33
The Double Chanter Bagpipe from English Church Architecture By H.L. Aleyn Wykington Apprentice to Master Stephen of Hunmanby OL For AnTir Arts and Science Championship. March A.S. 47

The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipefrom English Church Architecture

By H.L. Aleyn Wykington

Apprentice to Master Stephen of Hunmanby OL

For AnTir Arts and Science Championship. March A.S. 47

Page 2: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 1

Table of ContentsTable of Illustrations..................................................................................................................................2The Double Chanter Bagpipe.....................................................................................................................3

Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3Evidence for a Plausible Reconstruction....................................................................................................3

Physical Evidence..................................................................................................................................3Written Evidence...................................................................................................................................4Church Imagery.....................................................................................................................................5

Design to be built.......................................................................................................................................8Chanter..................................................................................................................................................9Drone.....................................................................................................................................................9The Bag...............................................................................................................................................10Decoration...........................................................................................................................................11Tools of the Medieval Bagpipe Maker................................................................................................13

Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................15Bibliography.............................................................................................................................................15

Appendix Bibliography.......................................................................................................................16Glossary of Terms................................................................................................................................17Table – Double Chanter Bagpipes in English Church Architecture....................................................19James Talbot's Double Chanter Bagpipe Measurements from 1695...................................................30Historical Context of the Bagpipe in England.....................................................................................31

Table of Illustrations

Illustration IndexIllustration 1: 17th C dance ballad woodcut..............................................................................................3Illustration 2: Praetorius Madgeburg Bagpipe...........................................................................................4Illustration 3: Praetorius Shepherd's Pipe. To rear.....................................................................................5Illustration 4: Cornwall, Church of St. Nonna. Bench end, 1510 -1530....................................................7Illustration 5: Elm, Cambridgeshire, All Saints wood carving roof support 1450-1500...........................8Illustration 6: Court Musette in Ivory. 17thC.............................................................................................9Illustration 7: Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alphonso X...........................................................................11Illustration 8: 18th C Grande Cornemuse drone section from private collection...................................12Illustration 9: 18th C Grande Cornemuse chanter stock..........................................................................12Illustration 10: Illustration 1: Hale's Derbyshire Bagpipe, C 1690..........................................................13

Page 3: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2

The Double Chanter Bagpipe

Introduction

A recurring theme in ecclesiastic architecture is the image of divine, secular and mythical creatures as musicians. One instrument, the bagpipe, appears in church decor more often in England than on the Continent. In fact, with the exception of one woodcut, it does not appear in England outside

of the sacred setting1. This image is from an English broadside from the 19th C that claims to be using an image from the 17th Century2. While this is by nature suspect, it does have the correct appearance.

Curiouser, this type of bagpipe is not the common single drone with a single chanter variety found in great numbers in illuminated manuscripts through out Europe, but the far stranger double chanter pipe. This anomaly has sparked interest in pipers of English descent as to if this is a quintessentially English form of bagpipe and if there is sufficient information to build and play such an instrument.

The scope of this project will include analysis of the carvings of double chanter bagpipes in English churches with reference to existing information on the subject. The final result will be plausible reconstruction of a double chanter bagpipe as it was likely to have existed in England during the late medieval period.

Evidence for a Plausible Reconstruction

Physical EvidenceAs is the case for most musical instruments of the middle ages, very few physical remains have

been located that are unequivocally parts of bagpipes. The dream of finding an intact pipe from the period is still just that. A dream3. That said, occasionally parts are unearthed that MAY be parts of bagpipes. Unfortunately this can depend on bias by the one who interprets the find. One such part was found at Weoley Castle in 1938. Though the artifact survives, owing to the war, all notes and drawings were destroyed in bombing, so how it sat in-situ and any well intentioned changes made to it are entirely speculation. But Anthony Baines asserts that it is in fact a drone from a smallpipe, very similar

1 Merryweather, John. "Out of the woodwork -new music inspired by old church furniture.." Devon Life. (January 2006): 72-73. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <www.merryweathers.org.uk/merryweather/pdfs/marwood.pdf>.

2 Cannon, R.D. "Bagpipes in English Works of Art." Galpin Society Journal. 42. (August 1982): 10-31. 3 Merryweather J.W. (2002). Regional bagpipes: history or bunk? EFDSS Newsletter Summer 2002, 9-12.

Illustration 1: 17th C dance ballad woodcut

Page 4: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 3

to the Swedish bagpipe4. It was bored with a hand augur and carved with a knife to shape rather than using a lathe.

Nothing would be better than to have a piece that was beyond a doubt a bagpipe chanter from period. Even a small fragment with an intact section of bore would give us the ability to replicate the rest of the chanter with very good accuracy. Till then, we will have to get as close as possible by studying external profiles.

Written Evidence

The case for a double chanter bagpipe from recorded evidence is very slim, primarily coming from one important document. James Talbot of Christ Church, Oxford came into possession of two “old Scotch bagpipes” and in 1695 recorded their measurements5. Those of the first are nearly identical (falling easily within the range of error expected with the type of measurement system Talbot uses,) to the un-keyed Northumbrian Smallpipe. The second is of a double chanter pipe with a drone! These provide the oldest measurements in the world, of any bagpipes. That they give us not just one, but examples of both single and double chanter pipes is almost miraculous.

That these measurements are from 45 years after the general scope of the SCA period is offset by the mention that these are old but playable bagpipes. This likely places them back in period. The measurements and more information on these pipes are available in the appendix of this essay.

The double chanter bagpipe is extremely difficult to pick out in writings of the period as bagpipes were just referred to as bagpipes, without differentiation as per type. The other difficulty in

picking out not just a double-piper, but any bagpiper, is that in period the word piper referred to anyone who played any woodwind. It is only today we use piper to exclusively mean bagpiper.

Possibly the only other mention of the double pipe is in Germany by Micheal Praetorius, who includes a one in his work Singtama Musicum from 16106. He does however mention in the accompanying text that he found this to be an unusual instrument, not of the common type.

