Robert Bewick
Encyclopedia
Robert Bewick was the son of the engraver Thomas Bewick
. Thomas had wished to encourage the Northumbrian smallpipes
, and to support the piper John Peacock
; in his autobiographical Memoir, written in the 1820's, he wrote Some time before the American War broke out, there had been a lack of musical performers upon our streets, and in this interval, I used to engage John Peacock, our inimitable performer, to play on the Northumberland or Small-pipes; and with his old tunes, his lilts, his pauses, and his variations, I was always excessively pleased. William Green, piper to the Duke of Northumberland, considered Peacock to be the best small pipes player he ever heard in his life. He was probably the first player of the instrument to play an extended keyed chanter. Such chanters were developed in the first decades of the 19th century, by John Dunn
, in association with Peacock, and by Robert Reid
. Thomas Bewick encouraged Peacock to teach pupils to become masters of this kind of music; from records in Thomas's cashbooks, noting payments to Peacock for lessons, we know that one of these pupils was Thomas's own son, Robert.
tunebook, there are some in a similar style with a one octave range, and are an important and somewhat later development from this body of surviving 18th century pipe tunes. Some tunes seem to be adaptations of Border pipe
tunes, with a 9-note range and a flat 7th. Others are transcriptions of fiddle tunes, many of them Scottish, with a range typically from D to b, exploiting the extended range of the novel keyed chanter. As some of the tunes are in E minor, needing a d sharp key, it is clear that this key must have been added to some chanters before the books were written down. The repertoire in the books was significantly wider than just Northumbrian and Scottish traditional music, including contemporary ballroom music as well as classical pieces, such as a Duett by Mozart, which is an arrangement of Das klinget so herrlich from The Magic Flute.
After Robert's death, his sisters gave his pipes and tunebooks to the artist and tune collector Joseph Crawhall, who did much to encourage the Northumbrian smallpipes
. Subsequently these books were given to Gateshead Public Library, where they remain. Robert's pipes, a fine set by John Dunn
, are now in the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum
.
Matt Seattle published a small edition of some of the Bewick tunes in 1987, and a much expanded edition of this came out, with detailed notes, in 1998. In 2010 this was reissued in a new edition by the Northumbrian Pipers' Society, with the addition of a revised version of Iain Bain's 1982 essay on Thomas and Robert Bewick and their connections with Northumbrian piping.
Thomas Bewick
Thomas Bewick was an English wood engraver and ornithologist.- Early life and apprenticeship :Bewick was born at Cherryburn House in the village of Mickley, in the parish of Ovingham, Northumberland, England, near Newcastle upon Tyne on 12 August 1753...
. Thomas had wished to encourage the Northumbrian smallpipes
Northumbrian smallpipes
The Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows-blown bagpipes from the North East of England.In a survey of the bagpipes in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University, the organologist Anthony Baines wrote: It is perhaps the most civilized of the bagpipes, making no attempt to go farther than the...
, and to support the piper John Peacock
John Peacock (piper)
John Peacock was one of the finest Northumbrian smallpipers of his age, and probably a fiddler also, and the last of the Newcastle Waits. He was born in Morpeth about 1756, and died in Newcastle, 'in distress'...
; in his autobiographical Memoir, written in the 1820's, he wrote Some time before the American War broke out, there had been a lack of musical performers upon our streets, and in this interval, I used to engage John Peacock, our inimitable performer, to play on the Northumberland or Small-pipes; and with his old tunes, his lilts, his pauses, and his variations, I was always excessively pleased. William Green, piper to the Duke of Northumberland, considered Peacock to be the best small pipes player he ever heard in his life. He was probably the first player of the instrument to play an extended keyed chanter. Such chanters were developed in the first decades of the 19th century, by John Dunn
John Dunn (bagpipe maker)
John Dunn was a noted pipemaker, or maker of bagpipes. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Dunn was a cabinet maker by profession, initially a junior partner with George Brummell . In the trade directories, he also appears in his own right as a turner and a plumb maker and turner . His address...
