Irish warpipes (Irish: píob mhór; meaning "great pipes") are a type of musical instrument similar to the Scottish great Highland bagpipe. The term "warpipes" was first used by English speakers. The earliest known use of the Gaelic term "píob mhór" in Ireland appears in a poem written by Seán Ó Neachtain, who lived around 1650 to 1728. In this poem, the bagpipes are called "píob mhór."
History
One of the earliest mentions of the Irish bagpipes appears in a record of the funeral of Donnchadh mac Ceallach, king of Osraige, in 927 CE. A possible first mention of bagpipes being used in war is found in a manuscript written between 1484 and 1487. This manuscript contains an Irish Gaelic version of the story "Fierabras," with the line "sinnter adharca & píba agaibh do tionól bur sluaigh," which means "let horns and pipes be played by you to gather your host." The first clear references to the Irish píob mhór (large Irish bagpipes) are linked to Henry VIII's siege of Boulogne. A list of soldiers called "Kerne" sent to England includes names of pipers, such as "Brene McGuntyre pyper" from "The Baron of Delvene’s Kerne." An entry in Holinshed's Chronicles (1577) from May 1544 describes 700 Irishmen marching through London with bagpipes, darts, and handguns.
In 1581, musician Vincenzo Galilei, father of astronomer Galileo, wrote that the bagpipe "is much used by the Irish: to its sound this unconquered fierce and warlike people march their armies and encourage each other to deeds of valor. With it they also accompany the dead to the grave making such sorrowful sounds as to invite, nay to compel the bystander to weep." In the same year, John Derricke published the poem "The Image of Ireland," which describes the use of pipes to send signals in battle.
A description from Richard Stanihurst's "De Rebus Hibernicis" (1586) explains that the pipes were important in the war with William of Orange. When King James II arrived in Cork City in March 1689, he was greeted with "bagpipes and dancing, throwing their mantles under his horse’s feet." On his way to Dublin, "the pipers of the several companies played the Tune of The King enjoys his own again."
Late-17th-century reports mention the use of pipes during peaceful events, such as playing for hurling teams. However, in the 18th century, it is often hard to tell if references to the pipes describe the píob mhór or another instrument. Some accounts mention pipers in Irish regiments of the British Army, such as a "Barney Thompson" listed in Lord Rawdon's Volunteers of Ireland in New York in 1778. Records suggest he played a bellows-blown (pastoral/Union) bagpipe, not a warpipe.
By the 19th century, the Irish warpipes became rare or forgotten. The píob mhór, while still played by some, was increasingly associated with Scotland. The bellows-blown union or uilleann pipes became the new "Irish pipes." A business directory from 1840 in Dublin lists Maurice Coyne as a maker of Union and "Scotch" bagpipes at 41 James's Street.
Modern instrument
In the second half of the 1800s, the rise of Irish nationalism and Gaelic culture happened around the same time as the return of popularity for the warpipes. The art of playing the pipes grew again until they became widely used by both military groups and civilians. Today, pipe bands similar to the Highland style are a common part of British regiments with Irish honors and the Irish Defence Forces. There are also many local bands in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Irish warpipes played today are the same as the Scottish Highland bagpipe.
Past efforts to create a unique instrument for Irish pipers were not successful in the long term. In the first half of the 1900s, it was common to play pipes with only one tenor drone. This is explained later. Many attempts were made to improve the pipes. The most successful was the "Brian Boru" bagpipe made by London pipe maker Starck. This instrument had a keyed chanter that allowed players to perform a full range of traditional music and a baritone drone, often held with the tenor and bass in a shared part. Few makers produce these pipes today, and only a small number of pipers use them.
Surviving evidence for the original Irish Warpipe tradition
The idea that Irish warpipes were clearly different from Scottish Highland bagpipes before the revival is based on evidence that may not be reliable. Comparing the instruments in Scotland and Ireland is difficult because details like the number of drones and the tuning of old Irish pipes are unclear. No early instruments that could provide physical proof are known to have survived. However, there are reasons to believe that the old Irish and Scottish pipes were similar. Scottish and Irish cultures were not separate, so musical styles and traditions could be shared. At the 1785 Highland Society of London piping competition, a piper named John MacPherson played a piece called "Piobrachd Ereanach an Irish pibrach," which suggests that some "typically Scottish" piping music (piobaireachd, the "classical music of the Highland bagpipe") may have originally come from Ireland.
Some images of Irish mouth-blown pipes exist, but they are often rough or unclear. One example is a painting from around the 16th century in the margin of a missal from the Abbey of Rosgall, now in the Bodleian Library. It shows a piper playing an instrument with two drones and a chanter in the usual positions. The drones are of unequal length, and all pipes have bell-shaped ends that spread out. However, the picture is not detailed and appears unrealistic in proportions.
Another image from Ireland is in a possibly 16th-century manuscript called a dinnseanchus, which is an Irish topographical history. It includes an initial letter shaped like a pig playing the pipes. The instrument has two drones, one longer and one shorter, and the chanter and drones slightly flare at the ends. While the illustration seems somewhat normal in shape, it is too rough to provide more details.
Most historical images of the Irish piob mhor (a type of bagpipe) from outside Ireland look similar enough to suggest they come from a shared source. For example, an illustration from around 1575 by Lucas DeHeere, now in the University of Ghent’s library, shows a boy playing a bagpipe. The image is labeled "Irish Folk as they were attired in the reign of the late King Henry" and depicts two drones in a common stock and a large chanter, all ending with flaring bell-shaped ends. The bag is large and oddly positioned, held under the piper’s right arm while the drones go over the left shoulder. This image may actually show a German/Low Countries "dudelsack," a type of bagpipe more familiar to the artist, who may have copied it from a source similar to those in Derricke’s "Image of Ireland."
Although 16th-century sources often show two-droned pipes, the 20th-century change in Highland pipes by Irish pipers, who removed one tenor drone, may have been a mistake in trying to make the pipes "more Irish." At the time, Scottish Highland pipes also had no more than two drones. There is no evidence of a third drone until the 17th century. A similar image of a piper with two drones appears in a 16th-century Scottish psalter. Like the missal picture, this image is rough and unclear. The tenor drone seems to come from the bass, and the chanter appears too long. None of these images show features that can be clearly identified as specifically "Irish" or "Scottish."