On this recording there is a Dord Iseal accompanying the pipes. A dord Iseal is an Irish pre-Celtic Bronze Age Horn found preserved in the bogs of Ireland. These have been replicated by Simon O'Dwyer and are blown in the same manner as the didgeridoo - to successfully accompany the pipes it is necessary they are in tune with the drones (cit: Dicky Deegan).King of the Pipers
Played by: Dicky Deegan Source: Soundcloud Image: One of the two existing photos of Tarlach Mac Suibhne. Variations of his name in English include, Tarlach Mac Sweeney, Turlough Mac Sweeney and Tarlagh Mac Sweeney.
There are a number of versions of this popular jig, with parts (varation sets) often in different order. Francis O'Neill (Irish Folk Music, 1910) says that the multi-part tune "created a sensation" when introduced to Chicago traditional musicians and dancers ("who had never heard" it before) by the elderly fiddler Edward Cronin, originally from Limerick Junction, County Tipperary (born in the early 1840's).
O'Neill thought it "quite probable" that the melody had originally been a clan march.
King of the Pipers is a common tune in County Donegal, where two different versions are played (see also King of the Pipers (2)).
Seán Keane was of the opinion the melody had a Donegal provenance and said it was associated with the Order of the Knights of St. Patrick. Caoimhin Mac Aoidh (1994) states that the tunes "clearly have piping origins" and remarks on the melody/drone rendition of the piece by Teelin, Donegal, fiddlers Francie Dearg Byrne and Mickey Ban Byrne--a style imitative of the pipes.
X:1
T:King of the Pipers [1]
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:Dmix
V:1 clef=treble name="1."
[V:1] A (3A/A/A/ D B (3B/B/B/ D|ABG FED|A (3A/A/A/ D BAF|GAG FED|
A (3A/A/A/ D B (3B/B/B/ D|ABG FED|CEG cGE |GAG FED:|
|: fga afd|ded {c/d/}cAG | ~F2D (3c/B/A/ GF |GAG FED|
fga afa | geg fdA|GFG (3c/B/A/ GF|GAG FED :|
|: def def | def dFA |def dAF|GEF GFE|
~d3 ^cdc|B^cB AFD|CEG cGE|GAG FED:|
|:d (3D/D/D/ D c (3D/D/D/ D|B (3D/D/D/ D A (3D/D/D/ D| d (3D/D/D/ D cAF|GAG FED|
d (3D/D/D/ D c (3D/D/D/ D|B (3D/D/D/ D AFD|CEG cGE|GAG FED:|]
Although we are not trained musicologists and make no pretense to the profession, we have tried to apply such professional rigors to this Semantic Abc Web as we have internalized through our own formal and informal education.
This demands the gathering of as much information as possible about folk pieces to attempt to trace tune families, determine origins, influences and patterns of aural/oral transmittal, and to study individual and regional styles of performance.
Many musicians, like ourselves, are simply curious about titles, origins, sources and anecdotes regarding the music they play. Who, for example, can resist the urge to know where the title Blowzabella came from or what it means, or speculating on the motivations for naming a perfectly respectable tune Bloody Oul' Hag, is it Tay Ye Want?
Knowing the history of the melody we play, or at least to have a sense of its historical and social context, makes the tune 'present' in the here and now, and enhances our rendering of it.
Andrew Kuntz & Valerio Pelliccioni
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