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John K. Beatty
John K. Beatty (born c. 1821), Irish uilleann piper. A native of Drumrany, Ballymore, County Westmeath, Beatty emigrated to the US in 1839, landing in Brooklyn, New York, where he worked as a bricklayer. By 1860 he had moved to Chicago and was a member of the Illinois militia, being "actively engaged in the commissary department" upon the outbreak of the American Civil War. "About this time Mr. Beatty commenced his musical studies under the instruction of the veteran piper James Quinn ... A good set of Egan pipes which he owned were laid aside after Billy Taylor of Philadelphia had developed a more powerful instrument. ... With the first returns from a lucrative position, a carte blanche order for a new set of pipes was given Mr. Taylor, and it was on this triumph of the great pipermaker’s art that John K. Beatty so distinguished himself. ... So supreme was he at lilting that on hearing him vocalize a tune in that way, the renowned Taylor said: "Ah, Mr. Beatty, if you could ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uilleann Pipes
The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their method of inflation. There is no historical record of the name or use of the term ''uilleann pipes'' before the 20th century. It was an invention of Grattan Flood and the name stuck. People mistook the term 'union' to refer to the 1800 Act of Union; this is incorrect as Breandán Breathnach points out that a poem published in 1796 uses the term 'union'. The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a small set of bellows strapped around the waist and the right arm (in the case of a right-handed player; in the case of a left-handed player the location and orientation of all components are reversed). The bellows not only relieve the player from the effort needed to blow into a bag to maintain pressure, they also allow relatively dry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
