John Peacock (piper)

His playing was highly regarded in his lifetime: Thomas Bewick, the engraver, who also lived and worked in Newcastle, wrote Some time before the American War broke out, there had been a lack of musical performers upon our streets, and in this interval, I used to engage John Peacock, our inimitable performer, to play on the Northumberland or Small-pipes; and with his old tunes, his lilts, his pauses, and his variations, I was always excessively pleased.

William Green, piper to the Duke of Northumberland[1] from 1806, considered him the best small pipes player he ever heard in his life.

The book had an engraved title page in the style of Thomas Bewick, and probably from his workshop, and the 1801 date is suggested by entries in the account books of Bewick for work done for Wright, between February and June 1801;[2] in any case, Wright gave the address of his shop as High Bridge, so the date of publication definitely preceded the move of the business from High Bridge to Pilgrim Street, which he announced in April and May 1803.

Some of the Peacock variation sets such as Cuckold come out of the Amrey, based on the Scottish tune Struan Robertson's Rant, are not known from any earlier source.

Some of these pieces, like My Ain Kind Dearie, need the keyed chanter with its extended range; this tune in particular is notable for the detailed notation of the variation and the ornaments.

The set was acquired by the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne in 2004, and is now in the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum.