The Moloney Brothers

The discovery that the magnificent set of Union pipes of peculiar design picked up by Prof. Denis O’Leary in Clare in 1906 was manufactured by the Moloney brothers - Thomas and Andrew - at Kilrush, in that county, presumably solves a puzzling problem.

The trombone slide, which is a conspicuous feature of the instrument, was also a prominent characteristic of the splendid Irish pipes seen in the pictures of Captain Kelly and William Murphy in this volume. As neither of the noted pipemakers - Kenna, Coyne, Harrington, or Egan - turned out instruments of that type, there is nothing inconsistent in attributing their manufacture to the Moloneys.

It was while acting as Gaelic League organizer in 1906 that Professor O’Leary became acquainted with a Mr. Nolan, of Knockerra, near Kilrush, a good amateur piper and an enthusiast on the instrument, though then well advanced in years.

In early life he knew intimately Thomas and Andrew Moloney of the same townland, who made on the order of Mr. Vandaleur, a local landlord, what is claimed to be the most elaborate set of bagpipes in existence. Thomas was a blacksmith and Andrew was a carpenter, but both were great performers on the Union pipes.

According to Mr. Nolan’s story, they did not manufacture many sets of pipes, but they were always most obliging towards the piping fraternity in repairing their instruments.

It may be objected that mechanics of their class would be incapable of turning out such fine technical work, but in view of the fact that Egan, the famous harpmaker of Dublin, was originally a blacksmith, and that the elder Kenna was by trade a wheelwright, there appear to be no just grounds to question the authenticity of the Moloney claims.

When seen by the present writer at Mr. Rowsome’s shop, 18 Armstrong Street, Harold’s Cross, Dublin, in 1906, Professor O’Leary’s treasure was disjointed and apparently long out of use, but it seems Mr. Rowsome experienced no difficulty in putting it in order. It was a massive ebony instrument, the chanter being eighteen inches in length, and, according to its present owner, “of exquisite sweetness and fullness, much superior to an Egan or Harrington chanter.” It has five regulators, with twenty-four keys, and the tones of both basses resemble those of an organ. There are two splendid drones. The tubing and keys are of pure silver and artistically turned out, and the various pipes are tipped with ivory.

Experts estimate the original cost at one hundred pounds, or five hundred dollars.

The date of their manufacture is not known, except that it was early in the nineteenth century, when the makers were in good circumstances. As the young man for whom the instrument was intended met with an injury, it remained on their hands, unsalable because of its expensiveness.

JOHN CASH

A description of the circumstances attending this patriarchal minstrel’s presence at the Mansion House Reception at Dublin in 1906, where the writer made his acquaintance, may be found on page 228, Irish Folk Music, A Fascinating Hobby, and therefore need not be repeated here.

Through the courtesy of Mr. William Rowsome of Dublin we have been favoured with an excellent sketch of his life and that of his talented son from the able pen of Mr. Patrick Whelan of Scarawalsh, Ballycarney, County Wexford, a versatile musician himself.

"Cash the Piper" has been for over fifty years to all lovers of traditional melody as well as those who affected the display of the "light fantastic to" in Wexford and adjoining counties, a popular and familiar phrase, and although as an honoured title, it is now derelict, there is no indication that it will pass into oblivion for many a day to come.

The name was borne in common by two contemporary pipers, with the distinctive qualifying terms "Old" or "Young," for they were father and son – John and James respectively.

John Cash, who was a native of County Wexford, was born in the year 1832, the historic landmark of his birth being March, after the tithe massacre of Bunclody, commonly called the battle of Newtownbarry, which occurred in 1831. He learned the art of playing the Union pipes from his uncle, James Hanrahan, an Irish piper of repute, a Tipperary man whose wife was an excellent violinist also.

Bred in an atmosphere of music, and as his various callings tended to bring him generally within a musical environment, and being endowed with much talent, it is little wonder he attained the distinction of being one of the most famous pipers of the latter half of the nineteenth century.

He married early in life, his wife, "Polly" Connors, being a tidy and industrious woman who could foot a dance against any who ever "took the floor." To his trade of tinsmith he combined that of horse dealer, and his enterprise soon made him comparatively wealthy.

Fortified with capital, Cash could import as many as six or seven score of Connemara ponies and young horses in one season into the southern counties of Leinster.

To all interested in the dance and music of the niotherland he was known as "Cash the Piper," but from Waterford City to the Curragh of Kildare and from Enniscorthy to far-oft Ballinasloe, among those more interested in horseflesh than in music, he was simply "Johnny Cash." Although always having an established home occupied by some members of his family, he kept abroad himself pretty much at certain seasons of the year in the pursuit of his avoeations, and we may well believe that he was `a welcome guest at the wealthiest farmers' houses, and enjoyed to the fullest the best accommodations wherever he went. for he was never without his melodious pipes on his horse-trading expeditions.

