Trawlings through Treoir

Uilleann Pipes
1

Years ago Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann made many of the back issues of its journal Treoir available online, and I thought I’d reproduce a few items of piping interest from them here, there are some real choice items in there for those who take an interest in historical documents. Here’s one to start, from the 1972 issue in the archives:

PAT WARD PIPER AND FIDDLER

This account of Pat Ward was written
by the Clones Piper, the late Jack
Wade, who was killed in a car accident
a few years ago. The manuscript was
recovered by Pat McCabe of Clones.
Pat Ward, Piper and Fiddler, was born
near Drumconrath, Co. Meath in 1847.
Both he and his brother, locally
known as the “Dowser” were taught
the fiddle by a man named Casey.
On coming to Drogheda Pat became
acquainted with both Billy Taylor of
the Allys, Drogheda , and also with
Nick Markey. Both were pupils of
Taylor. Mrs. E. Dunne, Pat Ward’s
daughter, tells me that Billy Taylor’s
brother, Charlie, was a real pipe
mechanic, although , of course , his
brother also worked at the pipe mak·
ing. Taylor was a very good piper and
musician in general. When the old
Piper’s Club started in Dubl in and the
Committee were finding great dif
ficulty in finding a teacher it was Pat
who put them on the track of Nick
Mar key, who by this time was working
for the Great Northern Railway and
had been transferred to Dublin .
Another interesting story that Mrs.
Dunne told me was that George
McCarthy, who played a double
chanter, arrived at Wards at the Blackbull
with a second set of pipes which
had been given to him by a man
home from America on holiday.
George was not very interested in
keeping the pipes and so decided to
sell them. They were a massive set of
Uillean Pipes with double chanter
made by Taylor. Pat Ward advised him
to take the pipes to Dublin to the next
competition and there he wou ld have a
good chance of getting a buyer . This
he did and was eventually offered £25
for them by Mr. O’Mealy, Belfast.
After consultation with Pat, George
decided not to sell and you may agree
that £25 was a lot of money about
1911/12. In the course of a week or so
Mr. O’Mealy wrote to George c/o Pat
offering him £30 fo r the pipes, so
George sold the pipes for this sum.
Being fond of the bottle Pat knew
what George would do with the £30 so
he prevailed on him to put the money
in the Post Office for a rainy day and
Pat actually put the money in for him .
How long it remained there is another
story which I am unable to tell. .
Pat Ward had his portrait painted more
than once and on one occasion it was
on display in Grafton Street where
Col. Cairns, Pat’s boss and then
Governor of the Bank of England, paid
a special visit to see it .
Half-Way House
It must be remembered that the Ward
home was a half-way house for nearly
all the pipers in Ireland and many of
them called for a tune and to have
reeds made by Pat who was a noted
reed maker.
Pat’s big pipes with the double
chanter, that is the one he has in the
picture in O’Neill’s Minstrelsy were
given to his son Pat Junior, who went
to America. Pat Junior played the
fiddle and pipes like his father did . He
died at the age of 69 years leaving no
family behind him . All traces of his
father’s pipes were lost. Pat had a
grand-daughter, Nancy, now Mrs.
Gray, who plays the pipes (double and
single chanters)’ The pipes in Dunne’s
house now, which Pat played on in his
later years were made by the Taylors.
The regulators are of the ordinary
wooden type but both the
double chanters have flat brass keys
and are 15" long. The chanter of the
pipes is made of Cocas wood and is
fully keyed with a brass valve. The
other double chanter which is made of
holly wood has one brass C natural
key. There is af£O a 15%" Egan single
chanter fully key.ed belonging to these
pipes.
Mrs. Gray was kind enough to lend me
quite a lot of manuscripts with most
of the tunes written by her father. Pat
Ward was knocked down on the main
road near his home in March, 1928,
after he had returned from 11 o’cloc<
Mass. He was 81 years and the man
driving t he car was also 81 years. He
was ta ken into his own house and
attended by the late Dr. Hunt, who
sent him to the Cottage Hospital,
Drogheda, vhere he d ied three days
late r. R.I .P.

2

A good deal of unfortunate encounters here, delivered by the auto-immobile.

3

Wasn’t there some kind of kefuffle over this article in that there was 2 Pat Wards and this article got them mixed up?
Or something like that.

Regardless, vroom vroom.

4

Dunno, Tom. I posted a picture here of the Westmeath Johnny Gorman thinking it was the Roscommon one, is that what you mean? Sean Donnelly helpfully set me straight there.

Now that I think about it Pat McNulty had an uncle or granda or something like that also named Pat Ward, if I’m remembering the liner notes of Autumn Apples correctly. Think this fellow was a piper too. But this Treoir article is definitely about our man with the double chanter and the reedmaking and the lack of luck in the pedestrian department, of course.

5

From TRE-1968-3.original. This issue also has a lengthy piece by Seamas MacMathuna covering the 1968 tionol which led to the formation of NPU.

MY RECENT VISIT TO NEW YORK

(By Leo Rowsome) IT IS with much pleasure I am briefly requested to inform you, readers.
of my recent trip to New York, where I spent nearly three weeks.

It was like a busman’s holiday to me as I was fully occupied repairing and
tuning sets of Pipes in addition to many engagements at various Concerts, Dinners
and Parties.

