The Welsh Pibgorn or "horn-pipe" is one of the oldest Welsh instruments known. The laws of Hywel Dda (codified 940–50) specify that every master employing a pencerdd (chief musician) should give him the necessary harp, crwth and pibgorn. However the instrument was not described in writing until about 1775. There is some iconographic evidence in church windows and carvings from the 14th and 15th centuries. There are 3 specimens from the 18th century in the Museum of Welsh Life at St. Fagans in Cardiff.

(18th C. pibgorns from Mon)

The Pibgorn is essentially a wooden pipe with 6 finger holes and one thumb hole. There is a horn bell at one end to project the sound, and a horn wind-cap at the other to collect and funnel the wind through a reed. The reed used is a split cane reed (single reed) like that found in the drone of a bagpipe.

Reed Pipes with a single beating reed are classified as Clarinets by Curt Sachs in his work "The History of Musical Instruments" and are traced to Central Asia where the Chinese borrowed them from the "Tatars". It was they who first covered the two ends of the pipe with caps of ox horn. The instrument with two horns is rare and seems to have spread along the sea routes leading from "the Indian Ocean through the Mediterranean into the Atlantic." It is found in Ceylon and the Greek Archipelago, and in Europe only among the Basques and the Welsh.

Basque hornpipe

Baines in his "Woodwind Instruments and their History", speculates that the horn on the bottom end of the pipe was most likely a copy from its use on primitive cane and wooden trumpets and cites a number of "hornpipes" all over the world with horn only on the bottom end. The Moroccan Mizmar for example uses two horns on the bottom but a double reed on top and no wind cap.

Marcuse in her "A Survey of Musical Instruments" agrees with both and further points out that the Welsh pipe could be made from bone or wood, and was still being played by shepherds on Anglesey (Mon) as late as 1870. Its Scottish counterpart , played in southern Scotland is now extinct and was rare in 1794 when Robert Burns tried to obtain an example. Only 2 specimens of the Scottish variety have been preserved. Burns wrote:

"I have at last gotten one. It is composed of 3 parts, the stock, which is the hinder thigh-bone of a sheep..the horn, which is a common highland cows horn..and lastly the oaten reed exactly cut and notched like that which you see every shepherd boy have when the corn-stems are green and full grown. The stock has 6 or 7 ventiges on the upper side and one back ventage...."

Today's pibgorns play one octave from d to d. Moch Pryderi uses pibgorns by John Tose of Wales, and Alan Keith of California.

Modern Pibgorn by John Tose---------------Modern Pibgorn by Alan Keith

Pibgorn reeds without the wind cap.

Single pibgorn reed.

The songs you hear are "Llongau Caernarfon" "Ffarwel i Aberystwyth" "Morfa Rhuddlan" and "Mopsi Don".

For more really interesting info on pibgorns, check out John Tose's site

Bill playing a Pibgorn by John Tose. Bill prefers the wind caps in a down position.

Some players prefer the up position!