References to Pipes, Piping and Music in the series
Ireland, From the Act of Union, 1800, to the Death of Parnell, 1891
A series of reprints, mostly fiction, set in Ireland and published by
Garland Publishing, Incorporated, New York, 1978 - 1980
References complied by Nick Whitmer
Series Numbers 5 - 38 Series Numbers 39 - 62 Series Number 68 Series Numbers 69 - 75
Series number : 39
Title: Tales and sketches illustrating the character of the Irish peasantry / William Carleton.
Uniform Title: Tales and sketches, illustrating the character, usages, traditions, sports, and pastimes of the Irish peasantry
Author: Carleton, William, 1794-1869
Notes: Reprint of the 1845 ed. published by J. Duffy, Dublin,
pp. 2, 3 [From the story "Mickey M’Rorey, the Irish Fiddler"] [Discussion of favorite musical instruments in Ireland] The only instrument that can be said to rival the fiddle is the bagpipe; but every person knows that Ireland is a loving country, and that at our fairs, dances, weddings, and other places of amusement, Paddy and his sweetheart are in the habit of indulging in a certain quiet and affectionate kind of whisper, the creamy tones of which are sadly curdled by the sharp jar of the chanter. It is not, in fact, an instrument adapted for love-making. The drone is an enemy to sentiment, and it is an unpleasant thing for a pretty blushing girl to find herself put to the necessity of bawling out her consent at the top of her lungs, which she must do, or have the ecstatic words lost in its drowsy and monotonous murmur. The bagpipe might do for war, to which, with a slight variation, it has been applied; but in our opinion it is only fit to be danced to by an assembly of people who are hard of hearing. Indeed, we have little doubt but its cultivation might be introduced with good effect as a system of medical treatment, suitable to the pupils of a deaf and dumb institution; for if anything could bring them to the use of their ears, its sharp and stiletto notes surely would effect that object. [p. 2]
[The fiddle] is most closely and agreeably associated with the best and happiest impulses of the Irish heart. The very language of the people themselves is a proof of this; for whilst neither harp nor bagpipe is ever introduced as illustrating peculiarities of feeling by any reference to their influence, the fiddle is an agreeable instrument in their hands, in more senses than one. [p.3]
p. 84 [A fairy piper in the engraving "Frank Martin and the Fairies"]
pp. 93, 94 [From the story "Frank Martin and the Fairies"] [Martin, a weaver, converses with the fairies] "That ould fellow with the bob-wig is called Jim-Jam, an’ the other chap with the three-cocked hat is called Nickey-Nick. Nickey plays the pipes. Nickey, give us a tune, or I’ll malivogue you-come now, ‘Lough Erne Shore.’ Whist, now-listen!" [p. 93]
"Go out o’ this, you thieves you-go out o’ this, now, an’ let me alone. Nickey, is this any time to be playin’ the pipes, and me wants to sleep?" [p. 94]
pp. 154-163 TALBOT AND GAYNOR THE IRISH PIPERS [Chapter title] [About pipers generally, and particularly, William Talbot and Ned Gaynor. This chapter has been reprinted in Francis O’Neill, Irish Minstrels and Musicians, Chicago, 1913, pp. 199-202. The portion about Gaynor is in an Piobaire, vol. 3, no. 36, pp.20-21 (July 1998).]
pp. 235, 236 [From the story "Moll Roe’s Marriage; or, the Pudding Bewitched"] [A pudding served at a wedding, makes anyone who eats of it dance. Four clergymen are dancing, since they were served first] "Harry Connolly...was scarcely sated, when who should make his appearance but Barney Hartigan, the piper. Barney, by the way, had been sent for early in the day, but bein’ from home when the message for him went, he couldn’t come any sooner.’
"’Begorra,’ said Barney, ‘you’re airly at the work, gintlemen! Oh, blessed Phadrig!-the clergy too! Honam an dioual, what does this mane? But, divle may care, yez shan’t want the music while there’s a blast in the pipes, any how!’ So sayin’ he gave them Jig Polthogue, an’ after that Kiss my Lady, in his best style. [p. 235] ["Polthogue Jig," a slip jig known as "Humors of Ballymanus," #1124 in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland]
"Harry...sent the pudden about like lightnin’; an’ to make a long story short, barrin’ the piper an’ himself, there wasn’t a pair o’ heels in the house but was as busy at the dancin’ as if their lives depinded on it.’
"’Barney,’ says Harry, ‘jist taste a morsel o’ this pudden, divle the sich a bully of a pudden ever you ett; here, your sowl! thry a snig of it-it’s beautiful.’
"’To be sure I will,’ says Barney, ‘I’m not the boy to refuse a good thing; but, Harry, be quick, for you know my hands is engaged; an’ it would be a thousand pities not to keep them in music, an’ they so well inclined. Thank you , Harry; begad that is a famous pudden; but blood an’ turnips, what’s this for!’
