The Border Pipe, is a traditional bellows
blown bagpipe of Lowland Scotland and Northern England. It pre-dates the
Northumbrian Smallpipe and has a musical range close to the Scottish
Highland pipe of 9 notes. The chanter has an open-end as the Highland
bagpipe, but uses minimal grace-notes in its technique. The chanter's
notes can have a natural 7th on the sub-tonic notes (top and bottom),
which suits the repertoire of the Scottish Borders; also it can have a
sharpened 7th on the 'top sub-tonic' note (making the chanter a
"Half-long Chanter") which suits the Northumbrian repertoire.
I
play a "Half-long" style chanter made by Colin Ross, this chanter suits
the Northumbrian repertoire of Peacock and Bewick and some of the Dixon
repertoire of the 18/19th Centuries.
I have produced produced 1 CD of Border
pipe music called "O'er the Dyke" of tunes from the Peacock and Bewick
manuscripts, and have performed at various concerts.
You can hear musical examples of the Border pipes by following the links on the Contacts page.
In the past few years I have been playing the Scottish Small Pipes, very similar to the Border pipes using the Scottish fingering, but these are more similar to the Northumbrian Small pipes due to them having a cylindrical bored chanter which is use in my Northumbrian bag as the volume and tone is on par with the Northumbrian drones. My Scottish Small pipe chanter I bought from Shepherd Bagpipes, they play in the key of D. Today, I am making my own small pipe chanters.
I play melodies from the Dixon, Peacock, Bewick manuscripts and Scottish/English Borders.
In the past few years I have been playing the Scottish Small Pipes, very similar to the Border pipes using the Scottish fingering, but these are more similar to the Northumbrian Small pipes due to them having a cylindrical bored chanter which is use in my Northumbrian bag as the volume and tone is on par with the Northumbrian drones. My Scottish Small pipe chanter I bought from Shepherd Bagpipes, they play in the key of D. Today, I am making my own small pipe chanters.
I play melodies from the Dixon, Peacock, Bewick manuscripts and Scottish/English Borders.
"O'er the Dyke" CD
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This is my
first CD on the Border Pipes. It offers tunes mainly
from the Scottish Borders and are taken from the Bewick
and Peacock
Manuscripts compiled in the 18-19th Centuries. The style of
the CD is more relaxed and hopes to convey a more melodious rather than a
dance atmosphere.
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1. New Drops of Brandy
2. O’er the Dyke 3. Jockey Stays Long at the Fair 4. Wigh’s Fancy 5. Farewell 6. Little Wat Ye Wha’s Coming 7.Berwick Johnny
8. Jacky Layton
9. Sr. Charles Rant 10. Highland Laddie 11. Parks of Yester 12. I’m Over Young to Marry Yet / Bonny Lad 13. Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young charms 14. Tulloch Goram / Butter’d Peas 15. Cuckold Come Out of the Amery 16. Sweet as Sugar Candy My 2nd has a mixture of Border piping and Northumbrian Smallpipe playing.
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