by R.M. O'Mealy, Belfast, early 20th century
Practice chanter with keys added to extend the range above and below the octave. This type of chanter was made to accustom the learner or player to the Irish system chanter developed c. 1908 for the 'Brian Boru' Irish War pipes patented by the London maker, Henry Starck.
Following the Irish Famine of 1847 - 1849 and the depletion of the population through the high rates of mortality and emigration, Irish piping went into decline. A Piper's Club was founded in Dublin in 1900 to encourage the playing of the Uilleann pipes and the Irish War Pipe was revived according to traditional accounts of the instrument (suggesting close similarities with the Great Highland Bagpipe).
The 'Brian Boru War Pipe' was introduced by the London wind instrument maker, Henry Starck, in the first decade of the 20th century. An interest in the 'War Pipe' of Ireland, its history and music, led to the adoption of an instrument that was more distinctive than the surviving 'War Pipe' of Scotland - the Great Highland Bagpipe. A new model of bagpipe was designed and patented by Starck, extending the scale of the chanter with key work and varying the drone intervals and using the name significantly of the 12th century Irish king or Ard Rì, Brian Boru, traditionally the first King of all Ireland.
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