The Keel Row - Music

Tom Clough 1881–1964 Known As 'The Prince Of Pipers' Was An English Player Of The Northumbrian Pipes Or Northumbrian Smallpipes. Clough Was Also A Pipemaker And The Pipes He Made With Fred Picknell Include Several Important Innovations And Have A Distinctive Tone. He Had Studied The Instrument With The Noted Piper Thomas Todd And From His Own Father Henry Clough. His Three Surviving Recordings Among The Earliest Recordings Made Of The Instrument And His Considerable Body Of Music Manuscripts Including His Own Compositions Give Considerable Insight Into The Traditional Playing Technique And Style Of The Instrument. This Is Particularly So Because At Least Four Previous Generations Of The Family Had Been Pipers As Was His Son 'Young Tom' 1912-1987 - They Thus Form A Continuous Link Between Earliest Players Of The Modern Instrument And Contemporary Players. In Contrast To The Widely Accepted Notion Of Traditional Folk Music As An Essentially Rural Activity He And His Family Lived In The Mining Community Of Newsham In South-East Northumberland And Were Miners Themselves. At The End Of His Life 'Young Tom' Recalled Piping Sessions At The 'Willow Tree' In Newsham With His Father Tom Grandfather Henry Clough And Richard Mowat All Playing - Henry's And Richard Mowat's Playing Would Get More Furious And Inaccurate As The Evening Progressed Tom Was Teetotal. Young Tom Had The Job Of Carrying His Grandfather's Pipes Afterwards. read less