John Morris, aka Morris Sarsfield, aka Muiruich (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1850-75), Irish

piper A piper is a musician, a player of the bagpipe. As a noun proper, Piper may also refer to: People * Piper (given name) * Piper (surname) Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Comics * Piper (Morlock), in the Marvel Universe * P ...

. Morris was a native of Clydagh,

Headford Headford () is a small town in County Galway, located 26 km north of Galway city in the west of Ireland. It is an angling centre for the eastern shore of Lough Corrib, and Greenfields, approximately 6.5 km west of the town, is its bo ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, and appears to have been called Morris Sarsfield "from hero worship of the famous general",

Patrick Sarsfield Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan ( 1655 – 21 August 1693) was an Irish army officer. Killed at Battle of Landen, Landen in 1693 while serving in the French Royal Army, he is now best remembered as an Irish patriot and military hero. Born ...

(c.1660-1693). The Irish-speaking people of the area knew him as Muiruich.

Nicholas Burke Nicholas Burke, (October 1837- 5 June 1919) was an Irish uilleann piper. Burke was born in the parish of Annaghdown. He emigrated to the United States as a young man, settling in Brooklyn, New York. There he worked as a carpenter, "developed ...

stated "he was a powerful man and a great player on the pipes" but very restless, unable to stay in one place for long. He spent much of his life in England, "but if he happened to be at home at the time, he was sure to be off with the crowd that went harvesting to that country every year." Once, in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, he was keeping good company with a group of miners until he was asked to play ''The Collier’s Reel''. Not knowing the tune, he performed another in its place which displeased the miners ("To be unable to play the tune so named after their trade or calling was to be unworthy of their patronage") with the result that the miners chased him out of town. It is unknown when he was born, or died, or where. All O'Neill could say for certain was that he was alive in the third quarter of the 1800s.

References

Sources

* ''Famous Pipers who flourished principally in the second half of the nineteenth century'' Chapter 21 in ''Irish Minstrels and Musicians'', by Capt.

Francis O'Neill Francis O'Neill (; August 28, 1848 – January 26, 1936) was an Irish-born American police officer and collector of Irish traditional music. His biographer Nicholas Carolan referred to him as "the greatest individual influence on the evolution ...

, 1913.

External links

FAMOUS PIPERS WHO FLOURISHED PRINCIPALLY IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, John 19th-century Irish male musicians Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom Musicians from County Galway Irish male uilleann pipers People from Headford 19th-century Irish uilleann pipers

See also

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External links