Flutes, pipes, or bagpipes? Observations on the terminology of woodwind instruments in Old and Middle Irish

Abstract

Old and Middle Irish sources offer a rich array of terms referring to woodwind instruments. However, terms like buinne, cúisech, cuisle, fetán, pípa, etc. are variously translated as ‘flute’, ‘whistle’, ‘pipe’, ‘bagpipe’ and the like, seemingly without much consideration for the organological reality underlying these lexical items. This article will look at the linguistic and textual evidence relating to some of these terms, with the aim of achieving a more precise identification of the musical instruments in question.