Reg Hall recounts a tale about a set of pipes purchased by Jimmy Power’s uncle Paddy for eleven pounds in 1932. Later, in the fifties, Jimmie was pressed for cash and sold his uncle’s set to Willie Clancy for three pounds. My question is if anyone knows, was this a Rowsome set?
Bob
Mitchell only mentions the Coyne from a pawn shop Willie bought in London but Willie went through a few sets over time. There’s one Rowsome set that was in his hands a bit up the road from me but I believe that is one he had at an earlier date.
The Uncle was on Power’s maternal side, Paddy Donnelly from Ballyduff, Waterford. From the date of the sets purchase, 1932, I feel there are only a few possibilities for getting a ‘new’ set. Paddy saw them advertised in a newspaper and sent off for them. R. L. Mealy was making them in Belfast, but I think the only ‘remote’ sales he made were through Br. Gildas.. Any other possibilities during that time? I thought there was a maker in Cork active at that time.
Bob
ed: to correct Donnelly
But was it a new set? The description is a bit ambiguous.
My uncle Pat [started me off]. He was in Liverpool for years and then he came home, and he used to play the
box first and then he got a set of uilleann pipes advertised in the Irish paper and he wrote away. He got ’em
for eleven pounds in them days. That was 1932.
Maybe the Taylor set?
Did he have a Maloney set too?
Tommy
Thank you Mr. ‘G’ and Tommy. Good questions. I’m not at all certain they were ‘new’. Just my guess.
Bob
Maybe the Taylor set?
The Taylor set came from Tom Looney. The Moloney was Seán Reid’s AFAIK.
Willie Clancy certainly didn’t seem to be “faithful” to one instrument, like Ennis or Leo.
Pat Mitchell also mentions “While in Dublin Willie made a habit of scouring the pawn-shops and second-hand stores looking for pipes. He continued this practice in London …”. The sets which Mitchell mentions on pp. 10-11:
1938 - Leo Rowsome practice set purchased through Felix Doran
(No date) - Remnants of a Maloney set from Hugh Curtin
1942-43 - Coyne C full set from Tom Looney
(No date) - Concert pitch Leo Rowsome set (in trade for the Coyne C) (presumably the set which he is holding in the photos on p. 27 and which are dated 1951/Quimper).
(No date) - Coyne B with extended bass reg from a pawn show in London (presumably sometime between 1953 and 1957)
1957 - 18.5" Maloney chanter (D Power’s chanter?) and set belonging to Sean Reid (presumably loaned for the Gael Linn recording)
1962 - Leo Rowsome concert pitch on extended loan from Sean Reid (LOF’s set?)
1969 - Taylor set from Tom Looney
I’ve also heard of at least one other Maloney set which Willie reputedly owned.
My guess that this was originally a ‘new’ set was based on a very rough guestimate. I find it difficult to find a conversion of Irish Punts to GBP. Current conversion is 1.1 to 1. Guessing eleven punts would approximate eleven GBP would give a purchasing power of about 1.6 ounces of gold. Again, this would yield, `very roughly 2500 USD today.
These are extremely rump estimates and conversions. ‘Kentucky Windage’ tells me 1932 economic conditions should indicate extremely ‘hard’ currency conditions. YMMV.
Bob
edit to add: this sort of calculation is best based on the ‘cost’ of a loaf of bread or a quart of milk. In a subsistence economy, like the economy of the Republic during the Economic Crisis of the the 1930’s would only multiply and dilate the purchasing power of currency.
Current conversion is 1.1 to 1.
Given that we’ve had the Euro for nearly fifteen years, there really isn’t a current punt-sterling conversion. Punt to Euro was not a 1 to 1 conversion to begin with, although I forget what it was at the time (somewhere in the 1-1.3 or 1-1.5 region probably).
£11 in 1932 was a large amount, whatever way you look at it and would appear higher than prices I have heard from people who bought Rowsome sets in later decades. Add to that that the 1930s in Ireland were a period of extreme poverty, even when compared to other Western nations at the time, and you’re looking at a major expense.
Any other possibilities during that time?
Two names that come to mind are John Brogan and John Clark.