"The word was scarcely out of his mouth when he bounced up, pipes an’ all, an’ dashed into the middle of them. ‘Hurroo, your sowls, let us make a night of it!...’" [p. 236]
Series number : 42
Title: The emigrants of Ahadarra / William Carleton.
Author: Carleton, William,1794-1869.
Notes: Reprint of the 1848 ed. published by Simms and M'Intyre, London.
p. 69 [At a "spinsters’ kemp," a contest for wool spinners] Indeed, during the whole day the fair competitors are regaled from time to time with the enlivening strains of the fiddle or bagpipes, and very often with the united melody of both together.
Series number : 44
Title The life of William Carleton / William Carleton, completed by David O'Donoghue.
Author Carleton, William,1794-1869.
Notes Reprint of the 1896 ed. published by Downey, London.
vol. 1, pp. 142-143, 144-146 [At a public-house] I met a very rare character, who usually spent a month in this hospitable establishment. He was a blind piper, whose name was Gaynor, and his pipes, to look at them, did not appear to be worth half-a-crown-they were so small and contemptible-looking. When he began to play, however, every sound ceased, every tongue was hushed, every ear open, and every spirit rapt and borne away by the incredible and unparalleled charm of his melody. He reminds me of what I have since read of Carolan; his habits were not at all those of a common piper. He was perfectly conscious of his own genius, and would under no condition play for a common dance. He went about with his pipes, as Carolan did with his harp, not to perform for the vulgar sports of the common people, but for the respectable classes, from the lower gentry down to the wealthy gentleman farmer, with whom he resided a week, a fortnight, or perhaps a month, and so sincerely was he respected and so highly was his music appreciated, that a visit from him was considered an honour.
Many a long year afterwards, I gave him and another piper named Talbot a place in Gunn and Cameron’s Journal.1 [1 This sketch is reprinted in "Tales and Stories," 1845.] Talbot was a prodigy, not merely as a performer, but as a mechanic. He, too, was blind, but no gentleman dressed better. He played upon what were called "the grand pipes," and such was his mechanical skill that he made his own pipes; these for elegance and gorgeousness of ornamentation surpassed anything of the kind on which the eye could rest. He was also an organ-tuner, and made an exquisite harp, for which he got a large price. He had also the honour of performing before royalty. [pp. 142-143]
[My host] had a great many cottages upon his property, in which those who worked on his immense farm resided. In one of these cottages lived a man named Cassidy, a labourer. His brother being a professional piper, was engaged at almost all the dances in that and the neighboring parishes. He played very well, had the use of his sight, and was a droll but civil fellow. It was Toal Harte who mentioned him, and as he knew that time during these winter evenings was rather a burden to me, he asked me to go over and hear Cassidy play whenever he happened to be at home. It was not every evening, he said, that he was to be found at home, but whenever he was, the youngsters of the neighborhood flocked to the house, where they had a dance. Lonely as I was, this was a relief to me. I accordingly went there, accompanied by Toal, and the humble little family felt highly honoured by my presence. ....
I was very glad to go to hear the bagpipes along with honest Toal Harte. Several evenings I went and sat looking at the young folks dancing, with a good deal of dignified gravity, that is to say, with the gravity of a young gentleman whose high blood and descent had raised him far above the amusement of the lower class. In the meantime, notwithstanding all this dignified dissimulation, I was dying for an opportunity of showing them what I could do under the influence of the pipes, and for this reason: I knew that if there was any one exercise more than another for which in my native parish I was celebrated, it was that of dancing. [pp.144-145]
I arose, looked around me, and asked one of the handsomest girls present to dance with me. She accepted the invitation as an honour, and as we stood up, I, in accordance with the usual form, asked her what tune she preferred, to which the accustomed reply was,-
"Sir, your will is my pleasure."
I then asked the piper to play up "Jig Polthogue," one of the liveliest and most popular of Irish jigs. Need I say they were thunderstruck-.... [Carleton also asks for "Miss McLeod’s Reel" and "The College Hornpipe" and dances to great acclamation.] [p. 146]
vol. 1, p. 194 The inhabitants of Dublin, and even strangers, are in the habit of listening to the importunities of those irreclaimable beggars whom no law can keep from the streets, of ballad-singers, strolling fiddlers, pipers, flute players, and the very considerable variety of that class which even now, when we have to pay poor-rates, continue to infest our thoroughfares.
vol. 2, p. 78 [Thomas Davis reviews Carleton’s work] "Carleton is the historian of the peasantry rather than a dramatist. The fiddler and piper, the seanachie and seer...are here brought before you...."
vol. 2, p. 181 [Patrick A. Murray reviews Carleton’s work] [Murray bears] testimony to the value of [Carleton’s] stories as pictures of types and manners then fast vanishing from the soil of Ireland, and of a time when hedge schools and poor scholars, and faction and party fights and funerals, wakes, dances, prophecy-men, fiddlers and pipers were familiar in the everyday life of the peasants....
