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

Story of the Bagpipe
is, the sustaining- of the key-note, or tonic, as an
accompaniment to the melody. Guido gives
_, . a specimen of this primitive form of harmonv
Point .,.„.. , ,,, . .
in his Microtogus^ and the bagpipe drone
may be regarded as the substratum of the modern
harmonic scale.
From the tenth century the bagpipe was gradually
displaced by the harp in the favour of the upper and
middle classes, and hence when Giraldus
- , , Cambrensis visited Ireland he onlv makes
Cambrensis * \.
special mention or the harp and timpan,
or fidil. At the same time, we are indebted to the
Bishop-elect of St. David's for a very graphic descrip-
tion of the Irish dress of the twelfth century, which
makes it clear that the "Highland" costume of to-
day is really only a modification of the ancient Irish
dress.
As early as the year 1206, among the deeds of the
Priory of the Holy Trinity (Christ Church Cathedral),
Dublin, there is mention of Geoffrey the
, „. y Piper. Fifty years later, in the same valu-
the Piper , , . ' . ... ,
able muniments, there is calendared a grant
of land to William the Piper and Alice, his wife, in the
parish of St. Werburgh's, Dublin, at a rent of six
, shillings a year. We can fairly conclude
, „. that the baq-pipe, though relegated to the
the Piper , , , , ■,, r 1 r • 1
humbler classes, still found favour with
cultured amateurs — even as it does at present in
Ireland.
1 See Chapter XIV.
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