The

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

bagpipe or Lancashire greatpipe has been attested in literature, and commentators have noticed that the Lancashire bagpipe was also believed proof against

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

Historical attestation

* In James Shirley's 1634 masque, ''

The Triumph of Peace ''The Triumph of Peace'' was a Caroline era masque, "invented and written" by James Shirley, performed on 3 February 1634 and published the same year. The production was designed by Inigo Jones. Inspiration The masque was lavishly sponsored by ...

'', the procession to

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

was led by Thomas Basset on horseback, playing the Lancashire bagpipe. *

Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...

's ''

Sir Patient Fancy ''Sir Patient Fancy: A Comedy,'' is a comedic play written by Aphra Behn, first performed in 1678. It is Behn's first overtly political play. It was staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London with a cast that included Nel ...

'' (1678) mentions: "Not so joyful neither Sir, when you shall know Poor Gillian 's dead, My little gray Mare, thou knew'st her mun, Zoz 'thas made me as Melancholy as the Drone of a ''Lancashire Bagpipe''" *

Ralph Thoresby Ralph Thoresby (16 August 1658 – 16 October 1725) was an antiquarian, who was born in Leeds and is widely credited with being the first historian of that city. Besides being a merchant, he was a nonconformist, fellow of the Royal Society, diar ...

, a topographer, wrote in 1702: "got little rest, the music and ''Lancashire bagpipes'' having continued the whole night."''cited in'' Francis M. Colinso
''The Bagpipes: The History of a Musical Instrument''
Routledge Kegan & Paul (October 1975) ▪ Cervantes, Don Quixote, translated by P.A Motteux (1712) (Explains), Zamora is a city in Spain, famous for that sort of music, as Lancashire is in England for the bagpipe.

Historical attestation

Further reading

References

See also