In the archbishop's court at Magdeburg I have seen a strange sort of bagpipe. It was somewhat larger than the Shepard's pipe, and pitched a third lower, having two drones, but two chanters at the bottom, one for the left hand, the other for the right. Each chanter has three holes above and a thumb hole beneath with the left hand having g,a,b,c,d and the right hand d,e,f,g,a and so a pleasant duet or two part music can be played.7

The type of drone connection and number of sections on the drones does lead to the idea that this is a double chanter variation on the

4 Baines, Anthony. "The Wooden Pipe from Weoley Castle." Galpin Society Journal. 26.May (1973): 144-145. 5 Cocks, William A., and F.S.A. Scot. "James Talbot's Manuscript. (Christ Church library music MS 1187.) III Bagpipes."

Galpin Society Journal. 5. (March 1952): 44-47 6 Praetorius, Micheal. Syntagma Musicum - De Organographia. 1618CE. Translation Kite-Powell, Jeffery T. Oxford University Press, 2004. 7 Praetorius

Illustration 2: Praetorius Madgeburg Bagpipe

Page 5: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 4

Shepherd's pipe. (illustration 3 beside) It could be that the capabilities of the Shepherd's pipe was extended by use of a second chanter. If this is so, it does give us a glimpse into the development of the double pipe.

Bagpipers had many guises through the period. The piper could be found as per the many illuminations of the Annunciation of Christ, playing in the field to their flocks8. That same piper might out of season be the same man playing for coin at parties and gatherings such as is seen in wood cuts by Albrecht Duerer. They could also be found working as town waites as is recorded in the more northerly English shires9 or as retainers to kings, thus covering the entire gamut of medieval life.

Church ImageryEngland is rich in bagpipe imagery in its churches, most of which

appeared during the great period of English church construction during the 15th and 16th centuries10. Unfortunately only a fraction is of double pipes. During the Reformation when so much of the iconography was lost from English churches, the pipes were spared. This is less likely from sentiment, than from them not being easily accessible. Most of the carvings are tucked away in the churches, often hidden in the gloom above, or incorporated as part of the architecture itself, for example the carving at Elm. To remove the latter would result in the collapse of the building!

Thus today we have a rich assortment of images to draw from. Forty two sculptures of double chanter bagpipes are known today11. Images of all of these instruments are included in the appendix. The majority are variations on a theme, or are gargoyles, which given their sameness, were likely reproduced from pattern books rather than real instruments. This does however leave us with enough good examples to work out how the instruments functioned, and reconstruct one.

One danger that must be remembered when reconstructing from art work, is that these images are not plans. They are there to enhance a building or tell a story, not so that the instrument may easily be constructed from this information.

Art historians have gradually learned to accept the fact that 'realism' in the visual arts is an elusive phantasm. Potential iconographers of the performing arts, too, should realize that hardly any image can be taken at face value12.The instruments for purpose of analysis fall into the broad categories of long chanters and short

chanters. The short chanters fall further into conical profile and cylindrical profile, whereas the long chanters are all much the same and could represent an actual instrument in their detail.

It must be noted that just because a chanter shows a conical external profile, it does not mean 8 On his webpage, bagpipe historian Dr. John Merryweather talks about his experiences playing for his sheep and how

they would gather to him when ever he played and follow him anywhere, so long as he kept playing. So perhaps it is not just a fantasy that we are shown in the illuminations of the annunciation.

9 Merryweather, John. "Regional Bagpipes: History or Bunk?." English Folk and Dance and Song Society Newsletter. (Summer 2002): 9-12 10 Merryweather, John. "Early Bagpipes in English Churches." Chanter. The Journal of the Bagpipe Society. n. page. Web.

14 Feb. 2012. <www.merryweathers.org.uk/merryweather/pdfs/pipedown.pdf>. 11 This is largely due to the enthusiasm of the members of the Bagpipe Society of England who love to play “spot the bagpipe” while travelling about the country.

12 Heck, T.H. Picturing Performance. New York: University of Rochester Press, 1999.

Illustration 3: Praetorius Shepherd's Pipe. To rear

Page 6: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 5

that the internal bore is actually conical. From modern examples, dating back to the 18th century, makers tend to produce even cylindrical bored chanters in a conical profile. This not only has a pleasing appearance, but is actually easier for the piper to play than a purely cylindrical exterior. It feels nice in the hands and allows an easier reach.

Following are examples of the instrument types. Please refer to the Appendix for a complete listing of all known English double chanter bagpipes, in a table detailing the analysis of their morphology.

Below are the results of analyzing those instruments.

Long Chanters Drones present in Chanter stock chanter bell taper

12 4 of 12 Staggered: 2

Squared & flat: 3

None visible: 7in 1 case the chanters are staggered, but no stock is visible.

Slight flare: 5

Trumpet: 1

Conical: 1

Conical: 4

Slight taper: 5

Parallel: 3

Conclusion: the typical long chanter bagpipe has no drone, a non-staggered chanter set up a slight taper to parallel profile with parallel squared and flat stocks, and finally a slight flare to the chanter.

Short Chanters cylindrical profile

Drones present in Chanter stock chanter bell Double pipe or double chanter pipe

9** 4 Of 9 Large round: 1

None visible: 8

Slight flare: 2

Sole: 1

None: 5 ( 1 plus 4 double bore pipes)

4

Short Chanters conical profile

Drones present in Chanter stock chanter bell Double pipe or double chanter pipe

19** 5 Of 19 Large round: 2

None visible: 17

Slight flare: 5

Trumpet: 4

Conical: 2

None: 9

0

**Note that 3 of the 31 are too damaged to glean useful chanter information from

Conclusion: the typical short chanter double bagpipe is more likely to be a conical bored chanter with no drone, no chanter bell. The stock type is unknown.

Once the statuary is analyzed, it can be seen that though there are twice as many carvings of short chanter double bagpipes, the information is inconsistent or outright missing through omission on

Page 7: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 6

the part of the artist. However, in the long chanter double bagpipes the information is fairly consistent and complete, with only the type of chanter stock being a toss up.

Why is the data from the larger set inconsistent? Of them 10 are gargoyles, 5 are animals, 3 are badly broken and 7 are so naively carved as to virtually useless. That is a whopping 25 out of 28 that are of minimal usefulness. The long chanter set on the other hand has 2 gargoyles, and one naive for 3 out of 12. In the light of this, it does seem that the long chanter set is the more useful to work up a pipe from.

