The Wild Hills is a well known Northumbrian tune but the version I play is based very much on the way it was performed by legendary Northumbrian piper, Billy Pigg.
Billy died back in the late 1960’s and was never recorded in a studio but thankfully numerous tape recordings were made by friends and music enthusiasts, so we have a great legacy to draw on. Billy was famous for his highly individual technique and dazzling variations of well known traditional tunes as well as his own highly rated compositions. He is a musician I’ve always looked up to, ever since I first heard his music back in the early 1970’s.
I believe the wild hills o’ Wannies can be found to the west of Alnwick in Northumberland, a wild and sparsely populated moorland.
The Tenpenny Bit is a jig of Irish origin and widely known in the British Isles, a popular session tune and a handy jig to accompany rapper dancing since it drives along at a goodly pace. I have long wondered about the origin of the strange title. Since the tune predates the introduction of decimal coinage in the U.K. by some considerable time, how and why did anyone come to label it The Tenpenny Bit? There must be a story there somewhere.
A good friend of mine has an inclination to investigate musical mysteries and he it was who discovered a reference to an Irish ten pence piece in the novel ‘Handy Andy’ by Samuel Lover, published in 1842. Intrigued, I did a little surfing myself and discovered a reference to a ten pence piece in the old Irish highwayman ballad ‘Brennan on the Moor’. Even more convincing was my discovery of another Irish ballad (preserved in the Bodleian Library) actually entitled ‘The Tenpenny Bit’, which makes repeated reference to the ten pence coin. So, surprisingly, it appears there really was a ten pence coin in circulation in Ireland in the 19th century, so that must be the origin of the title of this tune.
Isn’t the internet wonderful?
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| Billy Pigg |
I believe the wild hills o’ Wannies can be found to the west of Alnwick in Northumberland, a wild and sparsely populated moorland.
The Tenpenny Bit is a jig of Irish origin and widely known in the British Isles, a popular session tune and a handy jig to accompany rapper dancing since it drives along at a goodly pace. I have long wondered about the origin of the strange title. Since the tune predates the introduction of decimal coinage in the U.K. by some considerable time, how and why did anyone come to label it The Tenpenny Bit? There must be a story there somewhere.
A good friend of mine has an inclination to investigate musical mysteries and he it was who discovered a reference to an Irish ten pence piece in the novel ‘Handy Andy’ by Samuel Lover, published in 1842. Intrigued, I did a little surfing myself and discovered a reference to a ten pence piece in the old Irish highwayman ballad ‘Brennan on the Moor’. Even more convincing was my discovery of another Irish ballad (preserved in the Bodleian Library) actually entitled ‘The Tenpenny Bit’, which makes repeated reference to the ten pence coin. So, surprisingly, it appears there really was a ten pence coin in circulation in Ireland in the 19th century, so that must be the origin of the title of this tune.
Isn’t the internet wonderful?
 |
| Wheatstone tenor treble English concertina (1923) |