The collection of the Museum of Folk Musical Instruments in Szydłowiec includes 54 bagpipes of various types, from different regions of Poland, one example of Belarusian bagpipes, and 20 fragments of these instruments (chanters and drones, bagpipe “headstocks”, pipe bells, bellows). The largest number of bagpipes are from the Greater Poland region: 38 two-voiced and 16 single-voiced bagpipes (“siesienki”). There are less examples of bagpipes associated with the culture of Polish mountain regions — 29, including 15 from the Żywiec Beskids, 8 from Podhale and 6 from the Silesian Beskids. They come mainly from the museum’s acquisitions, partly after Competitions for the Construction of Folk Musical Instruments, organized by the Szydłowiec museum. They come from different periods: the 2nd half of the 19th century, the interwar period or the 2nd half of the 20th century, as well as the first decades of the 21st century.
Greater Poland bagpipes are represented in the museum’s collection by all their basic types and varieties. The vast majority of them are two-voiced instruments (having two pipes: chanter and drone), only the “siesienki” are single-voiced (only one pipe — chanter).
The group of “kozioł” bagpipes, the largest types of Greater Poland bagpipes, includes a wedding “kozioł” (white) by an unknown maker in 1876 (as evidenced by the date stamped on a heart-shaped brass ornament on the instrument’s headstock). The part, with magnificent horns made of pig tusks, is richly decorated with brass pins with convex heads and a chain. The bag made of all goatskin covered with long white hair. The bellows for inflating the bag decorated (from above) with burnished floral motifs. At the outlet the two pipes: chanter and drone (bent twice) have conical, arched bells, composed of two parts: horn and brass (in the drone pipe, the horn part of the biface is fashioned from two pieces).
The second type of Greater Poland wedding “kozioł” (black) bagpipe is represented by an instrument made by Florian Modrzyk in Mosina in 1989. Its air reservoir is cut from a single piece of goatskin (dyed black) and stitched, with the traditional fringe inserted in the seams. It is inflated mechanically, with a bellows, decorated with brass pins. Chanter of the “kozioł” type, inserted in the connecting part to the bag in a near hyperbolic shape. The straight drone (not bent twice as in the wedding “kozioł” and Great Poland bagpipes), decorated with turned rings and brass rings. Combined horn and brass bells at the outlet of both pipes. Signature instrument.
The Bukowsko-Kościańskie type includes bagpipes built by an unknown maker in the 2nd half of the 19th century. They have an air reservoir made of leather, cut and stitched, with a fringe at the seams. It is inflated mechanically, with a bellows. Two pipes, chanter and drone, ending in two-part, horn-brass, conical and arched bells. The chanter placed with an inlet in the connecting part with a bag shaped like a goat’s head, with eyes, horns and ears. The drone, bent twice, is placed in a cylindrical bag-connector. This pipe, as well as the headstock and the bellows are decorated with brass applications and pins. The air reservoir is not placed in a cover.
The same type (Bukowsko-Kościańskie) is represented by bagpipes built by an unknown maker (signed with the initials T.K.) in Śliwniki (near Kalisz, the Ostrów Wielkopolski poviat) at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The pipes, chanter and drone (bent twice), have two-part, horn and brass, conical, arched bells (very long at the drone). The connector between the chanter and the bag is in the shape of a goat’s head, with glass red eyes, metal ears and horns, and is richly decorated with brass ornaments. The bellows is also decorated with engraving. The air reservoir is housed in a cover of red cordura, with blue and yellow ornaments.
A newer instrument of this kind is a bagpipe built by Piotr Witkowski of Czempiń in 1972. They have two pipes: chanter and drone (bent twice), both ending in solid, two-part, horn-brass, conical and arched bells. The joint of the chanter with the air reservoir in the shape of a goat’s head, with horns, eyes and metal ears with attached beads, richly decorated with brass ornaments. The air reservoir is made of leather, cut and stitched, covered with a decorative textile, made of black material with different colored haberdashery applications, sewn diagonally.
Single-voiced Greater Poland bagpipes, having only a chanter (bagpipe type: 7 fingerholes), called “siesienki”, in the traditional version with an air reservoir made of a pig bladder, inflated with the mouth (through the blowpipe), is represented by a piece made by Czesław Prządka in 1984. At the outlet of the pipe is a one-piece horned bell. Its inlet is placed in the connecting part with the air reservoir, which has the shape of a goat’s head, with horns, decorated with haberdashery and reinforced with a brass ring.
A modified type of “siesieńki” with a double air reservoir, made of two, connected pig bladders, inflated mechanically with a bellows is an instrument made by Franciszek Domagała from Zbąszyń in 1973. The chanter (of the “kozioł” type, with 8 fingerholes) is placed in a connecting part with the shape of a goat’s head, with large horns made of pig tusks, decorated with a heart-shaped brass sheet ornament and pins.
Among the two-voiced bagpipes from the Żywiec Beskids is an instrument built by Jan Kubies in Pewel Wielka in the late 19th century. It has a pouch made of whole goatskin, with hair on the inside. It is inflated by mouth through a blowpipe (with a valve, providing one-way air flow — into the bag). The chanter is located in the part that connects it to the bag, in a near-hyperbolic shape. The drone is bent at the inlet. Both end with conical, arched, two-part bells (made of cow horns and brass sheets), covered at the outlet with openwork lids. They are richly decorated with tin and brass rings.
Bagpipes (“gajdy”) from the Silesian Beskids are represented in the Szydłowiec collection by an instrument of an unknown maker from Istebna, made in the early 20th century. Probably from the 1930s, these bagpipes were played by Jan Wolny from Mikszówka (Istebna). Their air reservoir, was made of whole animal skin, with hair on the inside. It is inflated with a bellows. Both pipes, chanter and drone, have arched, two-part, horn-and-brass bells with lids at the outlet. Their inlets are placed in the parts connecting them to the bag, the chanter one is hyperbolic in shape, the drone one is cylindrical, bent at right angles.
Other bagpipes from the Silesian Beskids were made by Antoni Krężelok of Koniaków in 1983–1984. Their air reservoirs are made of whole animal skin, with hair in white, gray and brown patches on the outside. It is inflated with a bellows. The two pipes, chanter and drone, end in arched, two-part, horn-and-brass bells. Their inlets are placed in the parts connecting them to the bag, having the shape of goat heads. The pipes are decorated with molding and lacquered.
In the collection of the Szydłowiec museum there is a copy of the Podhale bagpipes probably made by Eugeniusz Sieczka in 1930-1935. The instrument has an air reservoir made of whole chamois skin, with hair on the outside, colored in white and brown, inflated by a blowpipe made from the animal’s horns. The shape of the head of the chamois and its typical coloration (painted) also has a bag connector with a short pipe, with ears, eyes and horns made from the chamois’ horns. The short, triple pipe (of three, parallel channels), has no bell. The drone is straight, with a wooden, straight, conical bell, decorated with profiling. These bagpipes were played by the highland musician Boleslaw Trzmiel from Zakopane.
Podhale bagpipes are also represented by an instrument made by Adam Kuchta of Bukowina Tatrzańska in 1970. They have an air reservoir made of whole goatskin, with the hair to the inside. It is inflated with the mouth, through a blowpipe. Their short, triple pipe, does not end with a bell. It is placed in a wooden connecting part with a bag, which has the shape of an elongated goat’s head, with ears and horns. The long pipe is straight, with a straight, conical bell at the outlet. These bagpipes, especially the “headstock” and drone, are richly decorated (molding, ornaments, inlays, intarsia), which is very characteristic of Adam Kuchta’s works.