John Dunn (ca. 1764–1820) was a noted pipemaker, or maker of

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...

. Born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, England, Dunn was a cabinet maker by profession, initially a junior partner with George Brummell. In the trade directories, he also appears in his own right as a turner (Whitehead 1790) and a plumb maker and turner (Mackenzie & Dent 1811). His address was Bell's Court, off Pilgrim Street. He was buried on 6 February 1820 in St. John's, Newcastle. His father may have been one John Dunn of

Longhorsley Longhorsley is a village in Northumberland, England about northwest of Morpeth, and about south of Alnwick. The A697 road passes through the village linking it with Morpeth, Wooler and Coldstream in Scotland. There are 8 "Streets" in Longhorsl ...

; if so, he was born on 3 September 1764. He should not be confused with one M. Dunn, the maker of several surviving sets of Union pipes.

Work with bagpipes

Dunn was a maker of

Northumbrian smallpipes The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from North East England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of Nor ...

and is regarded as the first to have added keys to the chanter, (c. 1800 AD), extending the range of the instrument from an octave to a twelfth. He may thus be regarded as an inventor of the modern instrument. Keyed+chanter

The earliest evidence of such a keyed chanter is the illustration and fingering chart in John Peacock's tunebook, ''A Favorite Collection of Tunes with Variations Adapted for the Northumberland Small Pipes, Violin, or Flute'', first published by William Wright, of Newcastle, in about 1800. This depicts a simple keyless chanter with an octave range from G to g, as well as ''J. Peacock's New Invented Pipe Chanter with the addition of Four Keys'', these keys were for the notes low D, E, F sharp, and high a. Subsequent makers, particularly Robert Reid, added more keys to extend the range further, and include chromatic notes. A set of pipes with a single-octave chanter was presented by John Dunn to John Peacock in 1797; this set now lacks the original chanter, but still carries the original engraved ferrule on the drone-stock reading: 'The Gift of John Dunn to John Peacock Newcastle 1797'. The engraved inscription is generally thought to have been done in the workshop of

Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 17538 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating ch ...

. It was acquired by the

Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, the oldest provincial antiquarian society in England, was founded in 1813. It is a registered charity under English law. It has had a long-standing interest in the archaeology of the north-east ...

, with the support of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in 2004, and is now in the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum. Dunn peacock ferrule

Several sets survive made by Dunn, one of which is the set he made for

Robert Bewick Robert Elliot Bewick (1788–1849) was the son of the engraver Thomas Bewick. He was trained in engraving by his father, but is primarily remembered now as a player of the Northumbrian smallpipes. Background Thomas Bewick had wished to encourag ...

, now in the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum. BewickPipesDunn

After John's death in 1820, his son, also named John, continued the business, and an entry in

’s cash book in October 1822 states that 'Dunn', evidently the son, was paid five shillings for a ‘job at pipes’.Bewick, Thomas (1975). Edited with an introd. by Iain Bain. ''A Memoir of Thomas Bewick''. London; New York: Oxford University Press. This son was still listed as a cabinet maker in trade directories up to 1855.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, John Bagpipe makers People from Newcastle upon Tyne Northumbrian music English musical instrument makers 1760s births 1820 deaths