John Cash was a man of line personal appearance, well above medium height, with proportionatemuscular development, amiable of disposition and with good conversational powers. Unlike the typical piper and hddler, he was not loquacious; neither was he an egotist. Although conversant with all the dance music common to the south of Ireland, he never set himself up as an infallible authority in such matters, but would play anything called for without comment or delay; yet, like the majority of his class, he was quick of wit and keen of repartee.

His advent to the barony of Scarawalsh on the occasion of his periodical visits to the fair of Enniscorthy was always regarded by young and old with pleasurable anticipation. He invariably stayed overnight at the snug home of Mr. Lawrence Piper, who was Doyle the dancing master's best pupil, and was also one of the best nonprofessional dancers of his day or any other day. As the saying goes, "Larry was as tlne a dancer as ever stepped in shoe leather," and, as an admirer once said of him, "kicked dance around the house and in all directions away from him," and could beat one, two, three, consecutively against a wall as easily as kiss his hand, and besides he was as iniposingly handsome a figure as imagination could conceive. Talk about the poetry of motion, of which he was a superb exponent. There is a poetry of just proportion in the symmetry of muscular development in the human form which you realized the nioment he stood on the floor. This Adonis scorned vest and cravat as accessories of his holiday attire, and as for braces, why, he never indulged in such superfluities. For fancy, flashy shirts he had a strong weakness, while a broadcloth coat and a shining silk beaver hat completed his wardrobe and his happiness. With the two latter articles of apparel laid aside, he was ready "to take the floor."

The young people always expected a rare treat when "Cash the Piper" was around, and it is but the simple truth to say they were never disappointed, although their patience was sorely tried occasionally by the piper's protracted delay in getting started. Oftentimes Mr. Cash, with the pipes thrown carelessly across his knees, would suspend operations to talk to "Larry" of "the days of old lang syne" when they met at the fairs and the races at which they were by no means inconspicuous figures.

Invariably they had to be recalled from their reminiscent reverie by the importunities of an expectant audience, but after the music and dancing had commenced in earnest the scene can be better imagined than described.

"Larry" Piper had all the distinguishing qualities of the great Irish dancer. As an athlete he had no rival worthy of the name, except John Nolan, "The Fairy Man," whose almost superhuman feats ot strength and muscular dexterity became proverbial during his life time. Without any of the swaying body-movement or ridiculous and grotesque arm motion that characterizes the mediocre, his performance proved a psychic treat.

With arms drawn closely to his sides, and rather backward to the elbow, from which joint they were relaxed with a forward inclination, his body otherwise motionless, he carried in a vertical line wherever he changed his position. The precision and rapidity of his footwork and evolutions, while appreciated by the eye, defy the pen to describe.

On such occasions Cash invariably played the "Londonderry Clog" in five parts almost identical with the setting in O'Neill's Music of Ireland, in his inimitable style, it being one of his favorites, and locally known as "Cash's Hornpipe" on that account. Even those who were wont to advocate the claim of James Byrne of Bagnalstown, County Carlow, to the premiership of Leinster, were forced to admit that the acme of good pipering was here to be enjoyed.

In common with all musicians of his class, Cash disliked playing for "sets" or quadrilles, yet he never failed to meet the expectations of his host or audience, though jigs, reels, and hornpipes, were his cherished favorites.

"Alec." Leary and "Kitty" Carton were always in evidence as the sturdyrepresentatives of oldtime customs and manners, and would take the floor and "welt it for further orders," and could calculate on the hearty support of Mrs. Piper and "Polly" Cash.

The superb "Larry" Pipers health had been declining for a long time, but a month prior to his death, when John Cash called around, he mounted the kitchen table and grasping a pole that crossed the house within above his head, made the board "tell" in response to every note emitted by the chanter. We can scarcely conceive the mutual feeling of admiration or rather veneration which existed between these two worthies-piper and dancer.

Although Cash's visits were only of periodical recurrence, and of brief duration, yet they did much to inlluenee the popular musical taste along traditional lines, and to still direct it in the channel through which it flowed for centuries. The same may be said of him wherever he went. He had a long and honorable career as an Irish piper. Otherwise he was an industrious man who led a useful and, it must in truth be stated, a blameless life. He died in 1909 at his residence in Wicklow town, where he lived for many years, surviving his beloved "Polly" only a brief twelve months.

The old minstrel's picture was obtained from John Rowsome, who on handing it to Patrick Whelan remarked: "There it is, and it is more like the poor old fellow than he was himself!" Sir Boyle Roehe couldn't do better.

