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Pitt Rivers Museum

2018.109.2.2

Beater for tabor or frame drum [2018.109.2 .1]. Played with a pipe to accompany morris dancing. [JMC 13/3/2019]


2018.109.2.2

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Beater for tabor or frame drum [2018.109.2 .1]. Played with a pipe to accompany morris dancing. [JMC 13/3/2019]
Long description
Beater for tabor or frame drum [2018.109.2 .1], played by the musician Joseph Powell along with a pipe to accompany morris dancing. The beater is a slim stick of turned and polished wood, slightly expanded in places along its length, and with a small wooden knob at the tip. The beater would have been held in the right hand while a pipe would have been played with the left. [JMC 13/3/2019]
Cultural groups
English
Person
Maker Joseph Powell
PRM source Geraldine Drummond
Date
Acquisition information
Donated: 05/02/2018
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Process Turned, Process Polished
Dimensions
Diameter: max 14 mm, Length: max 210 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 2018.109.2.2
Research and responses

Joseph Powell (1846-1937) played the pipe-and-tabor for the Bucknell Morris Men in Oxfordshire. [JMC 13/3/2019]

The pipe-and-tabor (also known as whittle-and-dub) were instruments played simultaneously by one musician to accompany morris dancing. For more information see web article on 'England: The Other Within' by Alice Little http://england.prm.ox.ac.uk/englishness-whittle-and-dub.html [accessed 13/3/2019] [JMC 13/3/2019]

Keith Chandler (1983) writes that Joseph Powell was the principal piper for the Bucknell Morris Men in the late 19th Century. He quotes some extracts from letters written by Powell, including a note written to d'Arcy Ferris which reads "Dear Sir I received your note. You ask me to send you the price of the taber and pipe Sir i can not send you any price as i do not wish to part with it i was glad you did not send for it i have played it since you were up here and now i cant part with it..." In Chandler, K. 1983. 'Morris Dancing at Bucknell, an Historical Outline', Morris Matters 6(2): 4-11. Accessed online at https://www.morrisfed.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/MM-6-2.pdf 13/3/2019. [JMC 13/3/2019]

Search terms: Music, Dance, Musical Instrument, Beater, Frame Drum