Series number : 46
Title: Sketches of Irish character / Anna Maria Hall ; with an introd. by Robert Lee Wolff.
Author: Hall, S. C.,Mrs.,1800-1881.
Notes: Reprint of the 1820 ed. published by F. Westley and A. H. Davis, London.
vol. 1, p. 12 [From the story "Lilly O’Brien"] "James Connor has lent the barn to-night, and I met Kelly the piper going there, and there’ll be a merry spree, and you must jig it with me...."
Lilly’s heart fluttered like a caged bird, as she did her cousin’s bidding, and accompanied him to the barn, where the piper was blowing his best for the boys and girls....
vol. 1, pp. 89-127 [From the story "Kelly the Piper"] Judy Kelly was...the veriest scold in Bannow. Poor Kelly always anticipated this storm, and on Sunday evenings mounted his miserable donkey-miscalled Dumpling..., and with pipes under arm, posted to St. Patrick-the most respectable "sheebeen shop" on the moor-and finished his evenings-sometimes having a comfortable nap by the road side, or on a sand bank. [p. 92]
[The Kelly’s get word that there is to be no pattern (a fair and dance celebrated in connection with a saint’s day) this year] "No pathern!" screamed Mrs. Kelly, letting half the potatoes fall on the floor, to the no small advantage of the pig, who entered at the lucky moment, and made good use of his time, while Kelly stood with open mouth, ready to receive the one, he had dexterously peeled with his thumb nail; poor man, he was petrified, the pattern where man and boy, he had played, drank and quarreled, in St. Mary’s honor, for thirty years; the pattern, with its line of "tints," covered with blankets, quilts, and quilted petticoats, its stalls glittering with ginger-bread husbands and wives for half the country; the pattern, where his seat, a whisky barrel, was placed under a noble elm in the middle of the firm green sward, where the belles and beaux of the neighboring hills had footed gaily, if not gracefully, to "Moll Row," "Darby Kelly," or "St. Patrick’s Day," until the morning peeped on their revellings, for more than a double century. [pp. 94-95]
[The Squire will not allow the pattern to be held on his land] "It’s hard, very hard though," continued Kelly, "he knows well enough, that the trifle I gets at the pathern for my bits o’ music, is all I have in the wide world to depind on for the rint...." [p. 97]
[Kelly makes arrangements with Mr. Herriott, another landowner, and the pattern is held on Herriott’s land. One of his tenants says:] "...in all y’er born days, did ye ever see any thing like the state Kelly takes on himself; to be sure he’s o’ very dacent people, and the best Piper in the whole barony, but there’s rason in all things, and there’ll be a power of gintry in the pathern before night. ...and may be they won’t put up with Kelly’s talk, like the rest." ....
Kelly had taken his seat, or rather his throne, on top of one of the largest casks that could be procured in the parish; and on forms, at each side of the musician, were seated the "gentlefolk:"-a small space between,-and men women and children crouched, or stood as they best could manage, leaving sufficient room for the dancers, for which purpose, certainly not much was required; as either reel or jig can be performed on a good sized door, always taken off its hinges and laid on "the sod" for the purpose. [pp. 120-121]
[Because the pattern was held at Mr. Herriott’s, May, an orphaned girl, is by chance united with her gentleman uncle] "Kelly," said Mr. Herriott, "but for you this discovery would not have happened; for there would have been no pattern; therefore, my boys, crown him king of Pipers, patterns, and whisky; and plenty of that, and good Irish roast beef shall you have, and a glorious supper outside these gates-peace-plenty-and whisky."
"King Kelly for ever, and long life to the May," cried Nicky the tailor; and they chaired, or rather shouldered Kelly round the green; and poured a noggin of pure whisky over his head; which made him as good a king as the best of them (they said); and Kelly composed a jig, extempore, that beat jig Polthouge, and all the jigs ever composed before or since, clean out of the field, and called it the "Lady May." [pp. 126-127]
vol. 1, pp. 204-208 [From the story "Old Frank"] [A piper is mentioned several times in a story Frank tells about a young bride carried away by the fairies] "The blind Piper was sitting on the hearth stone, making beautiful music, and now and again taking a sup of potheen, to the long life of the wedded pair." [p. 204]
"But although [the bride] was made much of, by rich and poor, no one thought more of her than Kit Murtough, the blind Piper; and good right had he so to do; for she had the pity for him, the poor sightless creature-and it was he who made the beautiful music that night; so beautiful was it that the Priest himself could stand it no longer, but capered like a China-man." [p. 205]
vol. 2, pp. 53,54 [From the story "The Bannow Postman"] [A wedding] One end of the dilapidated hall was reserved for dancing; and there on a throne of turf sat the immortal Kelly; a deep jug of whisky punch close to his footstool, and he blowing away for the dear life on his pipes. [p. 53]
vol. 2, p. 140 [From the story "Hospitality"] [Describing the paintings in a country home] "The family canvass,"...were, to say the truth, a grim, clumsy looking, set of personages; even the pastoral young lady, who was playing on a pipe, the sheep (I suppose they were sheep), looking tearfully in her face, her well powdered hair graced by celestial blue ribband; even she, the beauty of the party, squinted most frightfully.
vol. 2, p. 184 [A wedding] ...open house-sheep and oxen roasted whole-barrels of ale and whisky-fiddlers and pipers-Lady Brilliant and suite-....
vol. 2, p. 195 [From the story "Peter the Prophet"] [Celebrations in honor of the opening of a new quay (a landing place for boats)] "...all the top of the gintry have a grand entertainment-a collution they call it-up stairs in the stores-and below there’s a piper-and who knows what!...."
vol. 2, p. 208 ...the two brigs...drawn up to the Quay, which was crowded by the gentry and bettermost farmers’ wives and daughters, with the piper at one end and the fiddler at the other, both playing the same tune, of which little could be heard for the shouting, the laughing, and chattering....
Series number : 47
Title: Lights and shadows of Irish life / Anna Maria Hall ; with an introd. by Robert Lee Wolff.
Author: Hall, S. C.,Mrs.,1800-1881.
Notes: Reprint of the 1838 ed. published by H. Colburn, London.
vol. 1, p. 74 [From the story "The Groves of Blarney"] "There now, that’s what I call real music; let Jerry Nale beat that on the pipes, if he can."
vol. 2, pp. 52-54 [From the story "Sketches on Irish Highways. Beggars"] My feelings were at the time too strongly excited to be amused, though one, a bocher, or lame man, succeeded in clearing a space that he might give my honour a dance, while "Piping Brady," an old, blind, white-headed man, "set up the pipes" to the exhilarating tune of "Saint Patrick’s Day," which acted like magic upon the group. [p. 52]
The bocher’s dance was finished, and well pleased were the exhibitors to receive a silver sixpence between them-threepence for the piper, threepence for the dancer.... [p. 53-54]
vol. 2, p. 192 [From the story "Sketches on Irish Highways. Ruins"] "Well one day he wasn’t so far gone as usual, not high toast-it was about ten o’clock in the morning-but any how, as he was turning a corner by the bridge, what should run up again him but blind Kisheen and his pipes, and he fell right into the water...."
vol. 2, p. 295 [From the story "Sketches on Irish Highways. Luck"] [A dinner] How the invitation was accepted as frankly as it was given; how a merry party joined them in the evening; how the blind piper played; and how light feet and bounding hearts echoed his music, until the grey beam of morning warned them homewards,-I cannot now describe....
vol. 2, p. 330 [From the story "Old Granny"] [A party] "The crackling faggot" blazed upon the hearth-the piper blew his most discordant, and yet animating music-....
vol. 2, p. 334-335 Maurice could not be found-had not been seen; but, yes-the piper said, that while Maurice was in the act of desiring him to strike up "The Boys of Linn," he heard a voice distinctly call him; and he affirmed that the voice came from without. Nobody, however, believed the piper, who was known to have been half-tipsy during three successive days, a fact easily accounted for, as he had attended three "berrins," from which, unhappily, no piper, and not a great many Irishmen, return sober.
...as the hours grew towards midnight...the piper pillowed his head upon his pipes, and "made strange music" of another kind....
Series number : 48
Title: The whiteboy; a story of Ireland in 1822 / Anna Maria Hall ; with an introd. by Robert Lee Wolff.
Author: Hall, S. C.,Mrs.,1800-1881.
Notes: Reprint of the 1845 ed. published by Chapman and Hall, London;
vol. 1, p. 33 [The] story-teller vies with the piper in attracting listeners....
vol. 1, pp. 58-62 [Edward Spencer, an English gentleman, gets a ride in the country] The poor horse, who had been going at his own pace-any but a swift one-...and at last they were overtaken by a lame piper.
"God save you, Jack; where are you going?" inquired the talkative carman.
In reply, a whisper passed between the driver and the wandering musician.
"Jack says, plaze yer honour," said the carman, "that if ye’ve any love for music, he’ll be happy to introduce you to the minstrelsey of Ireland. He’ll sit this side, and play ye into Blarney, unless ye’d rather have him the same side as yerself, to get the strength of the pipes into your head at once."
