Chiff and Fipple Forums

After much searching for a snippet of R.L. O'Mealy playing in a film it has
been tracked down by Wilbert Garvin, Bill Haneman and Ronan Browne.
It has been put onto 'Youtube' by the owner so look up:

http://www.youtube.com/user/meritpoint

The film is called The Devil's Rock
and was made in 1938. Unfortunately he is not playing the music he would
have prepared but it is wonderful to see the man after years spent by
several of us researching his history.

Very nice. Thanks for posting this.

What do you mean by 'he is not playing the music he would have prepared'?

Do you know where his pipes are now?

Yes thanks for doing the legwork of finding that, and posting it.

It's so cool to hear somebody we know as a maker, playing his own pipes. He certainly knew how to play and how to use those regs!

Did he ever write or say anything about why he preferred the double bass reg to the small reg on full sets? He seemed to regard the small reg as redundant or in any case not very desirable.

This link was sent to me by Barry O'Neill. I have no further information.


All the best,
Pat Sky

Brilliant! Amazing to be able to see RL play, even if briefly.

The music is out-of-sequence with the film, also presumably this was written for the occasion, not trad music. But who cares?

The other clip from this film has a fiddler playing the Top of Cork Road, too.

Far as I know RL invented the Bass-Middle-Double Bass setup, allowing him to play the double bass in dance music - as an owner of a set with the usual three regs plus a double bass that lies next to the small reg, I can testify that it's hard to strike a key on it with the wrist without inadvertently hitting another key on the small, or play a small-middle chord without bumping into a double bass key. This seems to be a limitation of the pipes. The double bass was popular with pipers who focused on airs, and vaudevillian musicians who would play songs; pipers famous for dance music didn't use these jumbo sets as much, judging from the extant photos.

Really cool stuff here.

[Thread revival. - Mod]

The whole 1938 film is now online at the British Film Institute. I am not sure about limits on locations you can watch it from, some commented it's not available outside the UK but it works fine in Ireland. You'll have to try your luck and see what happens.

The Devil's Rock (1938)


Note that in the credits the piper is named as 'Pat O'Mealy'

Mr.Gumby wrote:The whole 1938 film is now online at the British Film Institute. I am not sure about limits on locations you can watch it from, some commented it's not available outside the UK but it works fine in Ireland. You'll have to try your luck and see what happens.

The Devil's Rock (1938)


Note that in the credits the piper is named as 'Pat O'Mealy'

From here in the U.S., the web site says "watch for free" but when I push that button I get an unspecified error and it won't play.

The relevant clip from the film is also on YouTube
https://youtu.be/iGhM6MueWbE

Yes, the YouTube plays here in Connecticut, but, the BFI doesn't play outside the UK.

BFI doesn't play outside the UK.

Except for Ireland then? (Which, obviously is not in the UK)

Ah the privileges of being the first colony.
We feel cheated!

ytliek wrote:Yes, the YouTube plays here in Connecticut, but, the BFI doesn't play outside the UK.

Ditto here on the Left Coast.

Nice to hear those low regs so nicely in tune.

Strange hat though...

Knowing that O'Mealy was known for his interesting outfits, I thought the same thing about the hat until I watched it a few times. I think it's a regular fedora-type hat and its sides are being blown down by the wind.

[Thread revival. - Mod.]

If anyone outside the UK and Ireland is still interested in watching the film Devil's Rock its entirety, it is available for free viewing (for personal use only) on Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive site, and the online video plays fine for me in the US:

https://digitalfilmarchive.net/media/devils-rock-1968

(While the URL says "1968," it is actually the 1938 movie.)