A song popular in the counties of Wicklow and Wexford, in which our hero is the leading character, may not be out of place in concluding the biography of this exemplary man:

My name is "Cash the Piper,"

And I'm seen at race and fair;

I'm known to all the jolly souls

From Wicklow to Kildare;

I've played at dance and wedding

From Bray to Clonegal,

But the cream of entertainment

Was at "Mick the Dalty's" ball.

I received a special order

To attend at eight o'clock ;

I took the train to Rathdrum,

Then walked to Glendalough.

The boys around the neighborhood

Assembled one and all,

Saying, "You're welcome, `Cash the Piper,'

To `Mick the Dalty's' "ball."

And when I entered I beheld

A table brimming o'er

With beef and bread and bacon,

And stout and punch galore ;

We all sat down and ate our fill,

Like cattle in a stall,

For "eat and drink"-it was the word

At "Mick the Dalty's" ball.

The feast being o'er, the cloth removed,

I played a dashing reel,

When one young lady on the floor

Displayed a toe and heel,

With "Will the Dalty," "Will the gaum,"

For such I must him call;

He slapped his flat foot on the floor

At "Mick the Dalty's" ball.

The family names were "Jim" and "Will,"

With "Andy" and old "Mick";

The guests were "Tom,' and "Paddy," too,

And Martin, Hugh, and "Dick",

There was Mary, Kate, and Nancy,

With one they did not call--

All danced before me on the floor,

At "Mick the Dalty's" ball.

And when the dance was over,

The dancers all sat down;

In tumblers, tins and teacups,

The punch went steaming round,

While rough and ready Hugh struck up,

And sang the "Ould Plaid Shawl,"

Which brought three cheers with laughter loud

At "Mick the Dalty's" ball.

The longest night must have its dawn,

The sweetest pleasures end,

The jolliest crowd must part at last,

And home their footsteps bend,

So when loud upon our revels rang

The cock's loud morning call,

Wre all shook hand? and took our leave

Of "Mick the Dalty's" ball.

JAMES CASH

James, commonly known as "Young Cash," in contradistinction to the elder - his father - is believed to have been one of the most brilliant lights of the profession which his native province of Leinster has produced, as far as we have any definite knowledge. Inheriting the musical faculty and nurtured under condition which gave every facility to the unfolding of latent talent, he graduated as a sterling Irish piper whilst yet but a boy. Possessing marvellous execution on the chanter in the rendering of reels, doubles, and hornpipes, and dance music generally, he was no less an adept in playing waltzes, marches, airs, and miscellaneous compositions.

His acumen and dexterity in the manipulation of the regulators in producing harmonic accompaniments was such as to win the approbation of the wealthy and refined, and commend him to the patronage of the nobility of the land.

Unlike his father, James Cash never learned or followed any other trade or calling, his sole ambition being directed towards becoming a piper of fame in his day, and his eilorts were singularly successful in that respect, so far as giving practical manifestation of phenomenal ability. But, alas, "fell death's untimely frost" nipped him in the flower of his manhood and effervescent genius.

To be duly appreciated he should have been born three generations earlier, when great musicians attracted distinguished patrons and the blight of famine and proscription had not done their deadly work. He came unfortunately at a time when the greatest apathy prevailed in all that pertains to the noblest Celtic tradition in music, and when the country, with a greater degree of justice than ever, might be described as a "corpse upon the dissenting table.,'

An incident of his early life, as told by his mother, shows the bias of his early inclinations.

At the early age of nine years, while the family lived in the town of Wexford, he occasioned great distress by his protracted absence from home one day. As evening waned and night came on, anxiety became intensified to alarm, when his father and mother went forth in search of the truant. Attracted by a noisy crowd of juveniles which they saw assembled in the main street, to their great relief they found in the centre of the throng the youthful James, who, with a miniature set of bagpipes, had been making a circuit of the town, with more small silver and copper coins upon' his person than he could comfortably carry.

For the purpose of improving and giving a polish to his education, this prodigy early decided on making a prolonged tour of Munster and Connacht. Some of his earlier experiences in this enterprise were by no means reassuring or encouraging, according to his own statement.

It had been the zest of his ambition to invade the County and City of rebel Cork, and when he was well across the frontier, while travelling one day, he entered a house by the wayside. The only occupant at the time was a precocious boy of rather diminutive stature who, regarding him with evident interest, soliloquised, "Oh! is this another new piper we've got ?" Young Cash admitted the implied accusation. "Will you let us hear you play ?" asked the self-possessed one.

