Historical people

?00-1700

Records of pipers and piping prior to 1700 are extremely rare. It should be remembered that the area around the English /Scottish border was a very turbulent place to be until well into the 17th century, due to the activities of the Border reivers and their descendants, so that written records were unlikely to survive, even if ever made. The political situation of the two countries remained unstable throughout this period, with a fairly major civil war dividing the aristocracy, and the common people being (as usual) caught in the middle. Pipers did, however, come to the notice of the courts during the Puritan times, when there are at least 2 records of them being excommunicated for playing on a Sunday. There is also one collection of tunes known from this period (Henry Atkinson - 1695), and the name of Sir John Fenwick, a local landowner and executed Jacobite plotter, has survived in the well-known tune Sir John Fenwick's the Flower among them all.

See our page of useful links for more information on local history (coming shortly!)

1700-1800

Northumberland still cannot have been a very stable place to live, at least for the first half of the century, as the '15' and '45' rebellions divided landlords from their tenants, and opposing armies moved through the area. A couple of names of pipers out in the '15 have come down to us, but by the second Jacobite uprising, the remaining Northumbrian supporters of the cause had largely decided to remain quietly at home. A few names span the century, but the record of known pipers really starts about 1750. 

 'Old' William Lamshaw 1712-1798, 'young' William Lamshaw 1782-1806 (grandson)

An innkeeper at Morpeth, and one of the Town Waits, he became the Duchess's piper in 1775, was John Peacock's first teacher, and his family is remembered in the tune Lamshaw's Fancy. (A Wait was a musical nightwatchman, paid for by the Council, who provided a livery. They were common in towns on both sides of the Border until the 18th century). Young William followed his grandfather as Duke's piper, and probably taught Henry Cleugh.

Will and Jimmy Allan 1704-1779, 1734-1810

Between them, father and son ( who were both notable pipers) span the century. Will was born in 1704 at Bellingham, but lived mainly in the Coquet valley area. His wife was of tinker (Gypsy) extraction, and he associated much with these despised people. He also managed to be River Warden of the Coquet. He may have been a pipemaker - a set 'of Will Allan's' was later sold to Robert Hall of Powburn.

His son, the notorious Jimmy Allan, was the subject of 2 rather fanciful biographies, and it is now difficult to establish exactly the facts of his life. It is however known that he was at various times piper to the Duchess of Northumberland, in the army, and a refugee from justice. He is thought to have played  Northumbrian smallpipes, Union pipes and Border pipes (in modern terminology), and was very highly regarded by his musical contemporaries. He died in 1810.

Young family

Three Youngs are known to us, all living in Alnwick. One, John, was dismissed in 1749 as the last of the Town Waits. The other names are George, and James, his son. The family were pipemakers, James supplying Robert Reid's father (also Robert) with his first set of 'large' Northumbrian pipes. Little else is known of them.

 William Dixon

William Dixon has re-entered history only recently, as the compiler of the oldest (dated 1733) bagpipe manuscript in the UK. His family were centered on Stamfordham, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, and he appears to have been a musician of considerable talent, with a repertoire including many otherwise unknown tunes with variations. His tunes have been republished as The Master Piper by Dragonfly Music.

William Vickers

Not directly involved with piping, but indicative of the lively musical culture of the time, a fiddle manuscript dated 1770 contains many tunes which are still played by pipers, and some interesting variants. Subsequently,the manuscript apparently passed through the hands of John Baty, the pipemaker, of Wark. Parts of it were published as the Great North Tune Book from Dragonfly Music. - a new edition of the complete collection is in preparation.

 John Dunn 1764-1820 (?)

The influence of the first named pipemaker whose sets have survived is out of all proportion to the information we have about the man himself. He lived in Newcastle upon Tyne, and worked as a joiner. He is credited with adding the first keys to the  stopped chanter, in association with his friend and contemporary, John Peacock . He is thought to have contributed substantially to the design of Uillean pipes, which he also made, and which were assuming their modern form during this period.

 John Peacock 1754(or 6)- 1817

He was a noted player of the smallpipes at a time when they were beginning to die out, taught originally by William Lamshaw, and held in admiration by his contemporaries. He helped to start the process of putting keys on the instrument, commissioning a 4-keyed set from John Dunn. He may have been one of the last Newcastle Waits, and he also produced a book of 'Favourite Tunes', 3 copies of which  survived. These are available today in an edition produced by the NPS.

1800-1900

Throughout the 19th century there were many people involved with the smallpipes in one way or another. The selection below is purely arbitrary - interested readers are directed to the Chantry Bagpipe Museum or the Northumbrian Pipers Society for more information. 

