William Rowsome (1910)
An Excellent piper &
Prince of Good Fellows
Compliments of the Author
Capt Francis O'Neill
Chicago USA
Aug. 27th 1910
Biography:
William Rowsome (1868 - 1925) from Ballintore, Co. Wexford was a fiddle player who became a renowned maker and performer on the uilleann pipes, having been influenced by his father, Samuel, of whom Capt. Francis O’Neill had much to say in Irish Minstrels and Musicians. William's brothers, John and Tom were also renowned uilleann pipers and are documented in the publication, as is William’s eldest son, Samuel Jnr. William later moved to Dublin where he set up a music business, making and repairing uilleann pipes.
When Capt. Francis O’Neill visited William Rowsome in Dublin in 1906, he was “favorably impressed by his manner and music. Mr Rowsome put on the pipes and played his favorite tunes at a lively clip; the spirit of the music was in the performer, for while he touched the keys of the regulators airily and in good rhythm, his eyes sparkled with animation and his whole anatomy seemed to vibrate with a buoyancy which found suitable expression in the clear tones of his chanter.”
O’Neill always spoke of William Rowsome in the most affectionate terms, speaking highly of his skill as a craftsman and making it known that instruments made by him had found their way into the most remote corners of the globe. The Captain expressed enormous satisfaction when he heard that William’s son, Leo, (whom he watched being taught by his father) had secured first place in the Feis Ceoil. and that he was teaching the uilleann pipes at Dublin’s Municipal School of Music; On his return to Chicago, Capt. O’Neill delighted in telling his friends that the piping tradition was in safe keeping and that William’s son, Leo had become world famous as a performer on the uilleann pipes.
“The world lost a famous musician when William Rowsome died; his rendering of Irish music was a marvel of dexterity, his manipulation of the regulators being regarded as an innovation in the art. William as a father watched every step of Leo’s rise to world fame as a performer on the uilleann pipes.”
William Rowsome is pictured on the front cover of O’Neill’s 1910 publication, Irish Folk Music, and is on page 163 of his 1913 publication, Irish Minstrels and Musicians.
[Biography by Helena Grimes]
Provenance: This book forms part of Cnuasach an Bhreathnach (The Breandán Breathnach Collection) at the Irish Traditional Music Archive, Dublin. Thanks to ITMA Archivist Maeve Gebruers.