98 THE PIPE AND TABOR 



to be let in. But the traditional tunes of England 

 are no longer homeless ; they have a safe refuge in 

 the printed page. They have become immortal, 

 or as near immortality as modern paper can insure. 



Mr. Sharp has done wonderful things ; he is like 

 a naturalist who should discover that we are un- 

 consciously surrounded by whole races of beautiful 

 things as unknown to us as elves and fairies. In 

 the Commemoration Service we speak gratefully 

 of all those who "found out musical tunes." If ever 

 a man deserved remembrance for literally finding 

 out tunes it is Mr. Sharp. 



But to return to the musical instruments of the 

 Morris dancers — ^the Pipe and Tabor. I am told 

 that the little drum on which the piper accompanies 

 his tune should be pronounced 'tabber.' I have no 

 doubt this is right. The Oxfordshire name Dub 

 suggests it, and the old French word Tabour is 

 something of an argument in the same direction. 

 In Wright's Dialect Dictionary it is said that the 

 lesser spotted woodpecker is called the " tabberer" 

 from its habit of drumming on tree trunks. I 

 should like to call my pipe a " tabberer 's" pipe if 

 only out of affection for the little black and white 

 bird and his drum, but the modern pronunciation, 

 with a long a, has a strong hold and can hardly be 

 ousted. We nowadays put the pipe before the 

 tabor, but in Shakespearian days this was not so. 

 In The Tempest Ariel plays the tune "Flout 'em and 

 scout 'em" on a tabor and pipe — and the artist was 

 called a taborer^ not a piper. In the same way 



1 The military drum and fife band is spoken of as "the drums" ; 

 there is no such person as a fifer, he is described as a drummer. 