James played one of his best and most earthy tunes in confident style, expecting to astonish the listener, but it seems he didn't, for the latter only remarked: "Not a bad player at all if you had a good instrument."

The invading piper, who had not only prided himself on having a good set of pipes but in being a competent judge as well, was taken somewhat aback, laid them down on the seat beside him to await the outcome of what had become to him a very interesting turn of affairs. The boy advanced, took hold of the chanter and looked it over critically with the eye of an expert. "This ought to be a good chanter if there were a good reed in it," he announced.

Cash, perceiving he was about to draw the chanter from its stock, interposed with the observation: "Be careful of what you do, my boy; those reeds are delicate and are very easily injured."

The boy, without taking apparent notice of the remonstrance, took out the chanter, withdrew the reed, put the stem to his lips, drew the air in through it so as to produce the "crow," and said reassuringly to the perturbed owner, "I make reeds for the pipers who circulate around here and they consider me not a bad hand at the business."

Reaching up to a hole in the "scraw," he drew from under the thatch a small box full of miscellaneous articles, saying as he did so, "I may have a reed to suit this chanter." After searching through the contents of the box he selected one, tried its "crow" in the manner described, adjusted it in proper position, put on the pipes and played a tune. to Cash's astonishment, in such a manner as left little doubt in his mind that his own best efforts were but poor in comparison. [This is a very nice story, but what has become of the phenomenal young piper and reedmaker?]

James Cash rapidly rose to distinction in his chosen profession and titled appointments in the Metropolitan Theatre and music halls, and, being a young man of handsome appearance, he enjoyed, or perhaps suffered from, that peculiar popularity or adulation accorded only those displaying conspicuous artistic talents. To some the fascination proves irresistible.

Like many another of brilliant genius, he was beset by adversity, lost his emoluments, and yielding to the pressure of circumstances travelled about as a wandering piper.

All of the family - boys and girls - were born at Kilmore, County Wexford, the date of his birth being October, 1853. After a short but eventful life, this gifted musician died at Rathdrum in 1890, ere he had attained his thirty-eighth year. Too much conviviality, an evil almost inseparable from his profession, led to certain infirmities from which neither age nor youth may hope to escape.

"My estimate of the younger Cash, based on acquaintance and general experience, is," writes Mr. Wm. Rowsome, the versatile piper and pipemaker of Dublin, "that he was the star piper of the whole globe. I had the opportunity of hearing the best pipers of Ireland. Among them were many marvellous performers who could play an Irish tune to suit the most critical, but James Cash could play a tune in ten different styles before he would finish, and, what was still more astonishing, he could converse on any subject while doing so. Many a conversation I had With him in my old home at Ballintore when he was playing a difficult hornpipe for a noted dancer named Lawrence Murray, now living at Avoca Mills, County Wicklow."

During the whole period of his meteoric career he was a frequent visitor at the picturesque and commodious farmstead of Mr. Samuel Rowsome of Ballintore, Ferns, County Wexford, himself a fine performer on the Irish pipes. By this hospitable family his memory and that of his father as well are religiously cherished, and his technique of pipe-playing adopted by the younger generation of that famous family of pipers.

John O’Reilly of Dunmore, County Galway, the dean of the assemblage, won the highest honours jointly with James Byrne of Mooncoin, County Kilkenny. The former is described as “a blind man of smart appearance with a jet black goatee beard and clean shaven upper lip, which gives him the appearance of a returned Yank.” Though seventy-three years of age, not a grey hair gives warning of life’s decline. His playing, which was far superior to his performance of previous years, may be attributed in some degree to his splendid set of pipes, recently purchased from William Rowsome, the clever pipemaker of Harold’s Cross, Dublin.

A NIGHT IN IRELAND.

“It is doubtful if anything in Dr. Douglas Hyde's experience while in America was so thoroughly enjoyed by him as the “Night in Ireland” arranged by Father Fielding and Chief O’Neill a few days before he left Chicago. Mr. Bernard Delaney’s residence on Forest Avenue was chosen as the meeting place, and at the appointed hour the “Craoibhín” arrived, accompanied by Father Fielding and Father Fagan of Galway, Ireland. There was no formality observed at that meeting. It was an Irish meeting, pure and simple. The priests were there, as they used to he in olden times in Ireland, encouraging the national music, songs and dances of their country. Pipers and fiddlers of world-wide renown were present, such as Delaney, Early, Tobin and McCormick, Cronin, McFadden, O’Neill and Clancy, men whose names are familiar at the very cross roads in Ireland today. The Irish step dancing of Dan Ryan, the Hennessy brothers, and Richard Sullivan were pronounced by Dr. Douglas Hyde to be the best he had ever witnessed. He heard the songs of his native land sung in Irish and English, by Mrs. P. F. Holden and Father Scanlan. Father Green, Father Fagan and Chief O’Neill chatted with him at intervals in Irish. Father Small, who was toastmaster on the occasion, was particularly happy in his remarks on the Irish Irishman, the English Irishman and the American Irishman. Father Fielding played that beautiful descriptive tune called the Madhereen Rua (or Fox Chase), which Dr. Hyde said an Englishman couldn’t even whistle if the Almighty promised to endow him with a sense of humour.

