Inglis Collection of printed music > Printed text > Story of the bagpipe

CHAPTER IV.
ANCIENT IRISH BAGPIPES.
Pre-Christian Ireland — the Brehon Laws — A Saga of the seventh
century — The thine or cetharcoire — Gerbert's illustration — The
bagpipe in church — Keeners with pipers in the tenth century
— The Dord Fiansa—Cuan. O'Lochain — Pedal point— Giraldus
Cambrensis — Geoffrey the piper — William the piper — Irish pipers
in Gascony and Flanders — The Irish war-pipes at Calais — Battle
of Falkirk — -The piob mor at Crecy — Statute of Kilkenny — Pipers
admitted to the Dublin franchise.
It has frequently been asserted that the ancient Irish
only borrowed the use of the bagpipe from the Romans,
but the fact is the other way about.
Pre
Archaeologists are now agreed that much *■«,«•
of the Roman civilization was due to the , f ,
Ireland
Celts, and there is not a shadow of doubt
but that the bagpipe was used in pre-Christian Ireland,
whence it was brought to Wales and Scotland.
No better proof of the antiquity of the bagpipe in
Ireland need be adduced than the references to it in the
Brehon Laws of the fifth century. In this
„ . • . , • i , • i .- • Brehon
most ancient corpus special legislation is
enacted as regards the bagpipe, or cuisle.
The word cusle in old Irish — of which the modern form
is cuisle — means the pulsing of the artery in the wrist,
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