Irish Piper and Harper of the 16th Century

Irish piper

Irish harper

"We are fortunately able to give an illustration of the Irish harpers and war pipers of 1578, as drawn by John Derrick, in his Image of Ireland. This extraordinary book, dedicated to Sir Philip Sydney, is extremely rare, and was published by John Day in 1581, though, as stated in the title, 'made and devised anno 1578,' The reader can judge of Derrick's artistic powers by the subjoined sketches 'of the habite and apparell' of an Irish harper and an Irish piper..."

From A History of Irish Music, William H. Grattan Flood, 1905.

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