Following are the two best candidates for reconstruction:

The image to the left has been used in resent years for reconstruction by John Goodacre as it does give so much information.

Here you can see two parallel chanters, conical in profile with apparently a slight taper when viewed in person.

They are very slightly flaring bells at the end of the chanters, small enough so as to not interfere with each other.

The chanter stocks are staggered, This is usually done so that it is easier to reach the lower hand on a long reach. Here however, the opposite has been done, making the reach even harder! This is most likely an artist's error.

The cylinder behind the piper is the topic of much discussion. It is most likely not a drone, this is a very awkward position for one to be able to tune it. But is most likely a carry case with a visible stopper, slung over the piper's shoulder. His outfit is of interest as it is of a type often seen worn by city waites in this period13. This adds some veracity to the image as at least part of it is not fanciful.

13 Merryweather J.W. (2001). English two-chanter bagpipes. Galpin Society Journal. LIV 62-75. pg 64

Illustration 4: Cornwall, Church of St. Nonna. Bench end, 1510 -1530

Page 8: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 7

Though the player is fanciful, the pipes here ring quite true. The chanters are staggered once again. They are parallel to each other with a slight taper.

The bells are just a slight flare that does not interfere with the other chanter.

The chanter stock is not visible unfortunately.

This one is equipped with a drone. Note the cord on the drone, this is a feature used on bagpipes to link the sections of a long drone together for safety. It also serves a decorative purpose. In my experience of a life involved with bagpipes, I have yet to see a two section drone linked together so, they are more likely to have nothing, or a banner flying from them. This is a feature exclusive to a three part drone.

The drone has a large bell that is curved forward. This could indicate a cow horn or simply that the artist ran out of room on the roof truss and curved it to suit himself.

The player is the lord of miss-rule14, the custom of the fool's feast was taking off at this point. With that in mind it could be said that this is a human in costume for the day.

Design to be builtThere are many decisions to make when construction of a bagpipe that has not existed for over

six hundred years. The biggest stumbling block being that while we have the shape and some indications of length, statuary can not give us the internal bore structure. This is where the maker's experience with bagpipes comes in, to fill in the missing gaps.

What do we have to work with? Analysis of the instruments gives some indications of what a double chanter bagpipe might have been like. The problem being the instrument that is extrapolated from that data is always held in the hands of an angel or gargoyle.

The best of them is the gilded pipes of the angel at Manchester Cathedral. Unfortunately this statue has been repaired and changed, even re-gilded on many occasions15 rendering it useless as an example, even if it were not already suspect for its subject matter, which leaves us in the realm of possible fantasy by the artist. Gargoyles especially are suspect as the more you look at gargoyle pipers,

14 Merryweather J.W. (2001). English two-chanter bagpipes. Galpin Society Journal. LIV 62-75 pg 6515Merryweather J.W. (2001). English two-chanter bagpipes. Galpin Society Journal. LIV 62-75 pg 66

Illustration 5: Elm, Cambridgeshire, All Saints wood carving roof support 1450-1500

Page 9: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 8

the more you recognize a sameness about them. I suspect either a pattern book was in use, or there was a tradition of training that lead the student to reproduce the same type of image as the master.

I am continually drawn back to two images. The Alternun and the Elm pipers that are discussed earlier in this paper. The first showing what is likely a human Waite, the second the “Lord of Miss-rule” from the Fool's Feast. The pipes are both so vividly, and from the point of view of a builder and player, believably constructed. In my experience in reconstruction of instruments, these two fit my criteria for beginning a build that I am sure will end up with a functional instrument.

In both instruments, the chanters are staggered, allowing an easier reach to play. The hands are not placed ham-fistedly side by side, but in natural playing positions. On the Elm the drone has cording that is used to hold drone sections together, an item I have noted to be usually neglected in iconography. The prime fault with the Elm piper is the lack of a visible chanter stock. There is a hint when zoomed in on the image, of which may be a side by side staggered chanter stock. The problem being that unless I could examine the image personally and up close, I can not say with 100% surety that it is so. The Alternun image on the other hand allows you to clearly see the side by side chanter stocks. These appear to be of the type used on the French courtly bagpipes of the Musette family.

ChanterThe chanter is the melody part of the instrument

and thus the part that needs the most consideration before beginning work. One thing with chanter construction, there are limits to how long it can be, before human hands cannot span the distance between the finger holes. This is much the same problem with the larger recorders. The solution for this on a bass recorder is to fit is with keys. There is no indication that keys were actually fitted to the instruments in question. This leaves us with the necessity of having a long chanter, that hands can span. I have actually made such a thing. A few years ago I was asked to make an alto range bagpipe. This took me most of a year of experimentation to get right. The chanter is at the absolute limit of what a hand can span in reasonable comfort, without the use of keys. It is also in appearance - when played - of about the length of the chanters in the pipes in question. I and others who now possess copies of this pipe, have also found this instrument excellent for playing the dance tunes of Playford, as many fall within the range of this instrument. Given this, and the theory that a doubled chanter was developed from a single chanter instrument, I have decided to go ahead and use the internal geometry and reed of my Lutrell Psalter inspired bagpipes for the chanter. The chanter would further have a narrowly flaring bell as per the Elm instrument.

DroneAs a life long piper, I love drones; just the feel of a deep bass at the back of a tune is an absolute

delight to me. However, drones appear in only 4 out of 12 of the long type double chanter images. In the case of the two in question, one definitely has a drone, the other is much debated. I myself believe the oddity in the Alternun image is out of position to be a useful drone. Considering the workmanship of the rest of the image, it is far too clumbsy have been intended to be a drone. It is more likely a carry

Illustration 6: Court Musette in Ivory. 17thC

Page 10: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 9

case with a bung on top to hold in the pipes.

In light of these, and that I intensely dislike not having a complete picture; I have decided to build the instrument in two stages. The first stage, to be presented at Kingdom A&S, will be without a drone. The drone will then be added to the instrument after the two chanter variant has been worked with for some time. This will allow testing of both the Altarnun and Elm instruments.

