us to make some remarks on the nati- the Church of St. Charles, in Catimari. onal instrument of Scotland The Bag-pipes.* The bag pipes have been often considered as a national instrument of Ireland. Mr. Pennant, ascribing to the Scottish Gael in particular, what Aristides Quintilianus, in the century preceding the christian æra, had ascribed to the ancient Celtic tribes in general, hazards an opinion, that this instrument prevailed from the earliest ages, in the Highlands of Scotland.+ That they were neither in Scotland nor Ireland, in the 12th century, and that they were then in Wales, are points ascertained by the testimony of Giraldus Cambrensis. It may therefore be concluded, that they were not received either into Scotland or Ireland, prior to the invasion of the latter by the English. The antiquity of the instrument is unquestionable; both the Greeks and Romans were acquainted with it.§ They probably found it among those conquered nations which they denominated barbarous. To the instruments of rude nations, they have sometimes given names, though we cannot, at this distance of time, ascertain their respective kinds. There is another like it, under the arms of a Shepherd, in the cabinet of Cardinal Albani. In the figure given, two large pipes, or flutes, on one side, come from a bag blown up, and from the other a short pipe." We are told that they were once as great favourites among the Shepherds of Calabria, as they are at present among the peasants of Scotland; and were also in use among the peasantry of France. Canonico Orazio Maccari of Crotona-apud Walker-Boccace, in his account of the plague in Florence, A.D. 1348 mentions that the cornumusa, or bag pipe, was used in dancing; being put into the hands of Tindarus, a domestic of one of a number of lady dancers. That the ancient Britons, or Welsh, possessed the bag pipes, at the time of Cambrensis may be readily admitted; since in the course of the long period during which the Romans occupied their country, they may have derived the instrument from them. That they were not coeval with the Harp, in Wales, is almost certain. The tones and expression of no other two instruments are more at variance with each other. Montfaucon, a very high authority, The tradition of the Hebudeæ or Hesays, "The Bag Pipe, called in Latin brides, is, that those blown with the Tibia Utricularia, and in Greek ASK-mouth were introduced there by the AULOS, was used by the ancients. We have the image of one here (referring to plate 78, figure eleven) taken from a bas-relief in the Court of the Palace of Prince Santa Croce, at Rome, near Danes and Norwegians; who governed them about the year of our Lord 1093 to 1263.|| A considerable space must have elapsed before the music of the Danish • Greek Askaulos-Roman Tibia Utricularia-German Saekpfeiff, or Sackpipe---Italian Cornamusa, and Piva---French Musette and Chalumeau---- Welsh Pibau---Erse Piobh. + Leyden's Prelim Dis. to "The Complaint of Scotland." Marvid's pipes, it is said, are noticed by the Welsh in the 7th century, and the instrument appears in K. Howel's Laws, A.D. 942. § See plate 4, Nos. VIII. and X. Vol 1, of Bunting's Irish Music. In a basso relievo of Grecian Sculpture at Rome, there is the figure of a man playing on an instrument exactly resembling an ancient Highlander. The figure of the utisiculus, or bag-pipe (but blown with bellows) is also preserved on one of Nero's coins; and history records that emperor's intention of exhibiting himself publicly as a player. The bag-pipes, on ancient sculptures, had two long drones, and a short pipe for the fingers. Dr. Solander informed Mr. Pennant, that in the oldest Northern songs, the bagpipes are mentioned under the name of Soeck Pipes. Mr. Barrington enquired of Mr. Forught, a Laplander by birth, and a good musician, whether they had any pipes in Lapland, on which he mentioned two, the invaders could become general in the Hebrides; and its progress from the Hebrides to the Highlands was yet later. We are told, that after the year A.D. 845, the Highlands ceased to have a resident Government and Kings of their own, living at their castles on the Northern and Western parts of the kingdom; which they had till Kenneth M'Alpine subdued the Pictish kingdom, and transferred the seat of royalty from Argyleshire to Scone. We are further informed that a degeneracy and ferocity of manners followed that event. This change of manners would prepare the people of the Highlands the more readily to admit the dissonant music of Denmark, and to neglect their own older instrument, the harp, the harmonious tones of which were no longer congenial to them. We know that the harp was early in the Highlands, probably as early as the first settlement of its Erse inhabitants; and it is certain that its music was by degrees supplanted by that of the pipes, and has been nearly lost there for some centuries past, though once their delight.* Their oldest and most perfect music, the luinigs calculated for a chorus of voices, were exclusively composed for the harp. They resemble Irish strains and cannot be played on the pipes. The present inferiority of Highland melodies to Irish is in a great degree owing to the introduction of that instrument. The music originally composed for the Caledonian harp has been evidently mutilated and impover ished by the omission of notes, to adapt it to the imperfections of the pipes. This is apparent in the frequent recurrence of the 5th to the key note, in most of the Highland airs edited by the Rev. Mr. M'Donald. Of the great Scotch bag pipe blown by the mouth, the lowest note was A in the bass, and the chanter sounded E, 4th space on the treble; which latter note is predominant in the compositions alluded to. It is a question whether these pipes found their way into the Lowlands by means of the Romans, and afterwards passed through the Highlands into the Hebrides. To the latter hypothesis, the total difference in the construction and compass of the Highland and Lowland pipes presents an objection. That the Lowland Scots had their pipes from the Romans and the Highlanders theirs (so much ruder in construction) from the Hebrides, supposing the Hebridean to have received them from the Danes, is an hypothesis in some degree confirmed by the circumstance that the pipes of the Lowlands are blown like the Irish, by bellows instead of the mouth; and are calculated for a more civilized people. It is also a question whether after being received from the Romans, the pipes reached Scotland through Wales. From whencesoever they were derived, it seems almost certain that they came in with a people whose manners answered the genius of the instrument-impetuous and uncultivated. Of this their peculiar strain, THE PIBROCH, is an indication.