, in association with Peacock, and by Robert Reid
Robert Reid (pipemaker)
Robert Reid is widely acknowledged as the creator of the modern form of the Northumbrian Smallpipes. He lived and worked at first in Newcastle upon Tyne, but moved later to the nearby town of North Shields at the mouth of the Tyne, probably in 1802. North Shields was a busy port at this time...
. Thomas Bewick encouraged Peacock to teach pupils to become masters of this kind of music; from records in Thomas's cashbooks, noting payments to Peacock for lessons, we know that one of these pupils was Thomas's own son, Robert.
His work
Robert was himself trained as an engraver, being at first apprenticed and later a partner in his father's workshop; after his father's death he inherited and continued the business. Some engravings by him are shown on the Bewick Society's website. A major project which Robert began with his father, to conclude Thomas's series of natural histories, was a 'History of British Fishes'. Although this was never completed, drawings for this, and many others, are in the British Museum:His music
Although, as a boy, Robert had learned the Northumbrian smallpipes from arguably the best piper of his age, there is no evidence he was himself a virtuoso performer. There are however surviving accounts of his playing, and it is clear that this was much appreciated. To Northumbrian pipers nowadays, his importance nowadays lies more in the 5 manuscript books of Northumbrian smallpipe tunes he left. Three of these, signed by him, and dated between 1832 and 1843, give a very detailed picture of the broad repertoire of a Northumbrian piper at this early stage in the instrument's development, only a few decades after the earliest keyed chanters appeared. As well as some tunes apparently copied from Peacock'sJohn Peacock (piper)
John Peacock was one of the finest Northumbrian smallpipers of his age, and probably a fiddler also, and the last of the Newcastle Waits. He was born in Morpeth about 1756, and died in Newcastle, 'in distress'...
tunebook, there are some in a similar style with a one octave range, and are an important and somewhat later development from this body of surviving 18th century pipe tunes. Some tunes seem to be adaptations of Border pipe
Border pipes
The border pipes are a type of bagpipe related to the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe. It is perhaps confusable with the Scottish smallpipe, although it is a quite different and much older instrument...
tunes, with a 9-note range and a flat 7th. Others are transcriptions of fiddle tunes, many of them Scottish, with a range typically from D to b, exploiting the extended range of the novel keyed chanter. As some of the tunes are in E minor, needing a d sharp key, it is clear that this key must have been added to some chanters before the books were written down. The repertoire in the books was significantly wider than just Northumbrian and Scottish traditional music, including contemporary ballroom music as well as classical pieces, such as a Duett by Mozart, which is an arrangement of Das klinget so herrlich from The Magic Flute.
After Robert's death, his sisters gave his pipes and tunebooks to the artist and tune collector Joseph Crawhall, who did much to encourage the Northumbrian smallpipes
Northumbrian smallpipes
The Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows-blown bagpipes from the North East of England.In a survey of the bagpipes in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University, the organologist Anthony Baines wrote: It is perhaps the most civilized of the bagpipes, making no attempt to go farther than the...
. Subsequently these books were given to Gateshead Public Library, where they remain. Robert's pipes, a fine set by John Dunn
John Dunn (bagpipe maker)
John Dunn was a noted pipemaker, or maker of bagpipes. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Dunn was a cabinet maker by profession, initially a junior partner with George Brummell . In the trade directories, he also appears in his own right as a turner and a plumb maker and turner . His address...
, are now in the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum
Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum
The Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum is located in Morpeth Chantry, Morpeth, Northumberland, England.The museum, founded in 1987, contains a large collection of historic bagpipes, especially, but not exclusively, historic Northumbrian smallpipes and Border pipes, mainly based on the collection of...
.
Matt Seattle published a small edition of some of the Bewick tunes in 1987, and a much expanded edition of this came out, with detailed notes, in 1998. In 2010 this was reissued in a new edition by the Northumbrian Pipers' Society, with the addition of a revised version of Iain Bain's 1982 essay on Thomas and Robert Bewick and their connections with Northumbrian piping.