Went and saw the new Naval adventure last night and lo and behold my eyes caught the sight of a set of up’s..BRIEFLY..in one scene you can clearly see the top of a chanter..in another you (funeral scene) you can see the drones of a set..again..BRIEFLY..anyone else catch this?
I saw the movie though I left half way through , I saw it as too dark for me . I saw the pipes , and heard them . seems like a nice chanter , though it did sound like the chieftains , . I liked the sea chanteys sung in the minor key 
. and the beer . lol I will see it again sometime soon .
tok . .
I saw this as I’m a HUGE fan of the Patrick O’Brian books that this is based on.
One thing I though interesting. During a scene when the crew was having a “session” on the deck part of the music was indeed the sounds of Ulleanns.
Several points. Would a common sailer have been able to afford a set of pipes? Would they have had room in their locker for the pipes and would thay have dared to take them to sea?
It’s one thing for the captain and his particular friend and surgeon to have a violin and chello but a seaman with pipes???
I know, It’s only a movie but I found it interesting
Colin
the average AB seaman would ship on with a duffle. And the ships bunk space is not QE2 accomodations by any standards. Put hammocks on the gun deck and let them sleep there. I remember there was an SSBN ( missile sub which probably has more space than the ship in the movie) that had a crewman that would play as the boat entered or left port. I suspect that was a Captain’s perogative.
I am looking forward to this movie. I am also a big fan of Patrick O’Brian.
I don’t think that anyone below Midshipman class could have anything as bulky or expensive as uilleann pipes on a ship.
to say that UP’s are cumbersome and bulky are a matter of perspective.
If you look at some older sets with all drones in a common mainstock, much like one of the older kenna “small” sets these are particularly compact..and with the drone slides disassembled the largest bit would be the bellows..and even those can be made relatively compact…as they don’t need to be huge for small bore drones and small bore chanter…it’s certainlky possible if it were a priotity. And pipes didn’t always cost a second mortgage!
That being said, as a historian who does a LOT of research, I’ve never seen any reference to a sep of pipes on board a ship.
Big O’Brian fan as well and I recall one if not two books mention the pipes being played by crew on the fore deck. We might get to hear more in the DVD. Regards.
Not sure what exactly your statement is intended to cover. I have seen mentions of Irish pipes belonging to passengers aboard ships from the Ireland/England to the US.
You have to believe there were whistle and flute players (O’Neill traveled with his as a young seaman), so, with luck, we might have had a piper.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, and I’m certainly no historian or anything, but it seems a bit unlikely that a regular seaman on a British man o’ war would have a set of pipes with him. As I recall, half the crews of those ships were criminals, and the rest shanghai’d into service by press gangs, i.e. physically pressed into service by roving gangs of thugs … er … able-bodied seamen.
Its probably better to just give Hollywood their license and enjoy the music. 
djm
It seems to me to be quite a generalization to suggest that no seaman would have pipes. Given the popularity of the instrument prior to An Gorta Mor, it would seem more unlikely that Irish and English sailors wouldn’t have pipers among them.
I’m not gonna argue whether the pipes belong in this movie or not because everything else in it is perfect. I just got back from seeing it and it is infkgcredible. As a fan of naval history as well as having spent 6 years in the Navy, I can say this movie really spoke to me.
amazing… you should go see it.
Jeff
LCDR MC USN
Go Navy
Is it true about the navy, about the cannabalism and all that?
Lobster and steak on boomer
We only ate the civilians
Anyone remember an old swashbuckler movie , based in the carribian , and a small segment where uilleann pipes are heard while the ship is in port , and the crew is " partying " ? Partying on one tot of rum per day . 
lol, I remember the tune as the blarney pilgrim . ??
spelling ,
tok.
Some more info… Tim Foley, a friend of mine and fellow piper here in San Diego was the piper in the movie. According to the credits, Eric Rigler provided the piping tracks for the movie. As I haven’t seen it yet, I don’t know if Tim’s piping actually was used in the soundtrack.
At the time of the Napoleonic Wars nearly 3/4 of the British Navy and 1/2 of the Army were made up of Irish…starvation was a constant factor of Irish peasantry..so regular food,clothing and prize money in the navy and army were a huge draw for the vastlly overpopulated Island appro food and land availability(8 million) prior to the great famine.So contrary to the fond belief that many were criminals,press ganged et al this is simply not so.
Slan go foil
Uilliam, the report of criminals, etc. is how the English looked upon their rank & file. But you have simply strengthened my point. A bunch of Irish peasantry joining the English navy to stave off beggary and starvation are unlikely to be toting something as expensive and sophisticated as a set of uilleann pipes. In a country and at a time where many areas went without any type of musical instrument being available, I don’t believe it reasonable to think that uilleann pipes were very plentiful.
djm
It is just as unlikely that there were none, for the very same reason you use, DJM. Not only that, but you are equating their worth as a twenty first century piper. But in the Mid to late 19th century, the pipes were as much an instrument of the average Irish as they were of the rich. My point is not that they were abundant among those that made up the AB’s aboard these ships. It is simply that it seems to me that it is more unlikely that there were none, or even that it would be odd to see them.
It would be problemsome to speak authoritative about exactly the mix of what sets went where. We do know this - no one leaves somewhere where the going was good.
Irish left Ireland in the 1800s and great sets ended up in areas where they emigrated to - England, Australia, Canada, and the US. Even some Irish pipers left Ireland were supported by the rich and famous in England, then returned to Ireland.