R - Comhaltas Archive

hEirea nn ! In every corn er of th e mainstreet, he sa id' bagpipes weresnuffling, violins squ ea king,melancholy flutes blow ing and raggedPaddi es dancing'. Large numbers ofball ad singers were singing and se llingbroadsheets aof their songs.It was at Killarn ey races in 1843 th atTh ackeray mentions having heard thepipes. Thackeray's 'Irish Sketchbook' isfull of hi s preconceived ideas andprejudices but the actual drawings makethe book for me. 'Behind thi s campwere the ca rts of the poor peopl e, w hichwere not allowed to penetrate into thequarter w here the quality ca rs stood.And a little way from the huts aga in, youmi ght see (for you coul d scarcely hear)certain pipers executing their melodiesand inviting peopl e to dance.Toes in Toes outAnything more lugubrious than thedrone of the pipe, or the jig danced toit, or the countenances of th e dancers,and mu sicians, I never saw .... The toeswent in and th e toes went out; th enthere ca me ce rtain mysti c figures ofhands across, and so forth. I never sawless grace, or seemingly less enjoyment,no, not even in a qu adrille. Th e peopl e,however, took a great interest, and it was'Well done, tim ! Step out M iss Brady!'and so fo rth during th e dance. It wascertainly a foreign land to Th ac keray,neither understood nor apprec iated.But the strangest reference to all ot theuse, or misuse of Irish pipe music,appea rs in a sc holarl y work by Ca nonW illiam P. Burke -' The Irish Pri ests inthe Penal Times' . He is referring to astrange man indeed, a Franciscanturned pri est-hunter, l ames Geogheganby name. He appea red as a w itness forth e 'Popi sh Pl ot' before the PrivyCounci l. In November 1680 he landedin Youghal w ith a Government mandateto make arrests in Ireland of theprincipal 'conspirators'. Th ere he sworeinformations w holesa le aga inst theWaterfo rd cl ergy and gentry. The Dukeof O rm ond provided him w ith moneyand a guard of horsemen.'james Fi tzge rald being sworn etc 22ndDecember 1680, sayeth Th at l amesGeoghegan formerl y a ffryer came to hishouse at Maddistown the 11 th instant ina violent manner w ith eight horsemenand a piper pl aying before him late inthe evening.' He threatened Mrs38Fitzgera ld w ith a carbin e, but findingthe man of the house away, went offand returned next day, w ith a pri est hehad captured en route. The priest wasreleased by Geoghegan on payment of32/6d and his chalice and sac red oilswere returned.Fitzgerald also sa id th at Geoghega ntook a horse, saddle and bridle fromhim 'on pretence th at he looked li ke ayou ng ffryer' . Geoghega n th en so ld thehorse for a guinea in Ath y. Anotheraccount from one of his own guard oftroopers says 'On Friday night atKildare he lay at the Inn and directedth e Horsmen to be w ith him by 70'c inthe mornin g and accordingly theyattended him from th at howre on horsebac ke untill about 3 or 4 a Clock onthe aftern oon, all w hich time he thesa id Geoghega n was drinking w ithseve rall persons of the Towne and hada piper pl aying to him'.The music-l oving villain brought twopri ests before a justi ce of the Peace andgot a gaol order for them. Then heblotted out the name of one of themand released him on hi s payment of 40shillings. He se ized books in a desertedfri ary nea r Tullamore and so ld them atKilleigh for 15/-. In another fri ary w hereth e monks had fled he took £2 0 of £30sayi ng , it was a free pri ze'.Greed seems to have been thi s stra ngeperson's main moti vati on. I have afee ling th at going to catch a pri est w itha piper in full blast to announce hisarri val was hi s way of saying 'get outfast, or if you cannot, have your bri be inyour fist w hen I get there' ..... Were thepipes ever put to a more degrading use?-----­DANCINGt~~CROSSROADSOver 30 Champion who are also from the cast of"Riverdance the Show ", perform for you 30 favoriteCeili Dances. Perfect for those planning to take theirTCRG and TMRF.Music performed by somemost popular Irish musicians today.Such as Alan Kelly, Jim Higgins, Eilish Egan, Tony Davoren, and more!To Obtain a copy call Toll Free 1-877-609·0944 Or E-Mail USAtThomondgat@aol.comVideo will soon be available in pal format.