Mr. Spencer had a kindly and gentle dread of wounding any one’s feelings. All his life he had found a difficulty in saying "no," and anxious to observe Irish character of every grade, he consented to the proposal; only saying, he thought he should hear the music to more advantage if the piper sat behind him.
While the man hitched himself up behind, Darby observed that a blast of Jack Sullivan’s pipes would shake the roof off a church-especially if he’d had three or four stiff tumblers of good punch.
Mr. Spencer was asked what tune he preferred, and naming "St. Patrick’s Day," the two men gave a positive yell of delight....
The piper played his best, the carman stamped his feet-snapped his fingers-shouted "Success" and "Hurroo!" in time (as Edward supposed) to the birr, and wheeze, and groaning of the pipes, and ended by [dancing a jig in the road].
"Faith," said the piper, "you did that well; if his reverence saw you dance that hearty jig, there’s nothing but his cloth would keep him off the floor." [pp. 59-61]
vol. 1, p. 71 [The old priest’s hospitality] ...and if that was too much there were trifles of chickens and pickled pork, wine, too, for the ladies, and such whiskey! a piper, and dinner laid piping hot by the time they’d get there.
vol. 1, p. 72 [At the dinner] There were toasts-...and the piper, who was in the room, began to play "God save the king," but modulated it into "St.Patrick’s day," after the third or fourth bar....
vol. 1, p. 100 [Awaiting the death of the] ...mistress of the ancient walls, within whose enclosures the harp, the pipe, and the wild revelry of Irish hospitality had once held undisputed sway.
vol. 1, p. 112 [The dying mistress has a vision] "And the vision did not come from afar, nor from over the sea, but from our own land it arose-a vision of peace, of golden harvests, and lowing cows, of dancing and feasting; the harp, and the pipe, and the grass-green flag-the council of kings, and the music of a happy multitude."
vol. 1, pp. 273-274 "...I ask yer honour’s pardon, he continued, following Edward to the door, "but if ye turn that way, ye’ll see a raal Irish jig danced; there’s a piper in the barn divartin’ the servants and followers with the music."
"Dancing!" exclaimed Edward, "and the country under martial law, and the town full of troops, and all disturbance."
"Oh, Sir," answered the man, as he brushed the hat with the cuff of his coat, "sure if we waited till the country was quiet, Sir, we’d forget the sound of the pipes and every step we had in the world long ago."
Macroom Castle is anything but a handsome or picturesque castle.... At intervals the breeze bore the festive sound of the "union pipes," to which the thoughtless servants and retainers were dancing in one of the out-offices....
vol. 2, pp. 94-95 [Mr. Spencer held captive by the Whiteboys. Spencer]...became impatient of observation, and not even the announcement, that "his guardian had sent ‘as good’ as ten mile to get a piper to divart his honour; and he so lonely-a piper, or a fidler, or even a fifer, better than nothing" could render Edward tolerant of his presence. ...
"...I’m fearful we’ve no chance of the piper, or any kind of music; they’re so busy, playing for the soldiers to engage them at the dances and the like-"
vol. 2, p. 107 "...I’m sure I’d go on my hands and feet all the way to Bantry to make the place agreeable to you , and if we could have got a piper or a fiddler, or any living thing to get a bit of sport out of-...."
Series number : 49
Title: Stories of the Irish peasantry / Anna Maria Hall ; with an introd. by Robert Lee Wolff.
Author: Hall, S. C.,Mrs.,1800-1881.
Notes: Reprint of the 1850 ed. published by W. & R. Chambers, Edinburgh.
pp. 116-117 [From the story "It’s only the Bit and the Sup"] The English love of display is dishonest, if the tradesman suffer by it. The Irish hospitality is dishonest, if the host cannot pay his debts. There is one great difference between them-the Irish give with both hands; the English with one.
...’Sure it’s only my time,...and, lady dear, don’t be talking to us as ye would to the quality. Sure they’re in debt in many parts of the country, and have the lashings of eating, and drinking, and company intirely; it’s them your honour ought to talk to.’ These last words were addressed to me by Mary Flanagan, who, with a family of five children, a blind grandmother, and a lame husband, had done her and hers the injustice of bringing in a piper, his wife and child, during a cold long winter’s month, and giving them a share of what they had; but the piper and his wife would always be in want, because they had acquired idle and extravagant habits, knew they were certain of support from the cottagers, and spent their money upon whisky. "I am glad to find you so rich, Mary, as to be able to keep your friends, as well as your family.’ ‘Rich! oh, bedad! yer honour’s always laughing at us.’ ‘Why, if you were not rich, you could not support Jim Lacy, his dirty wife, and lazy boy.’ ‘Lord! yer honour, do you call that supporting, just the bare bit and the sup!’ ‘Have you anything besides for yourselves?’ ‘Augh, no; sure in dacency we’d give the best bit we had to the stranger.’ ... ‘If you wanted to support the piper and his wife, Mary, you should have made them live upon the half of your own potato dinner, and not have given what was hardly sufficient for your family during the year; the consequence will be, that we shall have not only you, but the piper and his family wanting potatoes by and by.’
