Northumbrian Small Pipes Society facts for kids

Northumbrian Small Pipes Society logo, designed by C J Spence around 1894

The Northumbrian Small Pipes Society was started in 1893. It was created by people from the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne. Their main goal was to get more people interested in playing the Northumbrian smallpipes and their music. This society only lasted for seven years. Because of this, it is often seen as an early version of the Northumbrian Pipers' Society.

Even though it was short-lived, the society did some important things. They published the first teaching book for the instrument. This book was called Instruction Book for the Northumbrian Small-Pipes (1896) by J. W. Fenwick. They also held regular meetings and organized yearly competitions. The society published special reports called "Transactions" in 1894 and 1896–97. They also shared a report about their annual meeting in 1897.

Members paid a yearly fee. There were also "Honorary Playing Members" who were skilled pipers. The society's records show the names and addresses of 37 known pipers. In April 1900, newspaper articles said the society was doing well. It had 200 members, and almost half of them were pipers. New leaders were chosen for the next year. However, after that, there are no records of the society holding any more meetings or competitions.

In 1906, the famous pipers Cloughs played for King Edward VII at Alnwick Castle. A newspaper report about this said the Northumbrian Small Pipes Society had helped bring back interest in the pipes. But it also said the society had been quiet for seven years. This suggests the society was not very active for some time before its last meeting.

Around the same time as the society's last meeting, pipers like Henry Clough and Richard Mowat started organizing their own events. They held a gathering at The Black Horse in Monkseaton. This showed that pipers were beginning to arrange events themselves, separate from the society. The 1900 meeting was led by Walter Corder, who was the secretary of the society. This was the second such meeting, with the first one held the previous May. These events were called "annual," but there are no more newspaper reports about them until an informal gathering in 1906.

Why the Society Started

Growing Interest in Northumbrian Music

In the late 1800s, people in Northumberland became very interested in local music. This included the special music of the Northumbrian smallpipes. In the 1850s, the Society of Antiquaries began collecting old tunes and songs. Their Ancient Melodies Committee continued this work for many years.

In the 1870s, the Society of Antiquaries held yearly piping competitions. These events encouraged pipers and rewarded the best players. In 1882, a book called Northumbrian Minstrelsy was published. It shared some of their research with more people. The second part of this book was all about smallpipe tunes. So, by 1893, the time was right for a group focused only on Northumbrian Smallpipes.

Important Members of the Society

Who Was on the Committee?

The society had 26 committee members. Only one of them, J. W. Fenwick, was an Honorary Playing Member. Many committee members were related to each other. They belonged to the Foster, Spence, Corder, and Watson families. Several of these families lived close to each other in North Shields. These families were Quakers and were related to Robert Foster, a friend of Thomas Bewick. It is thought that Robert might have heard Thomas's son, Robert Bewick, play the pipes. This family interest in piping may have started a long time ago.

Joseph Crawhall II: Artist and Musician

One important member was the artist Joseph Crawhall II (1821–1896). He loved the culture and music of Northumberland. In 1888, he published a book called A Beuk o' Newcassell Sangs. He also put together a tunebook for pipers. It had tunes copied from the William Vickers manuscript and tunes from old traditions. Some of these tunes were not known anywhere else. Parts of his collection are now in the FARNE archive.

Joseph Crawhall II wrote letters to his friend, the artist Charles Keene. Charles Keene was also a Northumbrian piper. Their letters show they both knew James Reid. James was the son of Robert Reid, who made pipes. James continued his father's business. In one letter, Charles Keene mentioned seeing the pipes of Tommy Hair for sale in Reid's shop in December 1873.

Charles James Spence: Banker and Artist

Another committee member was Charles James Spence. He was a banker and a talented amateur artist. He was also an active member of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne. He was their Curator of Museums from 1890 to 1905. He owned a very rare set of six-drone pipes made by Reid. A picture of these pipes was on the front page of Fenwick's teaching book. We do not know if he was interested in them as a collector or a player. He was not listed as a playing member, which might mean he did not see himself as a serious piper. Or, perhaps, as a wealthy man, he simply paid the membership fee.

Charles James Spence designed the medal given to first-prize winners in the society's yearly competitions. He also created the artwork for the society's "Transactions." During its time, the society gave its gold medal to two pipers. One was Richard Mowat, and the other was Henry Clough.

Robert Spence Watson and the Piping Trophy

Charles James Spence had a cousin named Robert Spence Watson. Robert was very interested in piping more than ten years before the society started. He gave a trophy, worth £25, for competitions organized by the Society of Antiquaries. These competitions were held in Newcastle Town Hall. Old Tom Clough won this trophy for good after winning three times in 1879. Robert's daughter, Mary Spence Watson, also played the pipes. She learned from Richard Mowat and wrote letters to Old Tom's grandson, Tom Clough. That trophy is now in the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum.

Richard Welford: Society President

The president of the society was Richard Welford. In 1896, he gave a talk to the society about 'The Waits of Newcastle upon Tyne'. The last of the Waits was John Peacock, a piper. This shows Welford was interested in Northumbrian pipes. After Fenwick died, Welford got Fenwick's collection of music. This collection still exists today. It has many unusual versions of traditional pipe tunes. Some tunes are linked to specific pipers, like Peacock and Robert Reid.

Where the Pipers Lived

The society's records include the addresses of the pipers. These pipers mainly lived in an area from mid-Durham (like Willington and Darlington) to western Northumberland (like Haltwhistle). The area then went northeast to the North Tyne Valley, Kielder Water, Bellingham, and further north to places like Alnwick. Then it went south to Morpeth, southeast Northumberland, and Tyneside. This area generally covers Northumberland and the eastern part of County Durham.

Almost half of the pipers listed, seventeen in total, came from the industrial and mining areas of Tyneside and southeast Northumberland. Three lived in North Shields, and six were in mining towns between the rivers Tyne and Wansbeck. This group of nine pipers, a quarter of all the musicians, came from the North Shields and southeast Northumberland areas.

Why the Society Didn't Last Long

The exact reasons why the society lasted only a short time are not written down. However, the committee had 26 members, but only one was an honorary playing member. Over the society's whole life, there were never more than 35 honorary playing members at any one time. This might mean that pipers felt the society was not truly focused on the living tradition of playing the instrument. Instead, it might have seemed more like an old-fashioned interest in saving an instrument that some wrongly thought was about to disappear.

Similar feelings were present when the Northumbrian Pipers' Society was founded 30 years later. We know from Tom Clough's letters that he, and maybe his father Henry, were careful and even suspicious at first. Henry was chosen as one of the vice-presidents of the new society, but he was not very active.

The newer Northumbrian Pipers' Society had much more involvement from pipers themselves. Tom Clough himself was a competition judge for the first three years. He did not want to be a vice-president, saying it would take too much of his time. It is more likely that his disagreements with G.V.B. Charlton, the first president of the new society, played a big part in his decision. Another piper who was very important in the early days of the Northumbrian Pipers' Society was Richard Mowat. He was its chairman from 1933 until he died. In the same year, Tom Clough was also chosen as a vice-president, just as Billy Pigg had been in 1930.

The newer society, as its name suggests, had much more involvement from pipers than the short-lived Northumbrian Small Pipes Society. This difference might explain why the Northumbrian Pipers' Society survived, while the earlier society did not.