Iron Age Instruments
The Killyfaddy Four
The Killyfaddy four are a group of four wooden tubes which were recovered together from bog land in Killyfaddy,  Co. Tyrone in the early 19th century AD. Each tube or pipe was fashioned from two halves of a solid curved cylinder shape of wood which had been split along its length. A semi circular channel was carved into the inside of each half so that when the two were brought together a cylindrical internal bore was achieved. Three of the tubes are similar in length, 72 cm in width, external 4 cm and cylindrical internal bore of 22mm. At one end of each, the external wood has been carved into a gradually narrowing cone, while at the other end they have been widened on the inside. The fourth however, differs in that it is shorter than the others, its overall length being 67cm and there is an odd carving at one end. Rather than a widening on the inside, a definite looking ‘male’ fitting has been cut with a sharp raised shoulder arrangement that appears to have been specifically designed to accommodate an extension of some kind.
All four tubes have approximately the same diameter along their internal bore though three of them bear evidence of fine sanding or smoothing work on the inside surface while clear chisel marks can be seen on the fourth. Each  tube has a number of metal pins (probably bronze) tacked into the wood along either side of the split lines. There are also tiny holes which probably indicate where pins may have been. In 2002 the tubes were formally identified as being fashioned from yew by Dr. Ingelise Stuitz and their age established with carbon dating at 2340BP + or – 30.
The Loughnashade Trumpa
A sheet bronze trumpa from Amhain Macha (awin maka), Co. Armagh. This is the most famous of the great  Celtic trumpas of Ireland. Currently kept at the National Museum of Ireland it is the only presently know survivor of a group of four that were found during drainage work at Loughnashade (lake of the treasures) beside the Iron Age stronghold of Amhain Macha in 1794. An unsubstantiated report stated that one of the four was given to a Captain Campbell. A second was sold, the third went missing and the remaining survivor was brought to Dublin. It is also recorded that a further two examples of these trumpas were found at Bushmills, Co. Antrim in the early nineteenth century and subsequently disappeared. The conical bell of the instrument is in good condition being finely finished with a distinctive circular decorated plate (now detached) at the end. The remaining cylindrical tube is, however, very rough by comparison. It would appear that the two halves may have in fact been parts of different instruments. The overall length is just over 2 meters but because the metal thickness is 0.5mm or less the instrument weighs no more than 1 kilo. Though the instrument is at present displayed in the National Museum of Ireland in a ‘C’ curved shape, it is now thought that originally these trumpas were assembled in an ‘S’ format and played and paraded vertically over the musicians head with the decorated plate facing forward.
The first reproduction has been found to play a good harmonic series from an E flat fundamental. An interesting feature is that by using a certain pressure, a powerful (shockwave) tone can be generated which is further amplified and projected by the circular plate creating a blast of powerful sound which is very out of proportion to the size of the tube. Such a technique would have been very valuable to trumpa players leading an advancing army into battle.
Ard Brinn
Probably the most
delicate and sweetest sounding of the Irish Iron
Age trumpas. There are two parts surviving
which were found at Ard Brinn, Co. Down in 1801.
The two tubes, one cylindrical and the
second longer and  conical
when joined make up an overall shallow S curve
of 239.5 cm in length. The original centre
connector and mouthpiece are missing, though the
instrument is fitted with a brass connector which
was made in the 19th century. The tubes
are joined along the inside curve by over 1,000
rivets. A substantial amount of wear is
visible where the instrument had been held in
 the
two hands of a player or players. Clearly
the trumpa was played many times over many years.
At least 12 notes in a harmonic series
from a B fundamental can be played accurately
with a similar spacing and back pressure to that
of a trombone.
|