The BagThe bag may seem a trivial decision, but it is the heart of what makes a bagpipe. Bag types fall

basically into two groups:

• Whole animals with the various instrument parts stuffed into leg openings and the head and anus sewn shut, often with the fur still on. They may or may not be tanned.16 The most common hide for this type is the goat. Goat, Gaida, Gaita, Bock and many other variations of these names are used for a widespread group of bagpipes. The words in fact do translate as goat17. This type is only seen today in Eastern Europe and Tunisia.

• Sewn bags. These bags are cut from tanned leather, until recent times primarily of Sheep or Goat18. In Beverley Cathedral the sculptures are done well enough that the seams can be actually seen.19

◦ The sewn bags are further divided into P bags, which have a rounded back and if placed down look like the letter P; and the sausage bag, commonly used in the Great Highland Bagpipe today.

I have chosen to make a P bag, as this type appears on the English statuary in question, when it is discernible. Very clear images of these bags are viewable at Beverley Cathedral20.

Continuing with the Beverley statues, the Montagu states that it is possible that the visible seam is not a bag seam, but a woven bag cover seam21. Bag covers are in common use in western bagpipes. This is to protect the bag and to keep any potential leaks of the seasoning (used to seal the bag from leaking) onto clothing. This is not an uncommon occurrence with traditional seasons.

16 I have heard a number of complaints from members of the amateur bagpipe maker's list about pipes bought from eastern Europe and Tunisia that they are fine in their native habitat, but as soon as you take them back to the U.K. They begin to decay and smell.

17 Podnos, Theodor H. Bagpipes and their Tunings. 2nd ed. Detroit Michigan: Information Coordinators, Inc., 1976. pg 4418 I can personally attest to the change in modern days to tanned cow hide, sometimes called elk hide, though it is not. It

happened in my early years as a piper in the very early 1970s. The problem was in the very very dry inland climate where piping of North America where piping was flourishing, the sheep skin bags our pipes were supplied with dried and cracked in only a few weeks. Quickly a home grown industry of cow skin bags grew up and has actually become the standard today.

19 Montagu, Gwen, and Jeremy Montagu. "Beverly Minster Reconsidered." Early Music. 6.3 (July 1978): 401-415. Pg 40320 Ibid pg 403, 410, 411, 41421 Montagu, Gwen, and Jeremy Montagu. "Beverly Minster Reconsidered." Early Music. 6.3 (July 1978): 401-415. pg 403

Page 11: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 10

Bag covers can be viewed on many of the pipes shown in the Cantigas de Santa Maria – Alphonso X. This image (illustration 7, right) shows what could be interpreted as either a bag cover with fringes or a cord net over the leather, ending in fringes. While decorative, the latter would move about and be very uncomfortable, so I am inclined to conclude it is a bag cover; either woven this way, embroidered, or a form of piping/cording has been added to the surface. Bag covers are also noted to have been made from silk or velvet22 and to have been dyed in bright colours, commonly red green or blue23.

DecorationDecoration on an instrument from period is a

difficult subject. The biggest factor being that we have next to no instruments of any type surviving from before the late 17th century. The most common argument is we have instruments decorated in paint and metals from before period, and we have them afterwards, so the best we can say is they did not likely stop just because it was the middle ages! By chance one and only one bagpipe survived from the period, the Ambras Castle pipe C1580. This pipe is mounted with pewter and its shuttle drone with ivory slides24. An inventory by Archduke Ferdinand II in 1596, documents 'ain sackhpfeifen mit silber beschalagen.' A bagpipe with silver added on25.

Bagpipes lend themselves primarily to the addition of mounts. These are pieces originally intended to prevent cracking from the repeated wet-dry cycles of playing and storing. Examination of any museum collection will show a variety of materials used. Ivory, silver, brass, pewter and sometimes decorative woods have all been used. A quick survey of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts online, shows mounts of silver, ivory and pewter in the 18th & 19th centuries.

In Illustration 5, a court musette from the 17th century shows that sometimes the entire instrument might be of ivory. The expense would be such that it is likely only the highest level of society would possess such an instrument. It would follow that the more affluent the level of society the instrument was meant for, the rarer and more expensive the mounts, and indeed the “wood” for it, would be. Whereas I would love to mount a set of pipes with ivory and silver, my purse says I warrant less expensive ingredients. I chose to use silver pewter. This is a pewter alloy with a small percentage of silver, that is said to yield a higher sheen and not be prone to greying, as regular pewter tends to do.

Pewter, though less expensive, lends itself to an interesting technique, not possible with more prestigious metals. It can be cast into inset carvings in the instrument. Masters of this technique have been able to inlay the most amazing patterns into the wood, by hot casting the pewter into the wood. 22 Sachs, Curt. The History of Musical Instruments. Unabridged reproduction. New York: Dover Press - W.W. Norton &

Co., 2004 original 1940. pg 28323 Baines, Anthony. Woodwind Instruments and their History. 1st ed. W.W. Norton and co: New York, 1957. Pg 21424 Sackpfeif mit blasbalg from Ambras Castle, C 1580. The collection of Ancient Musical Instruments, Kunsthistorisches

Museum, Vienna. Number 267. This pipe with a broken cylindrical bore chanter and shuttle drone is of the bellows blown Musette de Coure family of courtly bagpipes.

25 Kopp, James B. "Before Borjon: the French Court Musette to 1672." Galpin Society Journal. 58. (May 2005): 3-37, 210-213. pg 17

Illustration 7: Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alphonso X

Page 12: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 11

This is not without risk however, as commonly the pewter can cause some cracking or chipping when the hot metal meets an imperfection or moisture in the wood.

Above is an example from an 18th century Grande Cornemuse. A single chanter, single drone bagpipe in favour with the upper classes of France at the end of period and till the end of the 18th

century. This middle drone section shows the mastery of skill of the pipe maker. It also betrays the limitations of the pewter medium on wood. Upon examination you can see one major and one minor problem where the wood gave way and the pewter flowed. On the left, a fleur de lys is reduced to a blob and on the right the beautiful lattice is disrupted where the maker did not carve away the same depth of material in the one small section as the other, and when it was turned, the pewter was turned away in this spot. Despite the damage, the work made this instrument valuable enough to save for over 3 centuries.