‘Sure, the craythurs could not live on the half of my potatoes.’
‘But, Mary, with the prospect of your little ones starving before the expiration of the year, you had no right to give away.’
‘Oh,’ says Mary, ‘who knows what may turn up before the end of the year?-sure it was only the bit and the sup.’ Nothing, however, did turn up before the end of the year, except starvation, and Mary was obliged to ask, as we anticipated, both potatoes and milk. What made it more provoking was, that the money the piper and his wife, and even their boy, had spent in whisky, would have insured them more comfortable fare than poor Mary Flanagan could bestow.
p. 120 Society is so constituted, that we cannot wrong only ourselves; ‘those who give all, give none.’ When Mary Flanagan supported the piper, his wife, and child for a month, having barely enough to feed her own family until the potatoes came in, she created beggary.
p. 248-249 [From the story "Going to Service"] [In an ill-run household] ...two of the children came running to tell her that ‘Peenawn the piper was outside the backdoor playing "Rattle her down the Hill," the hunter’s jig, and that Nelly and Molly, and little Jemmy, war dancing a double jig.’ ...the cook had fled at the sound of the pipes to turn her foot in a jig, leaving dinner to dress itself. [p. 248]
‘Indeed they war not going to lose their step of a dance for nothing; the dinner would be time enough. Masther nor mistress was never ready to the minute; why should they bother then?-it wasn’t every day they heard the pipes.’ [p. 248-249]
Series number : 50
Title: O'Hara : or, 1798 / W. H. Maxwell ; with an introd. by Robert Lee Wolff.
Author: Maxwell, W. H.(William Hamilton),1792-1850.
Notes: Reprint of the 1825 ed. published by J. Andrews, London.
vol. 2, p. 210 The rear of the rebel forces presented a very different scene. Booths similar to those erected at Irish fairs and patterns, were frequent. In these some were drinking, and others dancing to the music of the itinerant harpers and pipers, who had flocked in numbers to the camp.
Series number : 51
Title: The fortunes of Hector O'Halloran / William Maxwell ;
Author: Maxwell, W. H.(William Hamilton),1792-1850.
Notes: Reprint of the 1843 ed. published by R. Bentley, London.
[Originally issued in parts; image on the cover of each part includes a piper]
Series number : 52
Title: Erin-go-bragh : or, Irish life pictures / William Maxwell ;
Author: Maxwell, W. H.(William Hamilton),1792-1850.
Notes: Reprint of the 1859 ed. published by R. Bentley, London.
vol. 1, p. 42 "I did go [to America], colonel, but I could not rest. I knew that I was innocent, but who would believe my oath? I might have done well enough there; but I don’t know why, the ould country was always at my heart, and I used to cry when I thought of the mornings that I whipped in the hounds, and the nights that I danced merrily in the servant’s hall, when piper or fiddler came-and none left the house without meat, drink, and money, and a blessing on the hand that gave it."
vol. 1, pp. 68-69 [Mention of the "Cat and Bagpipes" pub]
vol. 1 p. 109 [From a list of things a gentleman might otherwise have done to fill up his idle hours] The post comes in but twice a week-the piper, from heavy exertions at the last pattern, is laid up with pleurisy.
vol. 1, p. 296-297 [Debt problems of Richard Rafferty, gentleman and piper] The best poteeine that ever set care at defiance was home-made by the tenants, and Mr. Rafferty played the pipes like a professor. Would not, then, the music of the glasses and the melody of the bag, when united, soothe a perturbed spirit...? ...but he who originated a receiver under the Court of Chancery, as a diabolical contriver, in our opinion, double-distanced the whole lot [of originators of horrible inventions]...and so thought poor Mr. Rafferty as he supplied anew the tumbler and bag with alcohol and wind.
A pause ensued after Mr. Rafferty had finished "Planxty Maguire," and the mixture from which he never applied in vain for consolation.
[Other mentions of Rafferty and pipes at pp. 307, 330]
vol. 2, p. 123 [At the funeral of a soldier] "The Dead March in Saul" was alternated by that wild and melancholy wail, the "Lament for Mackrimmon" by the bagpipes, and broken, at stated intervals by the deep rolling of the muffled drums.
vol. 2, p. 160 [Ireland’s] harp, a jangling enormity, compared with which, to our fancy, a Highland bagpipe would prove to be a discourser of eloquent music, like the halls of Tara, may be returned non inventi.
vol. 2, p. 165 [The captain’s] sojournings at his country residence were "few and far between." ... A corner at the kitchen fire at Old Head had much more to recommend it-and hence, six days out of seven, the ingle-nooks at eventide, were occupied by the man of war and a man of music, for the captain flanked the ample hearth on one side, and Corney Doolan, the lame piper, was seldom absent from the other.