In the midst of this unconventional Irish hospitality, the “Craoibhin Aoibhinn” sat for hours listening to those men of Erin pouring forth an inexhaustible flood of music, songs and melodies of the motherland. On several occasions he was visibly affected. He was moved to ecstasy at the thrill of his own music heard in a foreign land. No wonder, for a night with those men above named would put a soul under the ribs of death. The “Craoibhin” was astonished at the wonderful proficiency of the players and the inexhaustible extent of their repertoire.

There is nothing in art so grand, so thrilling as the irresistible vigour and mighty onrush of some of the reels they played, filled with the hurry of flight, the majesty of battle strife, the languishment of retreat, the sweep of a rallying charge with a laugh at fate, though yet the whole was over still accompanied by the complaining magic of of a minor tone like the whisper of a far away sorrow. Dr. Douglas Hyde enjoyed that “Night in Ireland” and expressed himself as delighted with what he had seen and heard. He thanked all present, particularly Father Fielding, for arranging such a pleasant meeting, and also Chief 0’Neill, whom he complimented on his great efforts in keeping alive in a foreign land the jewels of our fathers which were inherited from them beyond the dawn of history and are still entwined with our very heart strings.”

A visit to the county of Clare, in 1906, increased materially our store of unpublished tunes, but in order to reach Clashmore House, our destination near Feakle, I was obliged to engage a jaunting ear at Killaloe, but made a brief stop at Scariff on the way to see an old acquaintance.

Hospitality being at all times the order of the day in Ireland, I ventured to drink a glass of porter. Had I any suspicion of its acridity, the most fiery beverage would have been taken in preference.

The driver, who had enjoyed his bottle of stout, noticing my distress, explained the causes which led up to it. “You see, sir, the holy fathers gave a mission in Scariff last Week, and, begor, they paralysed the town. No doubt in the world, sir, what you just drank is the first that came out of that bag in a week !”

The vitalizing effect of the Gaelic League agitation in recent years has been felt throughout Ireland from the centre to the sea, and of course Feakle, an old but small town in East Clare, was no exception.

“Paddy” Mack and “Tommy’, Hinchy, fiddlers, great in their day, had long since joined the Heavenly choir, and so had the pipers “Mickey” Gill and “Mickey” Burke, better known as “Mehauleen euis na thinne.” An amateur band was organized and in due time acquired enough proficiency to parade on St. Patrick’s Day, marching and countermarching on the one main street of the town, cheered on by tumultuous applause.

No one was more conspicuous in the band and prouder of it than Johnny Doyle, who pounded the bass drum, except his father. When the band countermarched, the old man, Michael Doyle, returned to the public house to have another drink in honour of the day and the event, but he never failed to reappear on the street when the rising flood of music announced the band’s return.

After a few repetitions of that performance the father seemed to think his son was not putting enough soul into his work, and he determined to remind him of it at the first opportunity.

When the band came within hailing distance on its next approach, the old man, aroused by the inspiration of the beverage he had imbibed and his son’s fancied neglect, stepped out in front menacingly and giving vent to his indignation, fairly shouted at the drummer, “Thanaím an dhiall a vosthard; hit it, why don't you? Is it afraid of it, you are? Bate it in airnest, you caoláin, you !”

The result was electrical, but as the parade came to an end then and there, Johnny didn’t have a chance to redeem himself.

Another story in which Michael Doyle was the leading character, although in no way connected with music or song, may be found not less interesting to the general reader on that account.

Mr. Doyle was much given to speculation and frequently indulged in the excitement of cattle jobbing in a small way. He was by no means an aggressive dealer, but walked about unobtrusively at the fairs on the lookout for a bargain in heifers and calves. Emulating the example of the intrepid explorers of old who ventured into distant lands, Doyle decided to attend a cattle fair at Killamey in the County of Kerry, a two days' journey each way, on foot.

When his destination became known all of his friends from the country around were on the tiptoe of expectation, to hear from him on his return all about Killarney - that wonderful place of world-wide renown - that miracle of picturesque grandeur which defied the power of pen to describe.