There are few limits to the patterns you can inlay with this technique. I have seen a great many designs and only on modern pipes have I seen a repetition of design. This could be due to so few examples surviving. This when in fact there may have been many examples of common maker or regional designs. However, time has left us with too few to analyze.

The chanter stock (illustration 9) from the above mentioned instrument inspired the pewter work on my own. I took the “crown” ring from the top, and left a larger width of pewter below, that would be turned into two rings. I did not use the three balls or leaf motif but changed it to a single ball that yielded an inlay that gives the appearance of a pearl finial coronet.

On the chanter I chose to use the idea of an inlay on each of the finger holes. This can often be seen in the form of ivory inlaid on the finger holes of many woodwind instruments. I further echoed this on the back of the chanters to give a more balanced visual to the instrument. In this case I decided to go with a much more difficult diamond pattern, rather than the simple circle.

Illustration 8: 18th C Grande Cornemuse drone section from private collection.

Illustration 9: 18th C Grande Cornemuse chanter stock

Page 13: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 12

Tools of the Medieval Bagpipe Maker

Tools for use in bagpipe construction are unlikely to have changed much from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution. Even today, until the introduction of the metal lathe in the maker's shop, tools are simple and basic, and most can be constructed by their user.

The single most important tool of the pipe maker is the lathe. Despite all my research, no one I could contact had found any image or description of a lathe for the construction of bagpipes from earlier than the Victorian period. As I was writing this essay I went though a paper by R.D. Cannon from 1989 about bagpipes in England, and there it was. Beside an image by Hogarth, Hale's Derbyshire Bagpipe circa 169026(Illustration above). This shows the famed piper and pipe maker Hale beside his pipes and his lathe!

There it is, a pipe maker's lathe. While it does not show any means of driving the lathe, it is obvious it is not driven by the simple expedient of wrapping a rope about the piece being turned. But the headstock for the drive has a dowel behind the drive, on which a drive rope could be wound to make it function as a pole lathe. It is also possible the large dark object behind the lathe at the back of the drive dowel is the structure for a wheel. 26 Cannon, R.D. "Bagpipes in English Works of Art." Galpin Society Journal. 42. (August 1982): 10-31. pg 21, left.

Illustration 10: Illustration 1: Hale's Derbyshire Bagpipe, C 1690

Page 14: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 13

Whatever system drove the lathe, having the drive system separate from the piece being turned allows an increase in accuracy of the turning, and the ability to change the drive head from a simple point to perhaps a simple stuff chuck27 to allow on-lathe boring.

One of the issues of making a woodwind is boring the central hole. This is a simple procedure on a modern lathe, but is far more difficult on a period lathe without a stuff chuck. With just a point to drive and hold the piece insecurely from the end, it is impossible to work the boring tool. Instrument maker's D-bits of that time are a scraping tool, not a drill. As such they have to be withdrawn to clear the dust every millimetre or so. If this is done when the piece is only secured by a drive point, the piece will come off the lathe.

Another alternative is to use a loose socket on the poppet end that is bored through. Then you can drive the piece normally from a point, but have it secured from falling at the other end.

You can do both even more securely. A stuff chuck at the drive end, made tight by use of fine thread wrapped about the tenon till the piece fits firmly, and a slightly loose, greased socket at the far end is very secure and very accurate.

While a maker of bowls or spindles needs a limited number of tools, the added complexity of long distance boring requires expansion on that tool set. Among them are:

• D-bit drill – this is nothing but a simple piece of round bar-stock of the diameter of the bore to be made in the instrument. There is nothing complex about this drill, it is simply a scraping edge with a space for the dust to gather on and be withdrawn. They are a matter of but a few minutes of work with a file, but without them you cannot accurately drill the bore. All other drills without exception will eventually follow the wood grain or be deflected by imperfections and exit out the side of the wood blank you are trying to bore. A d-bit ignores grain and imperfections and just cuts straight ahead. Its accuracy is a drift of its own diameter over a distance of 2 feet bored, once one has practised. The d-bit is agonizingly slow however. On a modern lathe it can take over an hour to bore the two feet needed for work on a drone, for example. On a period lathe it is an exercise in masochism. But it still works well. These can be used for all boring needed on a bagpipe.

• Spoon bit. To save a lot of agony pumping a period lathe and using a d-bit to bore stocks and drone tuning slides, spoon bits can be used. This is MUCH faster than a d-bit and any drift over the length is minimized to unimportance by the stiffness of the larger spoon bit drills used. This is easily corrected by centring the bore on the lathe later.

• Chisels. The skew, and a wide flat, are all that are are really needed to turn the bagpipe parts. It is nice to have a gouge to quickly clear away unwanted wood, but you can get by without it. For accurately finishing the chanter or tuning pin, a wide scraping chisel is needed. I made a 3 inch one from an old hand planer blade. These tools work equally well on the wood and pewter inlaid in the instrument.

• Surface finishing.◦ Horsetail grass. Cut and dried locally28.◦ Sawdust, saved from turning the instrument is used for a final buff.

• Bowdrill. Needed to drill the finger holes• Centre punch. A nail works fine

27 The stuff chuck is simply a block with a socket that fits a tenon on the piece you wish to work on, tightly. I often hemp up the piece as if it was ready to go into the bagpipe, thus getting a very tight fit to stabilize the piece. The same hemping idea can be used to fit either a drive point or a stuff chuck to a period type lathe with safety and stability.

28 I was taught the use of horsetail grass in period instrument making during a summer course in lute construction with Master Luthier Grant Tomlinson, 2011.

Page 15: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 14

• Pewtering tools.◦ Melt pot◦ Ladle◦ Mold material. Any flexible material can be used that will not burst instantly into flame

from the heat of the pewter. Heavy paper or an old rawhide drum head can be used. Old parchment would work well. The molding materials can be used many times before being discarded. The prime requisites are flexibility to wrap about the piece, and low flammability. Don't try birch bark. While very flexible it has a disturbing tendency to burst into flame. Not a desirable characteristic as these materials are used to wrap about the instrument piece to be pewtered.

