|
The xeremias and more on their history II
On the basis of its name, believed to be a corruption of the Catalan sac de gemecs, the xeremias
may have arrived in Mallorca on the conquest of the Island by Jaume I of Aragon and the expulsion of the Moors.
Other scholars, however, are of the opinion that, in view of the importance and popularity of the instrument in the Islamic world
in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, it is even more likely that the instrument was already present in the Island.
The Mallorcan bagpipe or xeremias bag was originally made from skin —of a goat or lamb.
The procedure is not a simple one and fabric has totally superseded it.
The chanter and drones are often made
from almond wood. Local tradition in Mallorca has it that in order for the wood for the chanters and
drones to last well and not rot easily, it must be cut by the light of the old moon in February
from a deciduous tree, and under a new moon in November if from an evergreen.
page 1
|
|