Now how was Michael Doyle, their neighbour, trafficker and traveller, actually feasting his eyes on the sublime scenery. What a treat it would be to hear his story, and how they would enjoy the description of nature’s magnificence by one who saw and could tell them all about it.

“Yerra, how are you, Michael? And you’re looking well after your long journey.” “I suppose you must be tired.” “How did you make out ?” Such were the greetings which assailed him on every side. Hardly waiting for replies to those formal questions, his callers continued: “Killarney must be a wonderful place entirely, Michael, by all the accounts we heard of it. I suppose you travelled it all; the lakes and the castles and the abbeys and everything. Tell us what you think of it.”

“Well, then,” replied the traveller, ruefully, “they can all say what they like about it, but there's wan thing I can tell yet Killarnvy is a dom bad place to buy a chape calf!”

The wonderful skill and proficiency of the classes of youthful dancers, who competed for prizes at the Munster Feis in the City of Cork, which I attended in the summer of 1906, was a delight and a revelation. It had never been my good fortune to witness anything oven approaching the grace, rhythm, precision, and uniformity of their performance on either side of the Atlantic, they were a credit to their instructors as well as to themselves.

'Tis very true they were not worried by the introduction of any unfamiliar tunes, for “Tatter Jack Walsh,” “Miss McLeod,” and “The Rights of Man”, jig, reel, and hornpipe respectively, with monotonous repetition, served for all occasions.

Before the dancers came upon the stage, the piper, a handsome fellow, who I understood was the forceful and moving spirit in the music revival, occupied the centre of the stage, and ostentatiously tuned his instrument in full view of the wondering audience. The round, full, organ tones of the regulators, which the man of music industriously fingered, had roused the awed assemblage to the highest pitch of curiosity and expectation, when out from the wings tripped the blushing boys and rosy colleens to take their places.

Of course they nearly filled the stage, so the piper, in an apparent spirit of accommodation, swung around to one side behind the drapery so adroitly that only his legs and knees, with the wonderful Irish pipes resting thereon, were visible to the audience. With commendable promptness the dancers and the expectant onlookers, many of whom had travelled far to enjoy and encourage the revival of traditional Irish music, were treated to a “tune on the pipes,” No, sad to relate, but on a French celluloid flageolet which the piper deftly extracted from an inside pocket.

The mute but conspicuous Irish or Union pipes placidly reposing on the piper's knees, Mr. Wayland told me, were an old set of the Egan make, that were a full tone below concert pitch. As they could scarcely be heard distinctly above the drumming of the dancers on the platform, he prudently adopted the expedient described.

The Irish were always noted for their drollery and humour, and this incident but serves to show they have not deteriorated in that respect, even when apparently unconscious of their mirth-provoking absurdities.

While visiting Mr. Rowsome, an excellent Irish piper and pipe maker in Dublin a week later, in strolled John Cash, the aged piper from Wicklow County, who had come all the way to play at the Mansion House reception in connection with the annual Leinster Feis.

A well-built and corpulent man he was, deliberate in speech and movement, and well past the scriptural limit in years. After fortifying himself with a generous stimulant he “put on the pipes,” a set as wheezy and antiquated as their owner, but his weary and uncertain manipulation of them in the effort to play “Nora Chreena” with concords on the regulators, showed all too plainly that age and affliction had unstrung the nerves and broken the spirit of the old bard. In his dignity and helplessness, John Cash was a truly pathetic figure.

In the midst of the stream of gay humanity which entered the Mansion House next evening came John Cash, carrying his instrument in the traditional green bag under his arm.

At the ball which succeeded the reception by the Lord Mayor and Douglas Hyde, the orchestra, which consisted of three fiddlers and an amateur Irish piper, and John Cash, were stationed on a platform which commanded a good view of the ball room.

Several numbers were danced without the intervention of the Wicklow piper, although he had always tuned up and appeared anxious to co-operate. The manager, a bright young fellow, it was noticed, always found some pretext for keeping him out of it, although he was per- mitted to occupy a place among the musicians as a con- cession to his age and profession.

Impatient and ill at ease, poor Cash repeatedly essayed to play, but the resourceful manager as often found means to restrain him, the result being that he never got an opportunity to identify himself with the programme while I was present.

The attitude and movements of Mr. Andrews, the young piper, were all that could be desired, but not a note from his instrument could be heard from any position which the writer could reach, including the balcony immediately above him. The combined tones of the three violins had drowned out the weak voice of the chanter.

Among the dancers a few men wore the ancient saffron-coloured kilts. One of them, a lithe young fellow, carried a set of war pipes lately come into fashion again, but there was no indication that their use in a musical way was contemplated.

