Union Pipes - Irish Traditional Music Archive

9 COURTNEY’S ‘UNION PIPES’ AND THE TERMINOLOGY OF IRISH BELLOWS-BLOWN BAGPIPES
for him in print, however, ‘Courtenay’ is not a form of the name
found commonly in Ireland, although it was common in the Britain
of his time and is of Norman-French origin. It was the family name
of well known contemporary English aristocrats, Earls of Devon, and
also the name of a prominent contemporary Westminster politician
of Irish birth to whom the piper was once compared. 20 ‘Courtney’ on
the other hand is a surname common in Ireland, even to the present
day, and, as well as also being a form of the Norman-French
Courtenay there, is an anglicised version of more than one Gaelic
surname. 21 Courtney the piper – or his media handler – may have
made the change to an almost identical surname that was known and
accepted in Britain, one with flatteringly topical and aristocratic
overtones. His experiences in the British provinces may have
suggested that a slight change in surname for his London launch
would be advisable. He may likewise have felt that a name-change
would render his Irish pipes more acceptable to the musical public of
the metropolis.
To understand why Courtney or his promoters may have felt this, it
is necessary to know something of the relative positions in 1788
London of Scottish and Irish music; it is mainly within the context of
these ethnic musics that the union pipes would have their British
future. It was Scottish music that had long been popular in London,
in print and on the stage and in general musical culture, not Irish.
There had been a certain fashion for Scottish culture in London since
the accession of James VI and I to the English throne in 1603, and an
increasing number of Scottish melodies were to be found in English
notices of Courtney’s death and his date and place of burial in contemporary
print sources.
20
John Courtenay, born ‘Courtney’ in Co Louth, see Thorne 2004. For the
comparison see below.
21
The surname Courtney is found in various parts of Ireland but principally
clusters in Kerry and adjoining counties and in southern Ulster. In Gaelic it is Ó
Curnáin, Mac Cuarta, etc. (MacLysaght 1996: 65).