Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hi Kerryman,

Lovely looking old set there.

I'd hazzard a guess that it is an Egan set in C that had been revisited at some point to add the chanter top and a few other repairs, probably by Crowley or Rowsome, obviously, as their work is included. The bass drone end is reminiscent of the work done to add the crook at the top of Séamus Ennis' Coyne chanter. Was it Mulcrone did that work?

You are right Thomas, it is aesthetically very much like Geoffs work, the conical stock and angled bass reg included. It doesn't look like a Coyne to me though. The practice set chanter looks to be a possible Coyne, maybe early on or maybe a Mulcrone if it was he that made the updates?

Very beautiful set. Wouldn't mind spending some quality time with them!

All the best,

Patrick.

The practice set chanter looks to be perhaps stamped at its bottom and top. It's a good idea to use a magnifying glass or loupe when checking for these things, the markings can be very faint. Perhaps the full set's bass regulator is stamped at the bottom as well?
The hack work on the bass drone is fairly awful, you can see that the original straight drone end was cut in two and the trumpet slide plumbing added on. It looks as if the bass reg top was soft soldered in place as well.
I've seen a pic of an Egan set that had the Coyne shaped keys. Another thing to look for with old sets is a wide gap between the small regulator's F# key and the end cap; this was another trademark of Egan. The practice set chanter doesn't have the G# key, which is rather old-fashioned. Nothing to really add, Coyne, Kenna, Colgan, and Crotty all sort of blend into one another in lots of ways. The Willie Rousome set that turned up on Ebay had all sorts of theories attached to it, before an expert identified it correctly.

For every 100 junk threads on this forum, you get one truly solid gold thread like this. Kerryman, thanks for posting this. I've spend a very pleasant hour looking at the photos and I'm completely bewildered by the beauty of these sets. Of course, I've no clue who made them. Have you played them? How do they sound?

PJ,
Because of the condition of the bellows, it is very difficult to get enough air to play the set at the moment. However by pumping frantically I was able to play each note on the chanter all the way up through the second octave. This is remarkable considering that these pipes have been basically unplayed for 45 years or more. The chanter sounded quite and mellow and had a nice feel to it. The keys need cleaning and lubrication as they do not close without assistance any more. The regulators also work well but again they need cleaning so that the keys close properly.
It would not take a lot of work to make it a playable set again.

Liam

The body of the nice chanter is definitely Egan and should be marked as Egan seemed to mark many pieces. The rest (chanter top, body, practice set) falls into the unknown category. All in all, a marvelous find!

In Jimmy O'Brien-Moran's album Sean Reid's Favourite, there's a photo of Brother Gildas "playing an Egan set". The chanter on that set looks quite similar to the chanter in the "practice set". However, the mount between the chanter and the chanter top looks bigger on the practice set chanter.

The practice chanter might be something else. The other set, via Sean Reid, is in Peadar O'Loughlin's hands.