Here were two Union pipers in the orchestra and one war piper among the dancers; yet the only music to be heard was furnished by three fiddlers. This condition of affairs could hardly have been intended as a joke; still, the situation was not altogether wanting in certain elements of Irish humour and pleasantry.

One could not help becoming reminiscent, taking into consideration the importance of the occasion and other circumstances. And this was in the very heart of the one-time “Land of Music and Song”- the country renowned above all others for the excellence of its music and musicians.

When we come to think of it as the Glorious Green Erin which produced the celebrated bards, Rory Dall O’Cahan, O’Conellon and O’Carolan, and such famous harpers as Gerald O’Daly, Cornelius Lyons, Cruise, Miles O’Reilly, John and Henry Scott, Heffernan, Murphy, Hempson, O’Nei1l, Fanning, Higgins, Quin, Carr, and Rose Mooney, we are amazed at the musical degeneracy of our day.

Besides the harpers, there were in those times great Union pipers, whose celebrity extended beyond the confines of their native land such as Jackson, “Parson” Stirling, Talbot, Gaynor. Ferguson, Crump, Coneely, Gandsey, and a host of others.

We may derive some qualified pleasure in contemplating the prominence of Irishmen by birth or blood who have achieved fame in the world of music in more recent times.

Many scaled the heights of distinction, but their compositions are cosmopolitan and not national. Neither do their productions give promise of a revival of those characteristic Irish strains typical of Gaelic temperament which most strongly appeal to the sentiments and aspirations of a regenerated Ireland.

"Hail, Music, goddess of the golden strain!

Thy voice can spread new blessings o'er the plain;

Thou the sad heart can cheat of all its cares,

And waft soft soothings on thy melting airs;

Bend the rude soul to wish the gentle deed

At pity 's touching tale to bleed;

Thy magic can the noblest aims inspire,

And bid pale terror feel the hero 's fire."

JOHN ROWSOME

The following extract is from the book "Irish Minstrels and Musicians" written by Captain Francis O'Neill. The book was first published in 1913. "For power of extracting a strong, voluble tone from the chanter, and imparting a beautiful expression to the music he has few peers and certainly no superior" Such is the language of an enthusiastic admirer in describing, the accomplishments of John Rowsome, the eldest son of Samuel Rowsome of Ballintore Ferns, County Wexford, who resides on the old homestead and is consequently unknown to fame. As '.Mr. Whelan is a very interesting though somewhat partial writer we will let him continue: "There are surely none more conversant with the law of modulation in music. To hear him play a great Irish reel is like listening to the warring elements of nature. The music from his chanter comes with the impetuosity of the wind, which gathers force in its gambols down the mountain side to accelerate its wild career over the plain. And anon it lingers or seems to linger, and goes on again with increased velocity. It comes in undulating waves of sound, and breaks upon the ear as the swells of the ocean break upon the beach and disperse around the feet of the spectator.

Who that has listened to the roar of the distant cataract in the stillness of the night would fail to be impressed with a sense - that a greater volume of water overleaps the rock, and plunges into the chasm below with correspondingly increasing fury at certain intervals than an others?.Any or all of the above similes might be taken as illustrations of his music, yet they are but poorly or indifferently put, for still the music swells, breaks, leaps, curves, sighs, murmurs, ripples, laughs, rolls, thunders, on the ear of the enraptured listener.

"The noise emitted through the chanter and from the strings of many of the swelled heads, is mere musical chatter in comparison to his playing, nor is it to be wondered at, since the musical faculty with him was inborn, and lames Cash, that'prince of pipers,' was through all his early years his most intimate associate, friend, and tutor."But coming back to earth from Patrick Whelan's aerial flights, we hasten to inform the reader that John Rowsome, as well as his brothers Thomas and William, studied music under Herr Jacob Blowitz, a German professor, who resided in Ferns from 1878 to 1885, arid became efficient performers on various orchestral instruments. John was famous on the cornet, on which he could play jigs as fluently as William could on the violin. Strange to say, heredity overcame their training under Professor Blowitz, and all three owe their present fame to their skill as performers on the Union bagpipes.
Since succeeding his father in the management of the farm, John has not played in public, nor has he continued his practice of music except in a desultory way in private. Just as he would be warming up to his work and when his audience would be anticipating a musical treat, he would strike a few chords on the regulators and put away. the instrument heedless of protest or entreaty.

Nearing the half century. milestone in age, he is unostentatious in the extreme, though active in all that pertains to the revival of interest in Irish music, and the art of giving it traditional expression on Ireland's national instrument. He has furbished, repaired, renovated, and reeded more foundered sets of bagpipes, for the unskilful, than any, other man in the south of Ireland. Neither is this splendid type of the whole-souled Irishman inclined to "hide his light under a bushel" like so many excellent pipers whom we could name.

