the Pipe and Tabor compendium

the Pipe and Tabor compendium

essays on the three-hole pipe

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worldwide traditions

Australia

under construction

The indigenous people of Australia do not have a pipe and tabor tradition. That was brought over by colonialists in Victorian or earlier times. The evolution of pipe and tabor was based upon English traditions and followed a similar path to that in England.

 

John Randall was born 1764 in New Haven, Conn. North America, died in Australia. 
John Randall, a Negro laborer, was tried at Manchester on 14 April 1785 for stealing a watch chain
on the docks at Liverpool. Sent to the Ceres hulk in 1786,aged 21 sentenced to 7 years transportation.

He was a crack shot.  He was made an official game keeper by governor Phillip and killed the first Emu
seen by Europeans.  In June 1799 Randall was accused of theft of plates and glasses from the governor,
but was forgiven. Randall was about 6 feet and well built. He played the flute and tambour.

1819 pandean pipes:

“The Queen's Birthday Ball, 23 January 1819
At Governor Macquarie's ball, violins were used in conjunction with wind instruments.
following supper, 'about 170 ladies and gentlemen' were [r]e-summoned to the sprightly dance by the novel
and attractive sound of the Pandean pipes, whose shrill tones were mellowed by the softer cadences of flutes,
claronets, and violins; the company returned to the ball- room, where the dancing continued with uncommon
vivacity and spirit until four o'clock in the morning, when the party retired highly gratified with the superior
and truly fascinating amusements of the evening.”

The Sydney Gazette, and New South Wales Advertiser Saturday, 23 January 1819
quoted in The First Fleet Piano: Volume One A Musician’s View · Volume 1 by Geoffrey Lancaster ·chapter 8 page 433, 2013

1829 Tasmania, poem (part) 1829Colonial Times (Hobart, Tas. : 1828 - 1857) Friday 25 December 1829 - Page 3

1831 English Extracts1831The Sydney Monitor (NSW : 1828 - 1838) Wednesday 1 June 1831 - Page 4

“1832. Churchman Thomas, Glory, pipe maker and servant, to George Watkins, Sydney”

NEW SOUTH WALES. RETURN OF ALL CONVICTS ASSIGNED AND TRANSFERRED BETWEEN THE 1st AND 31st DAYS OF MAY, 1832, INCLUSIVELY.

Government Gazette Notices - New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900) Wednesday 22 August 1832 - Page 246

[This could be a person who makes pipes for smoking]

1837 The pipe and tabor played on the Sabbath:

“A Mrs Dedman, who resides next door to Mrs. Q. in Pitt Street, upon
coming home from church, was startled at hearing the sound of pipe and tabor, and
dancing in her neighbour's house. She observed it was scandalous such a circum-
stance should occur upon the Sabbath ; on hearing which, Mrs. Q. rushed up the
steps of Mrs. D.'s house, and struck her two or three times;…  "

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) Thursday 16 February 1837 - Page 2
1838 1838The Australian (Sydney, NSW : 1824 - 1848) Friday 9 March 1838 - Page 4
1843 Her Majesties Birthday: 1843The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Thursday 25 May 1843 - Page 2

1844 English News

“And, now my grave Lords and most excellent Gents,
(Who don't care a straw for your acres or rents!)
Go sound through the country the pipe and the tabor,
And hail the demand (still increasing) for labour:
Go tell the clodhoppers, so stupid and sappy,
The time has arrived when they must be quite happy …”

Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904) Saturday 22 June 1844 - Page 5

1846 Miscellaneous Extracts (copied from England):

 “But is there anything particular about the' beef
steak ?' said I. 'It's a bear, that's, all, said he, with
another look of triumph. ' Bear!' exclaimed I, invo-
luntarily pushing back the dish ; for the recollection of
certain wretched animals of that denomination, with a
chain through their noses, that. I had been accustomed
to see dragged through the mud of my native city, to
the music of a tabor and pipe, did not inspire me with
any great appetite for the worthy host's delicacy. …”

The Sentinel (Sydney, NSW : 1845 - 1848) Thursday 23 July 1846 - Page 4

1848 SyrianWeddings

"A pipe and tabor, with a long drum, kept up in-
cessantly a noisy music, discordant to me, but
very pleasing to the people of the country. In
the.middle of the ring, those who choose stood up,
one by one, and danced a slow dance. …
 The woman also had a pipe and tabor, and dancing
boys with castanets to amuse them. …”

The Britannia and Trades' Advocate (Hobart Town, Tas. : 1846 - 1851) Thursday 6 April 1848 - Page 4

