Northumberland Bagpipe
about 1830 (Made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The only county of England to have its own form of bagpipe was Northumberland. Instead of blowing into a mouthpiece, the player works a bellow, which lies across his chest or shoulder. Softer sounding than the Highland version, it is mostly played indoors. The Dukes of Northumberland have employed Northumberland pipers since about 1752, and various societies have helped to maintain interest in this instrument from the 1890s onwards. The most important maker was Robert Reid of Newcastle and North Shields (1786-1837), who probably made this instrument.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 3 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Turned and drilled ebony pipes; turned ivory mounts; brass keys; planed and sawed mahogany; crimson plush |
| Brief description | Northumberland bagpipe, ebony pipes, plush pag and mahogany bellows, attr. Robert Reid, English, about 1830. |
| Physical description | 'Ebony pipes, ivory mounted, including closed chanter with four brass keys and four drones. Cylindrical boxes throughout. Bag with cover of Crimson plush. [Mahogany] Bellows.' Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), pp. 102-103. When acquired by the Museum in 1882 the registered description stated that the bellows were mahogany and the chanters of coca wood. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Gallery label | BAGPIPE (NORTHUMBRIAN SMALL-PIPE)
ENGLISH; second half of the nineteenth century.
Four drones, air-bag, bellows to provide air, chanter with five keys.
The chanter (c.1880) and drones (c.1850) are of different woods and style in construction thus hypothetically of different origin. The drones are fashioned out of African black-wood with ivory inlay and the simple 5-brass keyed chanter of a softer wood. As in all Northumbrian small pipes, the drones are fitted with single cylindrical reeds of cane (see example) and the chanter with a more complicated and highly delicate double reed of cane pared down to great thinness and therefore prone to damage as is the case here.
Cat. No. 25/3.(pre March 2001) |
| Object history | This instrument was purchased by the Museum for £2 in 1882. It had been part of the collections of Carl Engel (1818-1882), an eminent musicologist from Hanover. |
| Production | Graham Wells, Chairman of the Galpin Society, attributed these Northumberland bagpipes to Robert Reid (1786-1837). |
| Summary | The only county of England to have its own form of bagpipe was Northumberland. Instead of blowing into a mouthpiece, the player works a bellow, which lies across his chest or shoulder. Softer sounding than the Highland version, it is mostly played indoors. The Dukes of Northumberland have employed Northumberland pipers since about 1752, and various societies have helped to maintain interest in this instrument from the 1890s onwards. The most important maker was Robert Reid of Newcastle and North Shields (1786-1837), who probably made this instrument. |
| Bibliographic reference | Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), pp. 102-103. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 341&A-1882 |
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| Record created | April 4, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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