• Carving tools◦ Knife◦ Very sharp chisel point blade

• Files. A variety of small round files are needed to ream the finger holes to the correct size for note and intonation, and a small bent file to undercut the finger holes for fine tuning is very handy.

ConclusionIt has been an interesting and informative journey, working toward building a late medieval two

chanter bagpipe and the tools needed to construct it. I believe I have shown it is possible to make a plausible reconstruction of this genre of instrument and make in in a manner consistent with the period type tools used and the challenges in construction they impose.

The biggest issue was boring on a pole lathe, and with the discovery of the lathe in “Hale's Bagpipe” the question of how this can be done in a period manner becomes that much clearer.

Have I completed the task I set myself? Perhaps we should let the instrument speak for itself.

Bibliography

Cannon, R.D. "Bagpipes in English Works of Art." Galpin Society Journal. 42. (August 1982)

Baines, Anthony. "The Wooden Pipe from Weoley Castle." Galpin Society Journal. 26.May (1973)

Baines, Anthony. Woodwind Instruments and their History. 1st ed. W.W. Norton and co: New York, 1957.

Cocks, William A., and F.S.A. Scot. "James Talbot's Manuscript. (Christ Church library music MS 1187.) III Bagpipes." Galpin Society Journal. 5. (March 1952):

Heck, T.H. Picturing Performance. New York: University of Rochester Press, 1999.

Kopp, James B. "Before Borjon: the French Court Musette to 1672." Galpin Society Journal. 58. (May 2005): 3-37, 210-213.

Merryweather J.W. (2001). English two-chanter bagpipes. Galpin Society Journal. LIV 62-75

Merryweather J.W. (2002). Regional bagpipes: history or bunk? EFDSS Newsletter Summer 2002, 9-12.

Page 16: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 15

Merryweather, John. "Early Bagpipes in English Churches." Chanter. The Journal of the Bagpipe Society. n. page. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <www.merryweathers.org.uk/merryweather/pdfs/pipedown.pdf>.

Merryweather, John. "Out of the woodwork -new music inspired by old church furniture.." Devon Life. (January 2006): 72-73. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <www.merryweathers.org.uk/merryweather/pdfs/marwood.pdf>.

Merryweather J.W. (2001). English two-chanter bagpipes. Galpin Society Journal. LIV 62-75.

Merryweather, John. "Regional Bagpipes: History or Bunk?." English Folk and Dance and Song Society Newsletter. (Summer 2002): 9-12

Podnos, Theodor H. Bagpipes and their Tunings. 2nd ed. Detroit Michigan: Information Coordinators, Inc., 1976. pg 44 Montagu, Gwen, and Jeremy Montagu. "Beverly Minster Reconsidered." Early Music. 6.3 (July 1978): 401-415. Pg 403 Sackpfeif mit blasbalg from Ambras Castle, C 1580. The collection of Ancient Musical Instruments, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Number 267

Praetorius, Micheal. Syntagma Musicum - De Organographia. 1618CE. Translation Kite-Powell, Jeffery T. Oxford University Press, 2004.

Sachs, Curt. The History of Musical Instruments. Unabridged reproduction. New York: Dover Press - W.W. Norton & Co., 2004 original 1940.

Appendix Bibliography Baines, Anthony. "The Wooden Pipe from Weoley Castle." Galpin Society Journal. 26.May (1973): 144-145.

Cannon, R.D. "The Bagpipe in Northern England." English Folk Dance and Song Society. 2.2 (1971): 127-147. pg 127 Bock, Edward A. "Chaucer's Millers and the Bagpipes." Speculum - pub. Medieaval Academy of America. 29.2, part1 (1954): 239-243.

Canon Galpin. “Olde English Instruments of Music.” 4th ed. London. 1965. Pg 83 Quoting Playford John, Introduction to the Skill of Musick”

Montague, Jeremy P.S. The world of Medieval and Renaissance Musical Instruments. 1st ed. Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 1976.

Rastall, Richard. "Pipers & Waits in English Royal Households, c1290-1475: issues of identity and function." Early Music Exhaulted: Papers in the Memory of Audrey Ekdahl Davidson. 11 5 2007. Kalamazoo Michigan: Western Michigan University , 2007

Page 17: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 16

Appendix

Bibliography.............................................................................................................................................15Appendix Bibliography.......................................................................................................................16Glossary of Terms................................................................................................................................17Table – Double Chanter Bagpipes in English Church Architecture....................................................19James Talbot's Double Chanter Bagpipe Measurements from 1695...................................................30Historical Context of the Bagpipe in England.....................................................................................31

Glossary of Terms

Bell The end part of a drone or chanter. They can range from a blunt end with no flaring to a

big opening resembling the end of a trumpet. Their function is to tune the final note and to amplify the

chanter.

Blowpipe The part of a bagpipe used to blow air into. It consists of a mouthpiece that is resistant to

decay, a tube (often decorated,) and a leather flapper valve to hold the air in the bag.

Bore The hole drilled through the length of a woodwind instrument. The length and diameter

of the bore dictate the tone of the instrument.

Boring The act of drilling a bore. Usually on a lathe.

Chanter The melody making part of the bagpipe.

Drone The part of a bagpipe that makes a single continuous note of harmony on a bagpipe.

These are generally equipped with a single blade reed cut into a segment of cane. Not to be confused

with a the simple reed slip of the more recent clarinet reed.

Hemp Two meanings. Any moisture and rot resitant thread of a natural fiber used to create an

air tightseal on parts of a wood wind instrument. To hemp: the act of winding the hemp onto the joints

of a woodwind instrument.

Page 18: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 17

Mount Metal or secondary woods added to a bagpipe for the purpose of preventing moisture

related cracks from forming, or simply for decoration.

Stock The short and wide bored parts of a bagpipe that are tied directly into a pipe bag. These

are used to form a tight connection for drones, blowpipe and chanter(s) and to act as a protective

windcap for the reeds.

Stuff chuck Essentially just a bagpipe stock designed to hold fast a piece to be turned, when you can

not, or do not want to use a drive point on your lathe.

Page 19: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 18

Table – Double Chanter Bagpipes in English Church Architecture

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

Cornwall, Church of St. Nonna.Bench end, 1510 -1530.Drone like object behind is most likely a carry case, not a drone.

