Fair point, I should keep in mind when doing pages. I haven’t really been thinking of them as “academic papers”, which properly should be footnoted.
I don’t have much to point to on band flutes. There’s certainly some in “The Flute”, by Philip Bate (What was I saying about all books on the flute being called “The Flute”.) Philip is the Bate of the fabulous Bate Collection at Oxford. He once gave me a Bb flute which I still have.
“Woodwind Instruments and their History” (Anthony Baines) has some useful stuff, even talking a bit about the North of Ireland bands, and giving a sample of an arrangement in seven flute parts and two percussion. Tony was the curator of the Bate collection (you can see what a narrow world we circulate in!) in the seventies. Very good man on bagpipes.
I think Ardal Powell’s recent book (innovatively titled “The Flute”) talks a little about the mediaval fifes and flutes which was the starting point for all of this. He also has a little on flute bands.
All I can think of for the moment - perhaps others can remind us of other stuff.
You will find a bit on current North of Ireland flute bands on the web, some keywords to start with would be Orange, Protestant, Ulster, flute, marching, band, Belfast; others will no doubt recommend themselves as you get into it.
And of course, we cannot pass up the opportunity to remind us all of the politics involved in this useage of the flute:
The Ould Orange Flute
In the county Tyrone, in the town of Dungannon
Where many a ruckus meself had a hand in
Bob Williamson lived there, a weaver by trade
And all of us thought him a stout-hearted blade.
On the twelfth of July as it yearly did come
Bob played on the flute to the sound of the drum
You can talk of your fiddles, your harp or your lute
But nothing could sound like the Ould Orange Flute.
But the treacherous scoundrel, he took us all in
For he married a Papist named Bridget McGinn
Turned Papish himself and forsook the old cause
That gave us our freedom, religion and laws.
Now the boys in the townland made some noise upon it,
They forced Bob to fly to the province of Connaught;
Took with him his wife and his fixins, to boot,
And along with the rest went the Ould Orange Flute.
At Mass on the Sunday to atone for past deeds,
Bob said Paters and Aves and counted his beads
Till one Sunday morn, at the priest’s own require
Bob went for to play with the flute in the choir.
He went for to play with the flute in the mass
But the instrument quivered and cried.“O Alas!”
And blow as he would, though he made a great noise,
The flute would play only “The Protestant Boys”.
Bob jumped and he started and got into a splutter,
He pitched the Ould Flute in the bless’d holy water;
He thought that this charm would bring some other sound,
When he tried it again, it played “Croppies Lie Down!”
And for all he would finger and finger and blow
To play Papish music, the flute would not go;
“Kick the Pope” to “Boyne Water” was all it would sound
Not one Papish bleat in it could e’er be found.
At a council of priests that was held the next day
They decided to banish the Ould Flute away;
They couldn’t knock heresy out of its head
So they bought Bob another to play in its stead.
And the Ould Flute was doomed, and its fate was pathetic
'Twas fastened and burnt at the stake as heretic.
As the flames rose around it, you could hear a strange noise
‘Twas the Ould Flute still a-whistlin’ “The Protestant Boys”.
Terry
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