Series number : 53
Title: The Macdermots of Ballycloran / Anthony Trollope
Author: Trollope, Anthony,1815-1882.
Notes: Reprint of the 1847 ed. published by T. C. Newby, London.
vol. 1, p. 173 [Arrangements for a wedding] "Pat has got Shamus na Pe’bria, all the ways out of county Mayo, him that makes all the pipes through the country, Miss; and did the music about O’Connell all out of his own head, Miss-Oh, it’ll be the most illigant wedding entirely, Miss...."
vol. 1, p. 309 [Another mention of the piper, this time spelled] "...Shamuth na Pibu’a, the blind piper...."
vol. 1, p.331 [At the wedding] "...but you’re not going out of this [leaving] till you’ve dhrunk Mary’s health here, and heard a tune on the pipes, any way."
vol. 1, pp. 338-343 When Denis returned into Mrs. Mehan’s big kitchen, the amusements of the evening-dancing and drinking, were on the point of commencing; Shamuth of the pipes-the celebrated composer and musician, was sitting in the corner of the huge fire-place, with a tumbler of punch within reach of his hand, preparing his instrument; and squeaking, and puffing, and blowing in the most approved preparatory style. [pp. 338-339]
"...-Come, McGovery, there’s Biddy waiting for you to take her out-and here’s Shamuth waiting, you
don’t think, man, he’d begin till you’re ready." [p.340]
And now Shamuth-his prefatory puffs having been accomplished-struck up "Paddy Carey" with full force and energy. As this was the first dance, no one stood up but the two couple above named.... [p. 341]
"Ah! but see the Captain, Kathleen; it’s he that could give the time to the music; a’nt he and Mary well met-you must but more wind into the pipes, Shamuth, before they’re down." [p. 342]
[Denis tires of dancing] "Here, Corney, come and take my place;" and Denis deposited a penny in a little wooden dish by the piper’s side. [p.343]
vol. 2, pp. 14-15 Ussher was now dancing with Feemy-and the fun had become universal and incessant; there were ten or twelve couple dancing on the earthen floor of Mrs. Mehan’s shop. The piper was playing those provocative Irish tunes, which, like the fiddle in the German tale, compel the hearers to dance whether they wish it or no; with a rapidity and energy which shewed itself in the streams of perspiration, running down from the performer’s faces. ...and oh! the precision, regularity and energy of those motions! although the piper played with a rapidity which would have convinced the uninitiated of the impossibility of dancing to the time....
vol. 2, p. 30 The dancing and drinking were going on as fast as ever; Shamuth, the piper, was in the same seat, with probably not the same tumbler of punch beside him, and was fingering away at his pipes as if the feeling of fatigue was unknown to him....
Series number : 58
Title The Purcell papers / Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu ; with an introd. by Robert Lee Wolff.
Author Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan,1814-1873.
Notes Reprint of the 1880 ed. published by R. Bentley, London.
vol. 1, p. 105 [From the story "The Last Heir of Castle Connor"] [The heir returns] Bonfires blared far and near-bagpipes roared and fiddles squeaked; and, amid the thundering shouts of thousands, the carriage drew up before the castle.
vol. 2, p. 269 [From the chapter "Scraps of Hibernian Ballads," the ballad ‘Phaudhrig Crohoore’]
An’ the O’Briens, av coorse, gathered strong on that day,
An’ the pipers and fiddlers were tearin’ away;
There was roarin’, an’ jumpin’, an’ jiggin’, an’ flingin’,
An’ jokin’, an’ blessin’, an’ kissin’, an’ singin’,
An’ they wor all laughin’-why not to be sure?-
How O’Hanlon came inside of Phaudhrig Crohoore.
An’ they all talked an’ laughed the length of the table,
Atin’ an’ dhrinkin’ all while they wor able,
And with pipin’ an’ fiddlin’ an’ roarin’ like tundher,
Your head you’d think fairly was splittin’ asunder....
vol. 3, p. 15 [From the story "Jim Sulivan’s Adventures"] ...an’ if the wake was plisint the weddin’ was tin times as agreeable, an’ all the neighbors that could make their way to it was there, an’ there was three fiddlers an’ lots iv pipers, an ould Connor Shamus* [* Literally, Cornelius James-the last name employed as a patronymic. Connor is commonly used. Corney, pronounced Kurny, is just as much used in the South, as the short name for Cornelius.] the piper himself was in it-by the same token it was the last weddin’ he ever played music at, for the next mornin’, whin he was goin’ home, bein’ mighty hearty an’ plisint in himself, he was smothered in the snow, undher the ould castle; an’ by my sowl he was a sore loss to the bys an’ girls twenty miles round, for he was the illigantest piper, barrin’ the liquor alone, that ever worked a bellas.
vol. 3, pp. 288-289 [From the story "Billy Malowney’s Taste of Love and Glory"] ...there was not sich a weddin’ as that in the counthry sinst. .... Pat Hanlon, the piper, had a faver out iv it; an’ Neddy Shawn Heigue, mountin’ his horse the wrong way, broke his collarbone....