† sack-pipe and the wal-pipe, which he describes to be exactly the same as the bagpipes. Mr Barrington thinks, that it is as probable that the Scots borrowed the bag-pipes from the Norwegians, as that the Swedes learned the use of it from them. * JOHN MAYOR, in the annals of Scotland, published A.D. 1521, speaking of the Highlanders says, that "they make use of the harp, which, instead of strings made of the intestines of animals, they string with brass wire, and on which they perform most sweetly." BUCHANAN, A.D. 1561, speaking of the Hebrides says, that "instead of the trumpet they use the great bag-pipe. They delight very much in music, especially in harps of their own sort, some of which are strung with brass wire, others with the intestines of animals. They play on them either with their nails grown, or with a plectrum." "The Pibroch (or Cruineachadh) was, in Dr. Beatty's opinion, peculiar to the Western Isles and Highlands of Scotland, and differs totally from all other music. Some of them, he adds, being intended to represent a battle, begin with a grave motion resembling a march, then gradually quicken into the onset, run off with noisy It is well ascertained that the bag pipes were in the LOWLANDS in the latter end of the 14th and commencement of the 15th century; but how much earlier is uncertain. In that age James I. of Scotland mentions them in his poem, "Peblis to the Play," and they are likewise noticed in Cockilbie's Sow," where they are appropriated to swineherds. In the Houlate (an allegorical Scotch poem by Holland, printed about A.D. 1450,) the lilt pipe forms one, in an enumeration of in struments. 66 The croude (or cruth) is in the number; and the "clarsach" or harp appears there as belonging to the Irish, or Erse bard; an additional presumption that that instrument did not belong to the Lowlands. In "Wedderburne's Complaynt of Scotland," A. D. 1548, among eighty instruments enumerated "ane drone bag pipe," is allotted to one of his shepherds. Another has "ane pipe made of ane bladder and of ane reed," and a third" the corne pipe," but no notice is taken of the harp. So late as the 17th century, Habbie Simpson, the piper of Kilbarchan, in the Lowlands, is mentioned in an ele gy (by Hamilton of Bangour) as having made "his cheeks as red as crimson," when he blew the bags; and in the song of "Maggie Lauder," a border piper is similarly described. From these instances, it may be thought, that the mouth-pipes were used in the Lowlands as well as the Highlands; but the instrument blown by bellows, was certainly predominant in the former. England received the pipes either through Wales, or directly from her Roman invaders. That she had them prior to the 14th century, appears from Chaucer, who places them in the hands of the Miller, in his Canterbury tales, A bag pipe well couth he blowe and sowne, They were early in the royal household establishment of England, (Edward III.) and they appear in the Northumberland House Book, about the third year of Henry VIII. We have no reason to think that the bag pipes were at any period a national instrument of Ireland.+ In Bunting's collection of ancient Irish melodies, no pibrochs occur, nor confusion and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the conflict and pursuit, then swell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy, and perhaps close with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral procession." The literal meaning of Pibroch is ARM pipe. • When no more than four copies were extant of that curious work, it was reprinted at Edinburgh 1801, with an excellent preliminary dissertation by Mr. J. Leyden. When Sir James Ware says, that "the Irish Kearns and Idlemen used a bagpipe instead of a drum in war, his remark was probably formed on the customs of the northern parts of the kingdom, with which the Highlands had daily intercourse and had formed close connexion. In an act of the Scotch Parliament, (reign of James I. of that kingdom,) "The gude auld friend is the Erischerie of Ireland," are particularly noticed.--(Actis of the Scottish Parliament, A.D. 1565, Fol. II.) Stanishurst, about 1584, says, "The Irish likewise, instead of the trumpet, make use of a wooden pipe of the most ingenious structure, to which is joined a leathern bag very closely bound with bands; a pipe is inserted in the side of this skin, through which the piper, with his swollen neck and puffed up cheek, blows in the same manner as we do through a tube. The skin being thus filled with air, begins to swell, and the player presses against it with his arm; thus, a loud and shrill sound is produced through two wooden pipes of different lengths. In addition to these, there is yet a fourth pipe perforated in different places, which the player so regulates by the dexterity of his fingers in the shutting and opening the holes, that he causes the upper pipes to send forth either a loud or low sound at pleasure. The principal thing to be taken care of is, that the air be not allowed to escape through any other part of the bag than that in which the pipes are inserted for if any one were to make a puncture in the bag, even with the point of a needle, the instrument would be