0 Long. side by side stocks, staggered giving uneven chanter lengths

Yesvery slight taper.Visible bells.

Broad Chalke, Dorset, All Saints ChurchConical chanters, single drone, c 1500

1 Long.Side by side stocks

Yesvery faint external taper.Visible bells

Church of st Mary magdelene, chewton mendip. C 1500

0 Longno visible stocks

Yes.

Page 20: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 19

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

Church of St. Giles Wrexham ClwdeC 1500

1 Long no visible stocks

Yesprominent bells

Davidstow,Cornwall, St. David carved bench end c 1500

1 Long no visible stocks

Yeslarge conical bells

Elm, Cambridgeshire, All Saints wood carving roof support 1450-1500

1 with large bell

Longno visible stock.Chanters uneven. Likely uneven stocks.

Yeslarge trumpet belleven

magdalen college oxford. Colleges were ecclesiastic institutes in period. Found as supporters of cabinetC 1600

0 Longsquared flat stock

Yesintegral bell

Page 21: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 20

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

magdalen college oxford. Colleges were ecclesiastic institutes in period. Found as supporters of cabinetC 1600

0 Longno visible stock

Yes integral bellthick with slight taper

Manchester Cathedral. wood carving, stone and giltlate 15th Century

0 Longflat squared stock

YesNo visible taper with slightly flared bells

Shrewsbury, Shropshire, St. Mary's. Wooden high in roof c. 1500

0 Longno visible stock

Yesuneven lengthslight flare to bells

Page 22: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 21

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

st john the baptist, colsterworth, lincolnshireNearly invisible in roofc. 1500

0 LongFlat stock

Yeseven lengthslight bell flare

st peter & st paul, bleadon, sommersetstone gargoyle15thC

0 Longno visible stock

Yeseven lengthslight bell flare

All saints church, hilton, north blandford, dorset.Gargoyle15thC

0 Shortno visible stock

Yesno bell

Beverly MinsterBeverly Yorkshire15th C

0 Shortno visible stock

Yes slight flared bell

Page 23: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 22

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

Cathedral, Wells, Somerset. Ceiling boss15th C

1 Shortno visible stock

Yes

Church of st Mary Richmond, North Yorkshirecrude miserichord, wood.15th C

0 Short no visible stock

Yes double bored

church of st micheal, stinsford, dorsetgargoyle15th C

1 Shortno visible stock

Yeshuge trumpet bells

church of st wendreda, march, cambrigdeshirewooden sculpture.15th C

0 Shortno visible stock

Slight taper with chanter soul.No bell.

Page 24: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 23

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

hexham, northumberland, the abbey14th C

1 Shortno visible stock

Yestrumpet bells.

magdelen college oxford 15thC

1 Uneven lengths.No visible stock

Yeswide trumpet bells.

Marwood, Devon, St. Michael and All Angels. Conical chanters, single drone. Shepherd (annunciation) carved bench end, 1480-1500

1 Shortslight taper conical.Large cylinder stock

YesSlight flared bells

Page 25: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 24

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk. Shepherd (nativity) carved ceiling boss, after 1463

0 Longlarge taper.No visible stock

Yesno bell

Ripon CathedralRipon YorkshireWood. Pigs!15th C

1 Shortno visible stock

Yeslarge tapertrumpet bells

St John the baptist church, yarcombe, devonGargoyle15th C

0 Longno visible stock

Yesbells are extension of the flaring conical bore

St John the baptist church, yarcombe, devonGargoyle15th C

o Longno visible stock

Yesbells are extension of the flaring conical bore

Page 26: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 25

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

St. Austell, Cornwall, Holy Trinity. gargoyle 14th century

1 Long Yessmallish bells

St. Austell, Cornwall, Holy Trinity. gargoyle 14th century

1 Long Yessmallish bells

Stinsford, Dorset, St. Michael.gargoyle, stone carving 14th century

1 Short Yesflaring bells

Warwick, St. Mary, Beauchamp Chapel. painted glass, 1441-62

1 Longcurving

Yesno bell

Page 27: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 26

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

Beverly CathedralBeverly YorkshireStone. 15th C

1 Yes Double, no stock visible

Yes double pipe

Beverly Minster Beverly Yorkshireape playing for dancing bear, woodmisericord 1520

1 Shortno visible stock

Yesslight bell

Beverly Minster Beverly YorkshireStone on wall.15th C

0 Yesno stock visible

no Yes, flattened on front for double bore

Church of St. Eustacius, Tavistockcarving on oak, misericord16th C

1 Shortno visible stock

Yesslight bell

Page 28: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 27

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

Cathedral, Wells, Somerset. Cloistersstone rabbit on ceiling boss16th C

0 Shortno visible stock

Yesslight bell

church of st gregory, marnhull, dorsetGargoyle16th C

1 Shortno stock visible

Yes

Horspath Church, Oxfordshire.16th C

1 Shortlarge round stock

yes

gawsworth church Gargoyle 16thC

0 Yeslarge round stock

doublepipe

Page 29: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 28

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

March, Cambridgeshire, St. Wendreda. Angel wood carving, c. 1500

ShortNo visible stock

Yessole rather than bell

Ripon Cathedral, Rip Yorkshire. Pig, misericord, 1484-94

1 Shortno visible stock

Yes

Beverly Minster Chanters c 1335

1 Yes but missing

? ?

Page 30: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 29

image location & comments drones chanter doubled

chanters separate

chanter(s) conical

chanter(s) cylindrical

llaneilian, Anglesy

Chanters broken or missing

0 Yes only one partial remains.No visible stock

Appear to have been long chanters

St john the baptist, glastonbury, sommersetGargoyle 15th C

chanter type unknown. Broken.

0 ? ?

