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Bagpipe (uilleann pipes)

Michel Egan (Irish, active 1845–1851)
about 1850
Object Place: Liverpool, England

Medium/Technique Ebony, oak, ivory, brass, leather
Dimensions Chanter length (without reed) 44.7 cm (17 5/8 in.)
Credit Line Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.1930
ClassificationsMusical instrumentsAerophones

DescriptionChanter, two drones, three regulators. Leather bag covered with plaid cotton. Three stocks. The bag is inflated by bellows embellished with a brass eagle marked with a figure '8.' Large stock, to which are attached drones and regulators, with a shut-off valve for drones. Short drone of ebony made in three parts with an elongated horn tip. Long drone of ebony in three parts: the redd-joint is folded twice, trumpet-wise; the middle joint almost completely enclosed in the brass tube, and the bell-joint of brass ending with a circular box of ivory with a vent-hole. Both drones are furnished with single beating reeds. Chanter of ebony, ivory tips; seven finger-holes in the front, one thumb-hole in the rear; seven square brass keys mounted on knobs. First treble regulator of ebony with ivory tip and closed end-cap into which is inserted the 'tunber,' a brass wire with an ivory ball; to this wire is fastened, inside the tube, a long piece of rush with the pulpy part uncovered; four brass keys (square) mounted on knobs. The lowest key has a long touch piece. Second treble regulator constructed similarly to the first one; five brass keys. Differential regulator of complicated construction; it is attached to the stock in two places and connected by passages with the air supply at both ends. The reed is fastened to a long separator, which is inserted in the tube in such a way as to divide the air column into two parts (see fig. 19, B). The differential regulator (fig. 19, A) is essentially a U-shaped tube consisting of the following parts: a brass tube attached to the stock by a tapered slide-plate joint and containing a separator, in which is inserted a reed covered by a long brass tube cap with a large molded ivory stopper; the body is of ebony with four brass keys; a U-shaped crook with three brass keys; a long tube with conoidal bore tapering toward the upper end. A small brass crook ('B') connects this rube to a cylindrical brass receptacle ('A') attached to the stock by a tapered slide-plate joint.
InscriptionsStamped on main stock: M EGAN
ProvenanceFrancis W. Galpin (1858-1945), Hatfield Regis, England; 1916, sold by Francis W. Galpin to William Lindsey (1858-1922), Boston, Massachusetts; 1916, gift of William Lindsey, in memory of his daughter, Leslie Lindsey Mason, to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 5, 1916)