spoiled, and the bag would immediately collapse; and this is frequently done by humourous people, when they wish to vex the piper. It is evident, that this instru anything composed for the instrument, exclusively calculated for that music, but all for the harp, save a few airs, evidently not of the old class. One of the oldest airs for the bag pipes, found in Ireland is M'Alusdrums, or "Young THE VOICE OF NATURE. FROM METASTASIO. When modest Eve, retiring mildly, yields to night her power, For now the softest zephyr cools the scarcely ruffled tide, And gently o'er the sloping sands the rippling waters glide; The wide-wide heavens, that lately glow'd with gold and crimson light, The evening star comes sweetly forth, the pensive mind to cheer, And these are thoughts that lead the heart to soar from earth to heaven! ment must be a very good incentive to their courage at the time of battle, for by its tones, the Irish are stirred up to fight in the same manner as the soldiers of other nations by the trumpet." In Vincentio Galileo's Dialogo, &c. we find the following passage respecting the bag-pipe::---" It is much used by the Irish; to its sound this unconquered, fierce, and warlike people, march their armies, and encourage each other to deeds of valour. With it also they accompany their dead to the grave, making such sorrowful sounds as to invite, nay, almost force, the bye-standers to weep." These passages from Stanishurst and Galileo, allude to the northern parts of Ireland, into which it is easy to account for the introduction of the bag-pipes, from the Hebrides or from the Highlands of Scotland, and consequently for its partial use. No doubt is entertained whether the instrument was in use in the century in which these two authors wrote; their introduction into Ireland was, probably, long anterior to that period. Walker, in his "Memoirs of the Irish Bards," says, "That it was reserved for the Irish to improve the bag-pipes, by taking it from the mouth and to give it its present complicated form. It did not long retain its original form among them, for the chord of drones which they gave it is supposed," he says, "to have been the chorus of Cambrenses." Mr. Walker adds, that it is constructed on the Chromatic System; in this it is alleged he is in error, that it is in the Diatonic, the system on which their principal instrument, THE HARP, is tuned. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Liberty!-slavery!-magical words! How often have they produced, and reproduced each other? How often has the despotism of an individual contributed to establish the despotism of the multitude; and the latter again to necessitate a recurrence to the former, as the less intolerable of the alternative of evils? Of this truth, the history of every age and nation affords impressive examples; but never was it so forcibly illustrated as during the progress of the French Revolu tion. The grievances under which the people of France laboured were, as we have seen, real grievances. Previously to the recognition of those constitutional principles which converted an absolute, into a limited monarchy, and constituted the greatest boon that ever had been made by a king to his subjects, the national institutions of France were wholly uncongenial with the spirit of the age, and could not have been much longer maintained against the rising spirit and the growing intelligence of the people. But reforms, too long protracted, when they do come, can seldom answer any beneficial purpose, especially if their concession betray any symptom of weakness or vacillation in those from whom they have been obtained. The desire of power on the part of the people, grows in a much greater ratio, than the disposition on the part of their legitimate or hereditary rulers to part with long cherished and valuable priviliges; and, accordingly, in France at the period of which we treat, every act of compliance with the demands of popular violence, but confirmed the democratic party in the consciousness of their own strength, and converted the desire to innovate into a raging passion, which could only be fully gratified by a practical recognition, to the most unlimited extent, of the sovereignty of the people. Of this sovereignty, unhappy Lewis was now about to experience the tender mercies; and his fall but a very little preceded the utter destruction of the powerful party who gave the first impulse to the Revolution. Of these, many were able, many were amiable, and some were honest men; they had all adopted, with sincerity and ardour, views and principles which were utterly subversive of social order, and found, when too late, that the violence with which they rushed upon popular courses had generated an impulse which they could not controul," and that they themselves were carried, by a species of moral "vis inertia," far beyond the point at which they had intended to stop. Over the wilder and more undisciplined multitude, whose "untried faculties" were newly called to the sublime work of regenerating civil society, they speedily ceased to exercise any important influence, and were made to feel that, like fire and water, while they may be excellent servants, they are terrible masters. When the King and his family took up their abode at the Thuilleries, the populace regarded their residenc amongst them as the harbinger of plenty. They conceived, that they should no longer suffer from a scarcity of bread; and, during the lamentable procession from Versailles, which might be described as the funeral of the monarchy, he and the Queen, and the Dauphin, were pointed out as the baker, his wife, and the little apprentice. A strange combination of feeling, which could give rise to a sentiment such as this, indicating A history of Europe during the French Revolution, from the Assembly of the Notables in 1789, to the establishment of the Directory in 1795. By Theobold Alison, Advocate; 2 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1833. VOL. II. K |