 Robert Reid (dates unknown), Robert Reid  1786-1837, and James Reid , 1813-1874

The Reid family were from Newcastle upon Tyne, but were later based in North Shields, and it seems generally agreed that the second Robert produced the definitive Northumbrian smallpipe design, eventually extending the use of keys to 14, and the number of drones to five. He frequently used the now standard material of African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon), which was used as ballast by returning ships in the African trade, and became more common in the first half of the 19th century. He is also known to have had contact with the other pipemakers of his time, John Dunn and later John Baty.

His son James made less pipes than Robert, but increased the possible number of drones to six, and the keys to 17. He also made the first D chanter. He is known to have worked with John Baty and Thomas Errington Thompson on the designs for pipes.

John Baty 1804-1882

He was based in North Tynedale (Wark), but his work as a slater took him throughout Northumberland. He made very slender smallpipes, and several of his sets are known, but often with chanters made by Robert Reid, with whom he was probably acquainted (he certainly knew James Reid). He had sets of patterns, which he copied for other makers. He was the keeper of the Vickers manuscript for a while.

Robert and James Hall 1813-1895, 1856-1942

Working as a blacksmith in North Northumberland (Powburn), Robert acquired as his first set of pipes a set 'of Will Allan's'. He subsequently was given patterns by John Baty, and went on to make at least 10 sets, some of them for the Duke of Northumberland's family. His son James became the Duke's piper, after an audition by the Society of Antiquaries, a position he held for many years. He later came into contact with the Cloughs, but played in a very different style to them.('more primitive' was the term used)

Thomas Errington Thompson.

A friend of John Baty, he drew the attention of the Society of Antiquaries to the Northumbrian smallpipes and their music, as did the then duke of Northumberland. Working in collaboration with James Reid and John Baty, he subsequently produced the magnificent set of ivory pipes which was played for so many years by Joe Hutton.

Dr Collingwood Bruce and John Stokoe

Working under the auspices of the Society of Antiquaries, Bruce and Stokoe were involved in a scholarly project to collect 'the ancient airs of Northumberland'. Their work was eventually published (in 1882) as The Northumbrian Minstrelsy, and original copies are now much sought after. It has become apparent since their time that like many another Victorian collector, they unearthed material they considered unsuitable for publication, and some tunes were renamed or just quietly ignored. Their editorial and musical abilities have also been called into question by subsequent researchers. However their timely publication helped to preserve a selection of the piping repertoire at a time when the newly introduced concertina was threatening to swamp both pipes and fiddle. They are available as a tunebook from the NPS, and a facsimile edition of the entire work is available from a publisher in Wales

Clough family

(Thomas fl. c. 1770 - 1800, James fl. c.1770-1800, Henry senior 1789-1842,Tom senior 1828-1885, Henry 1855-1936, Tom 1881-1964, Tom junior 1918-1987)

Six generations of the Clough family have left an ineradicable mark on the Northumbrian piping tradition. Some of them makers as well as players, they took the 18th century repertoire of the pipes, and raised the art of composing and playing variations to heights rarely achieved before or since. They taught numerous pipers over the hundred plus years of their principal influence, and it would be almost impossible to find a significant player today who could not trace a teaching line to them. That they had a teaching method is known fom the few surviving players who learnt from them, but the exercises which were a part of it have only partly survived. Most if not all of the teaching was by ear, and the available information suggests a process not unlike that used to teach Highland pipers, repetition and copying of the teachers playing by the student until an acceptable version of the tune was produced.
A book on the family and their music is available from the NPS.

Richard Mowat 1865-1936

A miner by trade, he won many of the late 19th century competitions, and reputedly had an unusual fingering style, lifting several fingers at a time, and sometimes his entire right hand. He was apparently not penalised in competitions for this, as he would be today. He was an early chairman of the NPS, and an expert reedmaker. His son Dickie Mowat also became a competent piper.

Mary Anderson

In addition to the 'cluster' of accomplished pipers in South-East Northumberland in the 19th century, there were rural families who passed their skills on pipes and fiddle from parent to child. 'Piper Mary', as she was known, was part of an extended family centered on Milkhope in Upper Coquetdale, whose musical activities were largely unknown to the learned gentlemen of the Society of Antiquaries. She was one of the first lady pipers of whom we know, and her pipes (made by Robert Hall) are with the current generation of the family.

James Hill 181?- 185?

James Hill was a Tyneside fiddler, originally from Scotland, who made his living playing in the pubs of Newcastle upon Tyne. He is most famous for his hornpipes, many of which have entered the traditional musician's repertoire. A collection of his tunes was published by Graham Dixon, and a new edition is in preparation.