1848 Ball

1848Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer (NSW : 1845 - 1860) Saturday 9 December 1848 - Page 3

1849 The Floral Society

1849The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Thursday 3 May 1849 - Page 2

1849 'The times are changed': 1849The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Tuesday 8 May 1849 - Page 2

1849 “The " Mary Ann."-
"Yesterday was the time appointed for the launch of this beautifully built vessel … A dance then followed on the beach, and the light fantastic toe answered merrily to the sylvan pipe and tabor. The fun now commenced ; no ill feeling, all happiness seemed to have the sway. …”

Colonial Times (Hobart, Tas. : 1828 - 1857) Friday 18 May 1849 - Page 2

 

1849
“CHRISTMAS SPORTS.—At North and South
Brisbane and Kangaroo Point, yea even to the
extremities of the township, and beyond the boundaries
thereof, Christmas was seen and felt.  … In the evening there
was dancing, to the sound of the pipe and the
tabor.

The Moreton Bay Courier (Brisbane, Qld. : 1846 - 1861)
Saturday 29 December 1849 - Page 2
1850 Ball 1850Colonial Times (Hobart, Tas. : 1828 - 1857) Friday 25 January 1850 - Page 2

1853 Concert in Melbourne:

“ROWE'S AMERICAN CIRCUS,
Corner of Stephen and Lonsdale Streets
The sixth of a series of Grand PROMENADE CONCERTS
will take place at the above place of amusement on
Saturday evening, December 17th, 1853. …
First night of a new descriptive Polka, entitled
" The Morris Dancer," by Alfred Oakey. Dawn of
The Morning, The Lark, The Cuckoo, …
the Shepherd's pipe and tabor, The Morris Dance …”

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Saturday 17 December 1853 - Page 8

1854 “THE MANAGEMENT OF TOWNS' BILL.
THIS bill was brought in on Friday by the Attorney-General:
Amongst other clauses is one to punish the Crime of drunkenness. …”

“Silenus the Great, steadying himself upon a classical hegoa
and holding on by the horns, is a jolly god, and perfectly respectable amongst the fawns, dancing grotesquely to the pipe and tabor; but Silenus the Poor, hiccuping over his beer, or stamping on a deal floor to the jingle and tap of a tambourine, is a drunken blackguard. …” 

Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 - 1856) Tuesday 21 November 1854 - Page 4
1862 ‘A May Carol’ 1862The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954) Wednesday 20 August 1862 - Page 7
1863 poem 'May Day' 1863Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899) Thursday 30 April 1863 - Page 3

1865 North Australian Annual Races1865Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 - 1908) Thursday 8 June 1865 - Page 3
1866 Criticism of current policies 1866The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Tuesday 17 April 1866 - Page 4

1866 " Christianity and the New Discoveries at Pompeii," is copied from the London Morning Herald of 5th April : -

1866The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954)Thursday 12 July 1866 - Page 3
1866 advertisement: 1866South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) Wednesday 5 December 1866 - Page 1

1866 report on South Australian Institute soiree:
“Institute Soiree.— The usual quarterly soiree
of the South Australian Institute took place at the
Town Hall on Tuesday evening, December 18. …”1866

"The lecturer then referred to the songs contained in many of Shakspeare's plays, and exhibited some dolls which he made dance
to the music of a tabor or pipe to the manifest delight of the audience. He then described the morris dance and its origin"

South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) Wednesday 19 December 1866 - Page 2

1867 Select Poetry - Musings 1867The Manning River News and Advocate for the Northern Coast Districts of New South Wales (Tinonee, NSW : 1865 - 1873)
Saturday 23 November 1867 - Page 4
1870 “The Riddler: Charade, by H.Gardner.—1870South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) Saturday 9 April 1870 - Page 7
1873 "The third subscription concert of the season 1872-3 will be given by the Philharmonic Society in the Mechanics' Institute tomorrow evening, when Macfarren's new and popular cantata " May Day" will be produced for the first time in Australia…”1873Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 - 1929) Monday 12 May 1873 - Page 3

1873 “Decrease of Pauperism
...now, we are earning more money, and we must
have more time in which to spend it. And so
we dance idly along to the sound of, pipe and
tabor, unconscious that we are nearing the edge
of the precipice. — John Plummer.”

Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette (Qld. : 1868 - 1919) Wednesday 15 October 1873 - Page 4
1874 ‘The Forthcoming Regatta’
“extract from one of the Essays of the " Country Parson," (Rev. A. K. H. Boyd, D.D.j, titled " Work and Play." He says : —1874The Grafton Argus and Clarence River General Advertiser  Friday 2 October 1874 - Page 2
1875 from the poem 'The Poet’s Pilgrimage':1875Dalby Herald and Western Queensland Advertiser (Qld. : 1866 - 1879) Friday 1 January 1875 - Page 2

1878 poem: 1878Sydney Punch (NSW : 1864 - 1888) Saturday 26 January 1878 - Page 7
1878 ‘Back to Back':1878The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1875 - 1929 )Saturday 18 May 1878 - Page 5
1878 poem 1878The Record and Emerald Hill and Sandridge Advertiser (Vic. : 1872 - 1881) Friday 12 July 1878 - Page 3
18801880The Burrowa News (NSW : 1874 - 1951)
Friday 6 February 1880 - Page 2		   1880 poem 'May Day' 1880Devon Herald (Latrobe, Tas. : 1877 - 1889) Wednesday 28 April 1880 - Page 3
1880 1880The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912) Saturday 9 October 1880 - Page 680
18811881The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912) Saturday 26 November 1881 - Page 889

1882 Music Festival 1882…  2 bass trombones, 2 tabors, 2 kettle-drums, …

The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889) Tuesday 16 May 1882 - Page 5
18841884 talkThe Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Thursday 8 May 1884 - Page 6
1884  ‘Street Music and the Salvation Army’1884Port Augusta Dispatch (SA : 1884) Monday 1 December 1884 - Page 2
1884 ‘Cathedral Choral Societies Concert’ 1884 concertSouth Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900) Monday 1 December 1884 - Page 6
1884 ‘The Grandest Sight ever seen in the Southern Hemisphere’ 1884The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Saturday 6 December 1884 - Page 16
1884 ‘Original Poetry  - Uncles Fred’s Story’1884 The Areas' Express (Booyoolee, SA : 1877 - 1948) Friday 19 December 1884 - Page 3
1885 'Judge Dowling and the Salvation Army' 1885The Shoalhaven Telegraph (NSW : 1881 - 1937) Thursday 5 November 1885 - Page 2

1886 Iolanthe was performed: in which

“Phyllis is determined to stick to her pipes and her tabors, and says she can spell all the words which she uses,
and that her grammar is as good as her neighbours…”.

The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889) Thursday 7 January 1886 - Page 5

1886 ‘Low Ambition of the Life and Death of Mr Daw’1886Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 - 1954) Saturday 3 April 1886 - Page 5

1886 The St. James's Gazette, England, writing on the " Portents of War, " observes:

…“Over and over again we have heard from the foreign correspondents that peace was certain; that everything was on the very verge of amicable arrangement that everything, in fact, had been actually settled, and that it was not too soon to bring forth the pipę, the tabor, and the shawn, to celebrate the final disappearance of the war-cloud….”

The Kyneton Observer (Vic. : 1856 - 1900) Saturday 10 April 1886 - Page 3
18861886The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Monday 18 October 1886 - Page 8
1887 ‘A Strange Shivoo’ (story): “The curious epistle appended purports to be the true chronicle of a modern wedding— in ancient garb—celebrated recently within a radius of fifty miles of this agricultural centre:…”1887The Kyneton Observer (Vic. : 1856 - 1900) Saturday 20 August 1887 - Page 3
1887 Advertisement: 1887The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930) Monday 3 October 1887 - Page 8
1887 ‘The Excommunication of Dr. Cameron Lees, the Traducer of the Beautiful Harbour’1887Melbourne Punch (Vic. : 1855 - 1900) Thursday 3 November 1887 - Page 5
1888 poem 'Waltz’ by Samuel Ward:1888Queensland Figaro and Punch (Brisbane, Qld. : 1885 – 1889) Saturday 19 May 1888 - Page 1 1888 Story: the Outlaws of Tunstall Forest1888Kyabram Union (Vic. : 1886 - 1894) Friday 6 July 1888 - Page 5
1888 Story: ‘For Faith and Freedom by Walter Besant’1888The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946) Saturday 21 July 1888 - Page 14

1888 Salvation Army Music

 “…The army assert and have shown themselves prepared to maintain, even at the risk of imprisonment, the right of procession to the sound of musical instruments, pipe tabor and drum. Again and again have the army and municipalities been brought into conflict, the result being sometimes in favour of one and sometimes of the other, until confusion seemed to become worse confounded….”

Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935) Saturday 29 December 1888 - Page 25

1889 'Australian Autumn'1889The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Saturday 30 March 1889 - Page 13

1889 poem ‘Sunday Reading, The Top of the Hill by Sydney Grey’:1889South Australian Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1895) Saturday 9 November 1889 - Page 16
1889 ‘Christmas Carillons – XI The Christmas Pie’1889 poemThe Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893) Saturday 21 December 1889 - Page 1
1890 1890The Colonist (Launceston, Tas. : 1888 - 1891) Saturday 20 December 1890 - Page 32

1893 “On and Off the Stage:
The ballet, entitled Turquoisette, which follows the opera at the Princess Theatre, is certainly one of the most sumptuous and artistic spectacles ever presented in Melbourne. … The music again quickens, and to the joyous rhythm, marked by pipe and tabor, in' dances an elvish crowd…”

Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939) Friday 15 September 1893 - Page 5

1893 “Amusements. LyceumTheatre
On Saturday night Mascagni's second work ' L'Amico Fritz,' was received with enthusiasm.,…  The opera is quiet to a degree. Some people said too quiet; but one can not pass through life singing forte all the time. It is a pastoral (one is always expecting the pipe and tabor to turn up),…”

Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931) Monday 4 December 1893 - Page 3
1893 ‘Mr Patterson’s Happy Thought’1893The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909) Thursday 28 December 1893 - Page 4
1894 May Day: 1894The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909) Tuesday 1 May 1894 - Page 4 1894 Newspaper appeal on behalf of The Fresh Air League: 1894The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909) Monday 4 June 1894 - Page 4
1894 Appeal on behalf of The Tempe Refuge:
“…It- is not the kindly human nature which will revolt at the entertainment of pipe and tabor in the refuge cause…
 The date on which practical response may be made is Tuesday next-, and we may hope that the summing up of the next day will show, not only that the appeal has been effective…” 

The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909) Wednesday 20 June 1894 - Page 4
1894 Advertisement: 1894The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) Thursday 30 August 1894 - Page 2
1895 'The Federal Appeal' - In a political speech:1895The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909) Wednesday 10 July 1895 - Page 4
1897 Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee 1897The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909) Wednesday 31 March 1897 - Page 4
1897 poem penned in the USA: 1897The Tocsin (Melbourne, Vic. : 1897 - 1906) Thursday 21 October 1897 - Page 10
1898 song: ‘Original Poetry – Sons of Austral Rouse from Slumber’ Air: "Haydn's Hymn." 1898North Melbourne Gazette (Vic. : 1894 - 1901) Friday 27 May 1898 - Page 3
1898 poem ‘Words of Forewarning’ by Clarence Manga:1898Clare's Weekly (Perth, WA : 1897 - 1899) Saturday 11 June 1898 - Page 4
1898 William Collins ‘The Passions’:1898Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935) Saturday 19 November 1898 - Page 22

1899 “In one New South Wales country town the ' Army ' has made a fresh departure. Last week four people, dressed as jockeys and mounted on valetudinarian war-horses, led the procession, followed by pipe and tabor.”

The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912) Saturday 18 March 1899 - Page 612
1899 poem ‘The Sewing Machine by Oliver Wendell Holmes’
(copied from an English newspaper):1899The Shoalhaven Telegraph (NSW : 1881 – 1937)
Wednesday 11 October 1899 - Page 4		 1899 The Melbourne Cup 1899The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909)
Monday 6 November 1899 - Page 4
1900 poem about war: 1900Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919)
Saturday 1 September 1900 - Page 58		 1901 Sydney Amateur Orchestral Society concert: 1901The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930)
Saturday 7 December 1901 - Page 16
1902 story: 1902The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) Monday 18 August 1902 - Page 9 1902 poem by a Panama-ist, in London Truth:1902Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 - 1912) Friday 5 September 1902 - Page 2
1902 Advertisement in ‘The People’s Cash Column’:1902Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas. : 1883 - 1928) Saturday 4 October 1902 - Page 8
1902 report of a royal visit to London: 1901Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 – 1931) Saturday 4 October 1902 - Page 4
1902 article ‘Zola the Friend of Labour’1902Worker (Brisbane, Qld. : 1890 - 1955) Saturday 27 December 1902 - Page 7
 
to be continued
 
pipe and bonesPipe and bones in Australia

20132016 Rick Curtis
Perth Morris Men

 20192019 David Wilks, New South Wales.
He plays medieval / Renaissance / old Celtic tunes
 

 


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©an on-going project with lots more to add Last modified 28 May, 2023