io6 THE PIPE AND TABOR 



by Mahillon^ under the name of the Gelaika. The 

 fundamental tones of the two instruments are the 

 lower F sharp in the treble stave, and the B natural 

 above it. Mahillon adds : "tantotellessepartagent 

 la m^lodie, d'autres fois elles font entendre des 

 intonations doubles." 



With regard to the Greek double-pipe, I am 

 sure that Mr. Forsyth is right, and that the bandage 

 (phorbeia), which is commonly said to have served 

 to compress the cheeks, must have had some 

 other use. I have no doubt that he is justified in 

 assuming that the bandage served to support the 

 instrument. In a pipe with three holes on the upper 

 surface a certain amount of grip on the instrument is 

 given by pressure of the little finger above and the 

 thumb below, and with practice it would be quite 

 possible to manage the instrument. Still, the 

 bandage would give freedom to the fingers, and for 

 the four-holed pipe this form of support would be 

 absolutely necessary. My conclusions are based 

 on experiments on the penny whistle temporarily 

 converted into an instrument for one hand. 



In speculating on the evolution of the taborer's 

 pipe, it must be remembered that its harmonics (on 

 which, as I have said, its scale depends) are those 

 of a cylindrical pipe, and a pipe that is long in 

 relation to its bore. I like to think that it had its 

 origin in some of the many natural hollow cylinders 

 found among plants, for instance, the reed grass 

 that grows in fens and dykes, or the elder which 

 supplies a pipe when its pith is bored out, and is 



^ op. cit. 1912, Vol 4, p. 214. 