Robert Whinham 1814-1893

Robert Whinham was an itinerant fiddler based in Morpeth. Little detail is available about his life, but his tunes, and a great deal of information about his times, have been collected and republished by Graham Dixon of Wallace Music.

1900-2000

The 20th century saw not only one of the low periods of interest in the Northumbrian pipes (in the first few years), but also the greatest resurgence (in the second half). The latter phenomenon has been due partly to the interest in traditional and 'folk' music generated by the folk revival, and partly to the invention of new media (recording and broadcasting technology). 

GG Armstrong 1877- 1955

Taught by the Clough family to play, and by John E Baty (a cousin of the Baty mentioned above) to make pipes and reeds, George Armstrong carried the art of both through a very lean period. He taught both Joe Hutton and Tommy Breckons, amongst many others, and passed on his pipemaking skills to William Cocks.

WA Cocks 1892-1971

Following in the learned tradition of Bruce and Stokoe, Will Cocks collected bagpipes, as well as playing and making them. He was responsible for the collection now housed in the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum, and was instrumental in the formation of the Northumbrian Pipers Society. He was a co-author of the first book of plans for making Northumbrian pipes ('the Cocks and Bryan book'), and corresponded extensively with experts on other types of bagpipes. Without his collection and researches most of these pages could not have been written.

Billy Pigg 1902-1968

Said by many to have been the best player ever, but declared by some a 'bad' piper, Billy learnt from the Clough family, and then extended the boundaries of possibility both in style and repertoire. Several of today's pipers acknowledge his influence on their playing, particularly those who were fortunate enough to hear him live. Many recordings of Billy playing were made, mostly on private tapes, but the only ones currently available are those on compilation CD's. A book about his life, including a collection of his tunes, was published in 1996 by the NPS.

Jack Armstrong 1904-1978

A contemporary and friend of Billy Pigg, his self-taught style, influenced by his father's playing, led him in very different directions to Billy. He is admired for his clarity of playing, and faithfulness to the eclectic repertoire he acquired in his travels. He also taught himself to make pipes at a time when pipemakers were almost extinct, later collaborating with Bill Hedworth, and then passing on his knowledge in this area to some of the present generation of pipemakers. He recorded extensively in the 1950's, both solo and with his dance band, the Barnstormers.

John Armstrong (of Carrick)

No relation to the above, this branch of the Armstrongs is another of the families who have contained pipers for several generations. John Armstrong of Carrick was a fiddler as well, and played in a concert band (the Border Minstrels) with his sister Annie, Billy Pigg, and Archie Dagg. His family possess a manuscript book of many traditional tunes, and he contributed extensively to the Charlton Memorial Tune Book. The only recording is of him playing duets with Joe Hutton.

Forster Charlton ?- 1989

Forster Charlton was a leading member and organiser of the NPS throughout the 1960's. He was greatly instrumental in encouraging players of all abilities, and in raising the profile of the pipes within the North-East of England, - and in the folk revival. He was active in promoting pipemaking, and made the first concert G chanter -  for Billy Pigg. He is often remembered by his Ferrograph tape recorder, which appeared at all the significant piping events in the area, and has already provided, among others, most of the Billy Pigg LP - 'The Border Minstrel'.

Bill Hedworth 1900-1994

Bill was a silversmith, amongst other trades, who came to pipemaking (he was not a player) through a general interest in music. He collaborated with Jack Armstrong, and made his own improvements to the design of the pipes, being particularly noted for his excellent keywork. He made several hundred sets in the course of 40 years, and was the only maker available as the first glimmerings of the revival took hold.

Archie Dagg 1899-1991

Primarily a shepherd and fiddler, Archie took to pipemaking, and particularly reedmaking, when he retired. He is responsible for some beautiful tunes which are commonly played by pipers today. His tunebook, 'A Coquetdale Garland' has recently been reissued.

Joe Hutton 1923 - 1995

 A shepherd all his working life, and the son of a traditional West Northumberland fiddler, Joe played mainly dance music from preference. He learnt the pipes from G.G. Armstrong, then acquired the magnificent ivory set of pipes made by T. Errington Thompson, won many competitions and played for local dances and concerts, frequently with Will Atkinson and Willy Taylor, amongst many others.In his later years Joe took the pipes out to a wider audience, and inspired many beginner pipers with his clarity of playing. He also taught many people, on courses and in classes, and a whole new generation of pipers is attempting to emulate his impeccable timing. He made a number of recordings, some of which are still available. 

For a list of recordings of these players, see the discography section

History To the history pages

More people To the people - present pages

DiscographyTo the discography pages

HomepageTo the Northumbrian smallpipes homepage

Nspipes home To the nspipes homepage/catalogue