This was my first appearance in America.
All through the past, for almost half a
century, many offers of engagements came
my way to go on tour in America, but alas!
something always happened to prevent my
long felt desire of at least seeing New
York.
As far back as 1921 , when I won first
prize at the Feis Cheoil, Dublin, in the
Senior Uileann Pipes contest, I can well
remember two Americans who approached
me after the competition and asked me if
I would be interested in a long-term engagement
to perform in New York. I referred
them to my late father, William
Rowsome, whom I could plainly see was
not in favour of my leaving Dublin. They
were then invited to the old home at
Harold’s Cross where, after further discussions,
the matter was dropped until a later
date. When my father passed away in
1925, I felt I was needed more at home in
Ireland teaching and making the Uileann
Pipes. I often wondered what would ever
have happened if I had accepted this very
tempting offer after the Feis Cheoil in 1921!

6,000 IN CARNEGIE HALL

With the passing of so many years, I feel I have no regrets in remaining in Dublin where, buiochas le Dia, I am still upholding the Rowsome family tradition.

I must confess I have often dreamt I was passing by the great “Statue of Liberty,” when I would awaken to find I was only a dreamer. It was rumoured so often in New York amongst Irish musicians of my coming to perform that I could visualize the distress symptoms of the Statue of Liberty having a “creaked neck” and a hearing aid installed to facilitate the differentiation of the music of my Pipes and the approach-roar of the jets.

As regards my impressions, this, my first trip was long overdue, and accounts for the fact that I received a most hearty welcome from my many friends in New York.

I enjoyed every moment of it and to acknowledge the applause of the 6,000 audience from the stage of Carnegie Hall, where I first appeared on March 8th, was one of the greatest moments of my entire life. I was emotionally spellbound and almost overcome with joy with the wonderful
reception I was given, and also by
the introduction given me by the one and
only Carmel Quinn.

MUSIC BY PHONE

Having played on television in " The
New Yorkers" daily programme, I told the
vlewer~ of my delight in being here for my
first trrp and added, “Long threatening
comes at last” and now that I have broken
the ice, I hope to go over again soon.
I played also at various other functions
including the Sligo-men’s Associatio~
Dance at the Commodore Hotel, and the
Cavan-men’s Association at the Hilton
Hotel, where in both places I received a
tremenduous welcome. I was really over~
oyed with meeting so many Irish people
In New York, where I can definitely say
our dear old music is much loved and
respected. In fact, one can get a similar
sentiment any place outside Ireland where
our emigrants can be found.

I would like to recall one instance
when staying in the house of a former
pupil and very dear friend , John Coyle. The
phone rang and on lifting the receiver and
saying the usual “hello,” there was no
reply; I could hear a fiddler playing for at
least three minutes_ I immediately recognised
his unique style; when it stopped he
said, “that’s a tune I just composed for
you, Leo, to welcome you here to New
York.” I immediately answered by saying
" that’s wonderful, Larry, I’d know your
touch anywhere." He was none other than
Larry Reddigan , with whom I often played
about ten years back, while he was over
here on a visit.
FAREWELL CONCERT
Myoid friend , Louis Quinn, arranged a
meeting of all the musicians available to
come to their Club at Mineola for a farewell
Concert on March 22nd. Most of
them were there, including Larry Reddigan
and many other leading traditional players.
It was a most enjoyable night and very
inspiring to see and realise the value of
our great musical heritage. I thanked all
concerned for their great appreciation and
welcome, and expressed the hope of being
amongst them on my next trip to New
York, D.V. Incidentally, I was made an
honorary life member of this Club and also
of the Sligo·men’s Association and received
the membership cards and certificates
from both.
Gabhaim buiochas le Dia a thug an
tslAinte dom chun an turas seo a c6mhlionadh
agus an

6

Good stuff! Keep it up.

Nick Whitmer

7

From TRE-1968-4.original:

A Memory of the Past
(LEO ROWSOME)
The Uileann Pipe has been aptly termed as “the store-house or conservatory of Irish traditional music.” This statement is from the manuscript of the late James Whiteside —Known early in this century as "the bard of Bray,” and was often seen on Bray head for many years playing his pipes and fiddle
This gentleman, a retired school teacher, was a close friend of my late father, William Rowsome, who often patronised us in our Harold’s Cross home His wonderful genius as a composer still stands foremost in my memory since childhood. To hear him reveal the sinking of the Titanic in one of his musical compositions on the violin was something never to be forgotten He often captivated me with his playing the pipes when suddenly the instrument would stop, leaving only the sound of a child-like cry from the tenor drone. He would then stoop his head and often spoke with a comforting voice, saying and repeating, “go to sleep my little child.” When the crying was intensified he would “hush hush” and start playing his lullaby, which was really captivating and almost put me to sleep.
His manuscripts and writings would have been a great asset to the Nation, but unfortunately they disappeared from my possession many years ago, and so far have not been traced. What a shame there were no recording machines at that time. It would be very precious now to listen to his
rendering of the “Titanic Disaster” which would be impossible for me to recall in detail. What a legacy it would be to hear my late father and his brother pipers, not to mention my grand-father on his double chanter. I can recall his playing well to this day, especially his slip and single jigs. The same can be said of many other great pipers and fiddlers who flourished in those days. I could recall a great many of the bards whom I have met during my lifetime.
GENERATIONS TO COME
The age in which we are living commands us all to hold and preserve what we have and pass it on for generations to come without any extra trimmings and mixtures, which would cetainly be a retrograde step in its purity and preservation. The tape recorder is the answer, so let’s not lose time in getting this important work carried out to the full extreme in the present late sixties. In another ten years God will have taken quite a lot of us to Him, and another generation is coming to life. Time waits for no man, so it’s up to you, each and every one to do your best to ensure the long survival of our great heritage.