The Bagpipe Society

In the Bag: Merv Davey

Dr Merv Davey is past Grand Bard of Gorsedh Kernow and one of the founders of the Cornish National Music Archive. He completed a PhD with Exeter University researching folk song, dance and identity in Cornwall and has written a range of articles and books on Cornish folk tradition. Merv plays regularly with the North Cornwall Ceilidh Band and does duty as itinerant bagpiper for Cornish events and Guize dance traditions throughout the year.

What bagpipes do you play?

The pipes I tend to gig with regularly are Dominic Allan’s Border Pipes, Julian Goodacre’s Cornish Pipes and the “Bucca Pipes” an

improvisation of my own with two drones and a Breton Veuze chanter. The “Bucca Pipes” are suitably embellished with horns and a skull and do duty for Cornish Guize Dance traditions and the occasional Pagan ceremony. I also have a set of Scottish Smallpipes, Gaita, Fred Morrison’s Reel Pipes and the good old GHBs all of which enjoy an occasional outing.

Do you play any other instruments?

The mandolin was very much a family instrument that I grew up with and there has been a natural progression to a cittern and a short neck tenor banjo that I use for ceilidhs and sessions. I also have a Celtic Harp which sits in the corner making me feel guilty because I have never devoted enough time to learning it properly. Having said that, the (non pedal) harp is a very accessible folk instrument in that three chord shapes on the left hand happily accompany any tunes picked out with the right.

What led you to take up piping?

It is difficult to say when the combination of chanter and drone first captured my imagination, but it was the mysterious carvings of pipers around Cornish churches, and the Altarnun bench end carving in particular, that inspired me to take up piping. To be honest my early dabbling with double chanter pipes was not encouraging. A chance move to Bodmin and an invitation to join a local

outfit celebrating under the name “Celtic Pipe Band” drew me firmly into the world of piping.

Which pipers do you most admire?

Piping culture has evolved and professionalised in the last few decades to the point where dexterity and skill has reached a level I could never aspire to but enjoy listening to immensely. Fred Morrison springs to mind here but tune in to BBC Alba’s traditional music programmes and you are spoilt for choice between virtuosi Uillean Pipers, Border Pipers and the GHBs. If you measure admiration by people who have influenced my playing, then Terry

Tully must come high on my list. Sometime in the mid-1990s I found myself playing in a piping session in a pub in Kildare during a folk festival in the town. Suddenly a piper struck up behind me playing notes and slurs that had no technical right to emanate from a conventional highland pipe chanter. Unless of course you could cross finger like Terry Tully and were as bold as him in the use of black tape to alter the chanters tuning.

If you measure admiration by album play, then the accolade must go to Jean-Pierre Rasle and his “Cornemusiques” which drew me into the abyss of ethnic bagpipes from which I have never wished to escape. After wearing out two cassette tapes (which dates me) and a CD I have finally been rescued by the digital world where Mr Rasle has pride of place on my phone.

Alan Stivell, Steeleye Span and the Mitchell Folk Club. For those not familiar with the 60s folk scene in Cornwall, the latter took place in a small stone-built barn in the corner of a field in the village of Mitchell, a few miles from Truro. For a teenager like me it was a revelation that music, and the blues guitar in particular, could still sound good even if it was not played through a tall stack of Vox 100-watt amps.

What three albums are top of your playlist right now?

An embarrassing question really as I have gradually digitized my CD (plus vinyl and cassette) collection onto a hard drive and cherry pick individual tracks according to mood, occasion and the desire for new tunes. To enter the spirit of things, however, if all the tech failed and I were to grab three CD albums

to play whilst on holiday they would be: Tempus Mutatur by Schelmish; Ar Re Yaouank’s – Breizh Positive; and Gwenno’s Tresor.

If you had your life again, what instrument would you play?

One of the modern variations on mouth blown border pipes, although I might need a quick trip in the Tardis to collect one and take it back with me.

Name your favourite music festival

Now there is a challenge! When I finally mange to retire from being one of the organisers then our Cornish “Lowender” (Previously Lowender Peran) will be my festival of choice but at the moment it is a bit too much like hard work. My favourite, therefore, has to be the Festival Interceltique held in Lorient, Brittany each August. It has its roots in an earlier Breton piping festival but has evolved to become a massive traditional and popular music festival. Bagpipes remain the festival trademark hand in hand with the opportunity to see some top Celtic folk rock but the highlight for me is always Breton dancing and the Festou Noz.

What are the most memorable gigs you’ve been to (involving pipes or not)?

For several years we were privileged to be invited to play the part of street musicians for the Middelalderfestival in Horsens, Denmark. This also introduced us to world of the German “mittelalder metal” bands and their wonderful but suspiciously punk medieval looking bagpipes. For me the most memorable gig was Schelmish performing entirely acoustically in the town square. Courtesy of some massive drums (and drummers) and an array of pipers they maintained a volume that would have challenged a conventional rock band.

Part way through the gig a thunderstorm arrived and Papa Schelmish raised his first and challenged Thor with suitable Norse invective surrounded by lightning.

What three words describe your piping style?

What me style?

Bellows or mouth-blown?

Mouth blown although my bellows Small Pipes do mean that I can hide away and learn tunes by repeat ad nauseum without winding up family or neighbours.

Cats or dogs?

Dogs, cats make me sneeze, so I have to make do with making friends with neighbour’s cats at a distance.

Are there any bagpipes you dislike?

Electronic bagpipes although I suppose they are not technically “bag” pipes.

Do you prefer playing, dancing or both?

Both

Cane or plastic reeds?

I would like to sound ethnic and traditional and say cane but in practice the pipes I play regularly have both and I do not really notice the difference.

What’s your greatest musical achievement?

My piping is around being a folk arts practitioner and medieval re-enactor rather than any aspirations to be a mainstage or recording artist. Some years ago, though, I collaborated with two friends of mine, John and Frances Webb to experiment with an ensemble of Cornish pipes, Gaita and Bombarde. We recorded a 16th Century Cornish “Three Men’s Song” called John Dory in the medieval church in Lostwithiel. For me that recording still captures one of those magical musical moments.

What’s your most embarrassing bagpiping moment?

Seasoning a bag too enthusiastically just before I was due to lead the St Piran’s Day parade in Truro. I struck up as we were about to set off, there was a squeak and then an ominous silence. A quick check found that the reeds were irretrievably clogged with excess seasoning! Where possible I have gravitated towards gortex / zipped bags ever since. Not very natural I know but they easy to maintain and provide a degree of infection control.

What’s the most annoying question you get asked about the bagpipes?

I do not think I have ever been annoyed by a question about the bagpipes. I have occasionally noticed peoples’ eyes glaze over as my enthusiasm for talking about bagpipes gains momentum.

What advice would you give a novice?

Always see yourself as a novice, the world of bagpiping is one of endless exploration, learning and development.

I love bagpipes because...

“It just belongs to be” – a Cornish dialect expression meaning that it is just the way things are, always have been and there is nothing to analyze or explain.

As told to Andy Letcher