Patsy Brown

Originally from Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland, he emigrated to the United States in 1892, making his home first in Chicago and then the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.

It is believed that, like many Irish musicians of his time, he played for dancers in the clubs around Dudley Square, Dorchester.

Another theory is that it was simply an inventive way of dealing with the problems of age: arthritic fingers had an easier time achieving closure with keys.

On others, the style is really unique: each key pivots about its own rod, held in place by its own two posts, mounted above the tone hole, but transverse to the chanter.

Other makers in the Boston area, who overlapped with Brown to some degree were Ned White of Roxbury, and Green.