Sunday, April 27, 2008

Leicestershire small pipes

There was an article in the Guardian last Saturday saying that Scottish bagpipes as we know them are a 19th century invention.

I did not find that so surprising. All that shortbread tin version of the Highlands is a 19th century invention, isn't it?

But I was fascinated by a passing reference to the "Leicestershire small pipes". A variety of bagpipes native to this county?

It seems so, but I cannot find any history of the instrument on the net. There is a modern maker, but he lives in Edinburgh.

2 comments:

Tristan said...

There used to be regional styles of bagpipes across the UK.
The only really surviving English pipes are the Northumbrian bagpipes.

I believe they existsed across Europe, the Swedes have pipes with quarter-tones IIRC.

Tom Barney said...

The development of the Scottish bagpipes in the nineteenth century may not only be because of the camping up of a highland tradition then - there was a lot of technical development of (in principle ancient) orchestral woodwind instruments going on then too.