KiwiCelt Wooden Flutes

Along with the wooden flute and the Irish harp, I have a great fondness for the Uilleann pipes — although, strangely enough, I do not remember being conscious of them until I first visited Ireland in 2000. Here in New Zealand you will often hear Scottish bagpipes — indeed our little Pacific nation has more than it’s fair share of pipe bands. From the slightly flamboyant City of Auckland pipe band in the north to the staunch traditionalists of the Scottish stronghold in the deep south, Dunedin and Invercargill, I wouldn’t imagine it would be too hard to get a thousand pipers together for the massed band march at the NZ Pipe Bands’ Association championships each year.

My family on my mothers side, despite having the name Tobin, seemed to be greatly oriented to things Scottish and were lifelong members of the Caledonian Society. My mother used to tell me that when I was a baby, if I heard the bag pipes I would start screaming and laughing with delight — waving my arms in the air and creating a fuss. And to this day, I am captivated by the sound of pipe music. I used to work as a clown on stilts a few years back and our troupe would often perform in Christmas parades. Scottish pipe bands would also participate in these parades and I loved to walk behind them — mimicking the pipe Major to the delight of the crowd (and hopefully the pipe major).

As much as I love the bagpipes, I was really blown away when I first heard the Uilleann pipes live. I was walking through the village of Bray in Co. Wicklow on my way to visit my friend Martin Doyle and there was a fellow playing the pipes in the main street. I was awful late to Martin’s workshop that day — and five pound lighter in the wallet! Of course, it’s a matter of personal taste, but for me the Irish pipes have a subtle, almost mystical and otherworldly quality. And pipers often look as though they’re in trance (could be just the concentration required that gives them that ‘far-away look’ I guess). But however you describe it, I love the music of the pipes.

Here’s a haunting piece by Séamus Ennis — a man considered to be one of Ireland’s greatest pipers:

Apparently Séamus Ennis used to say that it took all of 21 years to become a piper — seven years learning, seven years practising and seven years playing. He may be the exception that proves the rule because by the age of twenty-one, his playing (as evidenced on recordings he made for Radio Eireann in 1940) was as fully developed as it was when he was fifty.

By his own reckoning — the 21 year theory — we must assume that Séamus was born playing the pipes. Well, not quite perhaps, but it is recorded that Séamus remembers hearing music in the cradle and going to sleep with the sound of his father’s pipes in his ears. He knew the names of some of the tunes by the time he was three years old and one night, despite valiantly trying to stay awake, he fell asleep as his father played Munster Buttermilk. He tells of how in the morning he was upset at having missed the end of the tune.

Here’s Séamus Ennis playing a reel composed by his father James. The tune is called The Morning Thrush:

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Here’s a beautiful version of The Morning Thrush played by Matt Molloy on wooden flute. This from the album jacket:

The mistle thrush is also called the stormcock, “for early in the year, when the weather is broken, the bird perches high on a tall tree and in exultant and ringing song, defies the elements”, wrote the ornithologist T. A. Coward. You can hear its contralto phrases unfurling in the wind in this tune which Matt learned from the piper Seamus Ennis.

Melody: The Morning Thrush (3.01 MB)
Composer: James Ennis
Musician: Matt Molloy on wooden flute
Album: Shadows on Stone

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More about Séamus Ennis:
Piper and collector, Séamus Ennis — Rambling House.
The Séamus Ennis Cultural Centre — dedicated to the memory of Irish musician, folklore and music collector, Séamus Ennis.
About Séamus Ennis — Wikipedia.
The Best Of Irish Piping — Séamus Ennis. Featuring the albums: The Pure Drop and The Fox Chase.
Scoil Shéamuis Ennis — operates all year round organising classes and the annual Return to Fingal Festival (an annual October bank holiday weekend traditional Irish music, song, dance and culture festival) in memory of the great musician, music collector and broadcaster Séamus Ennis.
Séamus Ennis — a review of the CD ‘Forty Years of Irish Piping’ which features the piping of Séamus Ennis.

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