John Rowsome sees no glory, in taking his art or his tunes to the grave with him, like so many small-bore musicians afflicted with atrophied consciences. On the contrary, to his great credit, he is teaching his art, as his generous-hearted father did before him to all who cared to learn. Among his present pupils are his young neighbours, David and Bernard Bolger, of the manufacturing, firm of "David Bolger and Sons" and their maternal uncle, Joseph Sinnott, draper at Enniscorty., who is active and enthusiastic in Gaelic circles.Wealth is, popular, arid patriotic, three members of the Bolger family represented constituencies in the first election assembly which supplanted the Grand Jury, system in Wexford, arid it is quite within the bounds of probability, that in the near future two "gentlemen pipers" of the name will succeed their honoured relatives in the same capacity.

THOMAS ROWSOME

The following extract    is taken from the book "Irish Minstrels and Musicians" written by Captain Francis O'Neill. The book was first published in 1913.

Of this member of the Rowsome family of pipers we call say nothing from personal knowledge, but we are reliably, informed that Thomas Rowsome is not inferior to his brother William as a performer on the Union pipes.

In fact, some are inclined to believe that, in rendering Irish airs with the manipulation of the regulators, Thomas has the advantage. At any rate it speaks well for the latter's ability that he was awarded first prize at the Dublin Feis Ceoil competition among pipers in 1899. Winning third prize even, in 1897, when "Bob' Thompson of Cork and Turlogh Mc Sweeney, "the Donegal piper," were awarded first and second prizes respectively, was no small honour indeed.

From a discriminating pen we learn that "Tom" Rowsome is a fine, steady player, and at times even a brilliant one. At single jigs it would be hard to beat him, though in general execution his style may be considered too open and flutelike.

However, that is a matter of individual taste. As regards time, he stands pre-eminent ; his last bar of a jig or reel, in fact of any tune, is played in precisely the same time as the first, and no dancer can him to accelerate his pace or tempo.

Mr. O'Mealy, the well-known piper and pipemaker of Belfast, who played in concert with him on various occasions, speaks very highly of his social qualities. Nothing else could have been expected from his father and mother's son, anyway.

Differing from his brother, John and William, at least in one respect, he stuck to his first love-the Union pipes-and, notwithstanding his musical education acquired under Herr Blowitz of Ferns, his taste for traditional Irish music remained uncorrupted and undiminished. All three became skilful pipers under the instruction of their father, Samuel Rowsome, the famous farmer-piper of Ballintore, Ferns, County Wexford, and all three have won distinction in that line of musical art.

The "Harvest Home" was an established institution at Ballyrankin, Clobernin, Farmley, Morrison's, St. Aidan's Palace, and many other residential seats of the wealthy in north Wexford.. The attendance of the three brothers was ever in requisition at those annual celebrations, "Willie's" reputation as a violinist being less than that of his elder brothers as pipers, only in the degree that the fiddle is deemed an instrument inferior to the Union pipes in giving to traditional Irish music its characteristic tonality. The "Harvest Home," be it understood, was essentially the same as the "Flax Mehil" in other parts of Ireland-all private festivals-the assembly consisting of the family , friends, employees, and guests.

During this period Thomas Rowsome became closely associated with the late James Cash in his periodical visits to the Rowsome homestead. Together "Young Cash" and the youthful enthusiast would proceed to a secluded nook in the garden, or,the weather being unfavourable, to a private roomin the house, and indulge in long-sustained spells of practice, for everything new in music which the wanderer had picked up on his rambles through Munster and Connacht he would impart to his beloved protege. More than once old Mr. Rowsome would come upon them in the act of playing one instrument together, each with one hand fingering the chanter.

Tom, you will become a great piper yet," Cash would say, as a presentiment of his own impending death would cloud his brow. "The music of your chanter will thrill audiences when the name of James Cash will be but a reminiscence or merely the subject of unsympathetic gossip." The forecast was prophetic, for he died in his thirty-eighth year, while his friend Thomas Rowsome, now a municipal employee of the city of Dublin has made a name for himself in the world of music. , His engagements are many, not alone in his native land, but on the stage and in the halls of London, Glasgow, and other cities and towns across the Channel, where the mellifluent tones of the "Irish organ" in the hands of a capable performer never fail to arouse the most enthusiastic applause.

About forty-six years of age, over six feet in height, handsome and of impressive appearance, "Tom" Rowsome may not owe all his popularity to his musical gifts. He is also accused of being both genial and kindly, yet apparently insensible to female charms Whoever the "King of the Pipers" may be, an ardent admirer insists "he is one of the Princes and Heir Presumptive. "Still there are others.