York Minster. York, Yorkshirewood carving on choir screen

Shortno stock visible

Yes

James Talbot's Double Chanter Bagpipe Measurements from 1695The chanters as measured by Talbot are in the first 4 columns of the following table. Note that

the chanter is not 8 foot long, but the ' means inch and “ eighth inch. Talbot measures the tenon at the

top separately from the chanter, in that he starts from the chanter's shoulder rather than from the top of

Page 31: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 30

the part that sticks into the stock to secure it to the bag, as is the current custom. Thus this length is

added to all of Talbot's measurements. He further complicates measuring by taking the holes that

follow from reference to the preceding hole, rather than returning to the top, which he does for the

remaining holes. This is something often done by amateurs today and rapidly leads to cumulative errors

that would have to be accounted for by experience in building. Unfortunately the distances for the 6th

and 7th holes are illegible. The hole locations can be found should one choose to make this instrument,

by experimentation.

Chanter 1 distance Chanter 2 distance translation

First hole behind 1'.1” 11/8”

To the 2nd 1'.4” 25/8”

to 3d 5” 31/4”

to 4th 5 3/4” 331/32”

t5th 61/2” 5

6th ? 5th Plus ??

7th ? 6th Plus ??

8th 71/4” 7th plus 28/32

Length of Chanters 8' besides ten. 1'.1” 9 1/8”

The instruments above were constructed by Mr. Cocks based on these measurements and he

said he found them quite satisfactory.29 I am also making this pipe as I finish this appendix so we shall

see if Mr Cocks' opinion is correct.

Historical Context of the Bagpipe in England

Bagpipes were popular in England though out the period and could be found in all levels of

29 Cocks & Scot. Pg 47

Page 32: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 31

society from shepherds30 to kings31. They were also in common usage in pilgrimages32, as can be

illustrated in Chaucer and his miller. It was not until after the 16th century that there was a noticeable

decline in popularity and for long after that bagpipes were more associated with Lancashire, Derbyshire

and Yorkshire than the modern association with Scotland33.

From art of the period, it can be observed through out Europe that bagpipes were much of the

same design. Usually a single chanter and a single drone and quite large. With the coming of the 15th

century all that changed, with an explosion of designs that spread rapidly all over the continent.

Suddenly there were bagpipes with new innovations such as multiple drones in different lengths, two

chanters, sometimes separate sometimes with two bores in the same chanter. Further different sizes of

the same pipes also appeared in this period. This allowed what was a limited instrument to be tailored

to the music the musician wished to present34. Eventually with the decline in interest in piping leading

to isolation, this phenomenon lead to the regional examples that survive today.

Of bagpipes as a whole some were very simple indeed and could be made by an unskilled man

with a knife and either naturally hollow wood or bird bone, or with a hot metal rod to burn a bore in

wood. One example of this is the Swedish bagpipe, surviving examples of which in collections are

either executed with great skill or amazing crudeness as evidenced by the Weoley castle pipe

fragment35, but in reconstruction the more humble plays just as well as the more aristocratic.

Other bagpipes found their way into court to be played by or for the aristocracy. For example

James I was a noted piper36 and as early as the rein of Edward III we have records of bagpipers Robert

Barber and John de Morleyns being sent from his household for lessons on the continent37. In the

inventory of Henry VIII's possessions38, references are found to 5 bagpipes of “ivory and black ivory.”

Meaning most likely that the instruments had decorative mounts of elephant ivory with possibly black

ivory being African Blackwood or Ebony. It is also possible his instruments were of ivory with

30 Cannon, R.D. "The Bagpipe in Northern England." English Folk Dance and Song Society. 2.2 (1971): 127-147. pg 12731 Bock, Edward A. "Chaucer's Millers and the Bagpipes." Speculum - pub. Medieaval Academy of America. 29.2, part1

(1954): 239-243. pg 23932 Block, Edward A. pg 24133 Cannon, R.D. "The Bagpipe in Northern England." pg 12734 Montague, Jeremy P.S. The world of Medieval and Renaissance Musical Instruments. 1st ed. Woodstock, New York:

Overlook Press, 1976. pg 7635 Baines, Anthony. "The Wooden Pipe from Weoley Castle." Galpin Society Journal. 26.May (1973): 144-145. 36 Podnos, Theodor H. Bagpipes and their Tunings. 2nd ed. Detroit Michigan: Information Coordinators, Inc., 1976. pg 3737 Rastall, Richard. "Pipers & Waits in English Royal Households, c1290-1475: issues of identity and function." Early

Music Exhaulted: Papers in the Memory of Audrey Ekdahl Davidson. 11 5 2007. Kalamazoo Michigan: Western Michigan University , 2007

38 Cannon, R.D. "The Bagpipe in Northern England." pg 129

Page 33: The Double Chanter Bagpipe - Aleyn's Instruments€¦ · The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 2 The Double Chanter Bagpipe Introduction A recurring theme in ecclesiastic

The Double Chanter Bagpipe By Aleyn Wykington 32

Blackwood or possibly Rhino horn mounts. There are in collections examples surviving today from the

baroque period of smaller bagpipes executed entirely in ivory.

Pipes were not just played for the aristocracy, but by them. From documentation of the period,

we can see that King Henry VIII kept bagpipers on as his personal musicians and they travelled with

him, though in what capacity they played and the type of bagpipe is unknown. There also exist today,

courtly pipes played by the aristocracy such as the extremely complex and advanced double chanter

Musette de Court and the simpler single chanter great pipe the Grande Cornemuse. The former dating

from the late 16thC though they did exist in a simpler form earlier39.

One reference is given us by John Playford, the English dance master. Who mentions meeting a

piper and a fiddler who took turns playing for a herd of deer as they lead them from Yorkshire to

Hampton Court. He mentions how the animals followed the pair as they played, with no other

assistance in herding40. It happens he found the herd as it was being moved to Hampton Court at orders

of Henry VIII. Descendants of that herd are still there today.

Which, while the musick plaid they went forward, when it ceased they all stood still; and

in this manner they were brought out of York-shire to Hampton-Court41.

39 Kopp, James B. "Before Borjon: the French Court Musette to 1672." Galpin Society Journal. 58. (May 2005): 3-37, 210-213 pg 4

40 Cannon, R.D. "The Bagpipe in Northern England." pg 12841 Cannon, R.D. "The Bagpipe in Northern England." pg 128. Also Canon Galpin. “Olde English Instruments of Music.”

4th ed. London. 1965. Pg 83 Quoting Playford John, Introduction to the Skill of Musick”