Billy Pigg (1902 – 1968) was an English player of
Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a vice-president and an influential member of the
Northumbrian Pipers Society from 1930 until his death.
Life and music
He was born at Dilston Park, near Corbridge, Northumberland, in January 1902 and died in November 1968. He learned the instrument from several pipers including
Tom and
Henry Clough
Henry Clough (1855 – 1936) was an English player of the Northumbrian pipes, or Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a miner, listing his trade as a hewer, and he lived in Newsham, in south-eastern Northumberland. He was the father of Tom Clough, ' ...
as well as
Richard Mowat
Richard Mowat or Mowatt (1865–1936) was a renowned and award-winning player of the Northumbrian smallpipes.
Biography
A miner, born in Backworth in 1865, Mowat studied the pipes with Thomas Todd, and played in public alongside Old Tom Clough a ...
, but, according to
Tommy Breckons
Tommy Breckons (1928–2009) lived all his life on his family's Foundry Farm, Bellingham, central Northumberland. He was a noted player of the Northumbrian smallpipes.
Learning
Tommy learned at first from G.G. Armstrong, and subsequently takin ...
, Batey of Stannington was his main teacher. Tommy later quoted Billy's reminiscences of the informal sessions at the Cloughs' and others: When he lived at Blagdon, he used to bike down to Clough's. There were fourteen or fifteen pipers all living in that area, and they took turns to play at each other's houses, including Billy's. Billy told him that when he first went to one of these sessions there were fourteen pipers in the house, ''..., and everyone was better than me! By God..., there were some good pipers. But all I had to dee was practice and get up alongside them.'' He learned by ear at this stage, and when he won a learners' competition in 1923, it was noted that he played the Barrington Hornpipe, but not quite as it is written. An early photograph of him from 1924, with a new set of pipes, is at the Woodhorn Museum website - he had won a Learners' Competition organised by
William Cocks in this year, when he had been playing for three and a half years. The pipes in the photograph are the set made by Cocks, and offered as a trophy in the Competition. Billy went on to win these pipes outright in 1927. After he won the Spencer Cup at Bellingham Show in 1928, Cocks recorded that he was debarred from most contests, 'to give other pipers a chance'. At this time he must certainly have been playing in the traditional
staccato
Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...
style characteristic of the instrument, though in later years his style was much freer.
In 1930 he moved with his parents to a farm in Coquetdale, in the north of the county. He subsequently began playing with other musicians in this area, particularly John Armstrong and Annie Snaith, and later Archie Dagg – together the band were known as the Border Minstrels.
In the 1950s he was noted for playing not only Northumbrian, but also Scottish and Irish tunes on the smallpipes. He also wrote many fine tunes for the instrument.
A. D. Schofield and Julia Say produced a biography and tune book, ''The Border Minstrel'', published by the Northumbrian Pipers' Society in 1997. This includes all his known compositions. These include the slow airs ''The Gypsy's Lullaby'' and ''Border Spirit'', marches in 6/8 and 4/4 such as ''Bonny Woodside'' and ''The Old Drove Road'', many hornpipes, including ''The Carrick Hornpipe'' and ''The Biddlestone Hornpipe'', jigs such as ''Coffee Bridge'' and reels such as ''Cote Walls'' and ''Anne of Hindhope''. One of his most spectacular pieces is ''Bill Charlton's Fancy'', a 6/8 variation set.
His version of the traditional tune, ''The Wild Hills of Wannies'' with his own variations, was entirely distinctive, and a good example of his Highland-influenced style.
During the 1950s
Forster Charlton
John Forster Charlton (1915–1989), was an English traditional musician, originally from near Hexham, Northumberland, who later settled in Gateshead. He at first played fiddle, but later also took up the Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a major fi ...
recorded his playing on many occasions; some of these can be heard on Radio FARNE. In 1958 Royce Wilson, an American working in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, acquired a tape recorder and made some recordings of him. Other recordings were made by the
BBC and by the
School of Scottish Studies
The School of Scottish Studies ( gd, Sgoil Eòlais na h-Alba, sco, Scuil o Scots Studies) was founded in 1951 at the University of Edinburgh. It holds an archive of approximately 33,000 field recordings of traditional music, song and other lo ...
. An album of selected recordings made by
Forster Charlton
John Forster Charlton (1915–1989), was an English traditional musician, originally from near Hexham, Northumberland, who later settled in Gateshead. He at first played fiddle, but later also took up the Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a major fi ...
was issued as ''Billy Pigg, the Border Minstrel'' on the Leader label in 1971, and re-released on CD in 2004. Through these recordings of Pigg's own compositions and his repertoire of traditional tunes, Pigg became influential throughout the world of bagpiping. Most players of the instrument will have several of Pigg's compositions in their repertoire.
Recently the Northumbrian Pipers' Society issued an expanded second edition
[Billy Pigg, The Border Minstrel, Northumbrian Pipers' Society, 2nd edition, 2 vols., C. Ross and J. Say, , .] of his music, the two volumes respectively covering his own compositions and his distinctive versions of other tunes. They also include a description of his playing style as well as transcriptions, some in great detail, of most of the surviving recordings.
Playing style
The distinguishing characteristic of Pigg's playing style is the use of complex open-fingered
ornaments
An ornament is something used for decoration.
Ornament may also refer to:
Decoration
* Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts
*Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve o ...
, in imitation of
Irish and
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
piping. His father was a Highland piper, while Billy himself had great interest in Irish music. By contrast, most respected pipers before him would have stuck with an almost wholly
staccato
Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...
style.
Tom Clough
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
considered that any departure from this, a style where the chanter was closed and silent between any two notes, would be "a grievous error in smallpipe playing".
It is possible to compare his style with that of Tom Clough. The popular variation set for Northumbrian pipes ''Holey Ha'penny'' which is based on a simpler tune known elsewhere in the UK and Ireland as ''The Chorus Jig'', was recorded by Pigg, and Tom Clough in the 1920s. The contrast between the two styles can easily be heard between these recordings.
The more open-fingered style was very successful for Pigg's music, allowing him a greater range of expression than a more traditional style. His
tempi were very fast - he played for listening, not as a dance musician. Unfortunately, he was suffering badly from worsening ill-health throughout the 1950s and 1960s, when all the recordings were made, and it is certain his playing must have suffered. However, the best of his recordings have a wildness and passion which is both inspiring and wholly distinctive.
He has been hugely influential, and many pipers have sought to emulate his style, notably
Adrian Schofield
Adrian D Schofield is a player of the Northumbrian smallpipes, the traditional bagpipe of North East of England. In 1988, Schofield joined with pipers Pauline Cato and Colin Ross in forming the band Border Spirit.
Schofield's style of playin ...
.
Discography
* 1971 ''Billy Pigg, The Border Minstrel''
Leader
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...
* 1974 ''Wild Hills O'Wannie, The Small Pipes of Northumbria''
Topic compilation with five tracks by Billy now available as a download
In 2009, "Skye Crofter's / The Swallow Tail" from ''Wild Hills O'Wannie, The Small Pipes of Northumbria'', was included in Topic Records 70-year anniversary boxed set ''
Three Score and Ten
''Three Score and Ten: A Voice to the People'' is a multi-CD box set album issued by Topic Records in 2009 to celebrate 70 years as an independent British record label.
The album consists of a hardback book containing the seven CDs and a paper ...
'' as track one on the seventh CD.
References
External links
Radio FARNERecordings may be heard on the FARNE website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pigg, Billy
English folk musicians
Players of Northumbrian smallpipes
1902 births
1968 deaths
20th-century English musicians
Musicians from Northumberland