I first joined up with the club in Dublin (alas! my DUES are in arrears, unpaid, lapsed,&etc.) By the by an oft quoted "Nero played the Bagpipes while Rome burned down" is also from Grattan Flood as well! That idea has a tradition dating all the way back to 1911. Wow! it must be true! The Bagpipe Dreamtime is not restricted to Australians! Sean an Piobaire