Series number : 60
Title: The house by the churchyard / J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Author: Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan,1814-1873.
Notes: Reprint of the 1863 ed. published by Tinsley, London.
vol. 1, pp. 74-75 O’Flaherty...was now in a saturnine vein of sentiment, discoursing of the charms of his peerless mistress, the Lady Magnolia Macnamara-for he was not one of those maudlin shepherds who pipe their loves in lonely glens and other sequestered places, but rather loved to exhibit his bare scars, and roar his tender torments for the edification of the market-place.
vol. 3, p. 37 As Moggy turned the corner, and got out of the cold wind under its friendly shelter, she heard a stentorian voice, accompanied by the mellifluous drone of a bagpipe, concluding in a highly decorative style the last verse of the "Colleen Rue."
Respect for this celestial melody, and a desire to hear a little more of what might follow, held Moggy on the steps, with the knocker between her finger and thumb, unwilling to disturb by an unseasonable summons the harmonies from which she was, in fact, separated only by the thickness of the window and its shutter. And when the vocal and instrumental music came to an end together with a prolonged and indescribable groan and a grunt from the songster and the instrument, there broke forth a shrilly chorus of female cackle, some in admiration and some in laughter....
vol. 3, p. 42 [At a wedding] ...the treaty was ratified, and the bagpipe and the bridegroom, in tremendous unison, splitting the rafters with "Hymen, Hymen, O Hymenoee!"
In the midst of this festive celebration, his reverence was summoned to the hall, already perfumed with the incense of the geese, the onions, the bacon browned at the kitchen-fire, and various other delicacies, toned and enriched by the vapours that exhaled from the little bowl of punch which, in consideration of his fatigues, stood by the elbow of the piper.
When the holy man had heard Moggy’s tale, he scratched his tonsure and looked, I must say, confoundedly bored.
"Now Moggy, my child, don’t you see, acuishla, ‘tisnt to me you should ‘a’ come; I’m here, my dear, engaged," and he dried his moist and rubicund countenance, "in one of the sacred offices iv the Church, the sacrament, my dear, iv"-here Mahony and the piper struck up again in so loud a key in the parlour...and the conclusion of the sentence was overwhelmed in "Many’s the bottle I cracked in my time."
vol. 3, p. 310 [At a wedding] There were pipers and fiddlers beside for rustic merry-makers under the poplars.
Series number : 61
Title: Laurence Bloomfield in Ireland. a modern poem / William Allingham
Author: Allingham, William,1824-1889.
Notes: Reprint of the 1864 ed. published by Macmillan, London.
p. 187 [At a fair]The small boy bangs the loud big drum again,
The wheezy pipes renew their shrill refrain,
The shining ladies waltz with wondrous grace,
Loud laughs Tom Fool, and twists his painted face....
Series number : 62
Title: Maxwell Drewitt / Charlotte Riddell ; with an introd. by Robert Lee Wolff.
Author: Riddell, J. H.,Mrs.,1832-1906.
Notes: Reprint of the 1865 ed. published by Tinsley Brothers, London.
vol. 1, pp. 122-123 [Mention of pennywhistles at an election rally] Blue flags and red flags danced in the light breeze; the opposition bands played at one and the same time Garry Owen and God save the King; full-length caricatures of Sache and Pryor were exhibited on every available yard of wall; election ballads were chanted at the extremest pitch of the human voice; there were drums, there were horns, there were Jew’s harps, there were penny whistles, there was every imaginable instrument, there was every imaginable noise.
vol. 2, p. 171 [The young master interrupts a dance] In a moment every dancer stood still, every voice was hushed, and only the piper who had been playing Paddy O’Rafferty went on with his tune, unmindful of the intruder.
"Hush, Jamsie," said one in his ear, "it is the young master;" and the piper stopped.
Although it was summer, a tremendous turf-fire blazed on the hearth, and collected together in the kitchen were a number of pretty young country-girls, young farmers, labourers, and two or three gentlemen’s sons....
There were wooden forms round the room for the convenience of the lookers on; there was whiskey in abundance; one or two dogs lay on the hearth, and the blind piper was accommodated with a seat in a dark corner.
Series Numbers 5 - 38 Series Numbers 39 - 62 Series Number 68 Series Numbers 69 - 75