Mediaeval and Tudor iconography of pipe and tabor players in the UK

For a number of years, I have been visiting and recording representations of taborers around the country. The book I initially used as a guide was “Angels and Musicians” by Montague, though it is not 100% accurate, nor 100% comprehensive.

I have plotted these taborers on a map, which shows an interesting distribution. There is a significant cluster of 14thC taborers around Sleaford, Lincolnshire - 20% of all those that I have found. The southern swathe of England below a line from the Wash to the Severn is almost entirely without taborers, while in the north they are quite scarce. There are just two in Scotland, and none in Wales. It is difficult to say whether this reflects their original distribution, or whether these are just the ones that happen to have survived.

I know of 57 icons. The earliest may be that in Louth from the 12th century, but there are a number from the 13^th century (8), the largest number date from the 14^th century (28), with 10 from the 15th and another 11 from the 16th century.

Of the icons, only 17 are external. Some are high relief in a spandrel; some are fully rounded statues. They can be also found on the corbel frieze or on the tower. Good examples are at Heckington, Ancaster, Brant Broughton, Higham Ferrers and Gawsworth.

Of the 40 internal representations, 18 are carved from wood, 17 from stone, 4 are shown in stained glass and one is a relief in plaster.

Of the 17 wood representations, 7 are misericords, 7 are carved angels (most at the end of a roof beam), 2 are relief panels and the one at Stockport a painting on a wooden wall emulating a tapestry.

The misericord from Exeter vies with Louth to be the oldest representation of a taborer in the country. The relief panels both show a taborer playing for dancers. the one in the Lancaster Museum possibly came from the castle. Fine carvings of angels can be found at Castor and Shrewsbury.

The 13 stone taborers occupy a variety of places inside churches. A number are on pillars, as at Cley and Rosslyn. Interestingly, the Rosslyn taborer wears crotal bells on his wrist. Some are part of the angel band high in the roof, as in Gloucester and Tewkesbury. In Gloucester cathedral the taborer whose image is the logo of The Taborers Society is perched on the canopy over a tomb.

The taborers represented in glass are the Betley window in the British Museum, and windows in Malvern Priory. York Minster and Warwick.

Most churches where taborers occur possess just one, but there are nine places that have two. They are Gloucester Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, Beverley Minster, York Minster, Westminster Abbey, and four small places – March in Cambridgeshire and Brant Broughton, Navenby and Heckington in Lincolnshire.

Turning now to study the players of these instruments, we find that 31 are humans, for example those found at Beverley and Raunds. 18 are angels and just 4 are animals. Those at Bristol, Stockport and Westminster are apes, whilst the one at Cogges is a rabbit. There are 3 others. They are a grotesque (Westminster), a creature with the torso of a man and the rear of a lion (Ely), and a centaur (New College Oxford) and one indistinguishable..

Sometimes the taborer is a lone figure, as at Cley, where he is the only musician in the church. More often the taborer is associated with other instruments, as at Oxford the centaur is with two more centaurs, each playing an instrument. The Cogges rabbit is surrounded by friends – a pig, a sheep, a dog, a monkey and a goat. Sometimes the taborer is associated with entertainers - dancers in Lancaster, and an acrobat in Carlisle. The angel taborers are usually part of the angel band.

Looking now at the tabors, we find that there are tabors of differing dimensions, some deep, some shallow, some tuneable, many with a snare, and being struck on the snare head. 18 are held in an overarm position, 19 are hanging from the wrist, and one is slung around the neck. Just two players play the pipe in the right hand, tabor with the left – these are the Cogges rabbit, and the taborer at Brant Boughton.

It is harder to gather any conclusions from looking at the pipes. Most look quite long (as in G pipe); they often look quite fat. They may have indications of many finger holes. They may be held half way along their length. The playing hand may look as if it is grasping them in a fist. This all makes one wonder how much the carver knew about playing technique.

There is one carving, however, which is a wonderfully accurate representation of a player with a 3-hole pipe. This is at March. March, in the past, was isolated in the middle of the mosquito-ridden, malaria-infected bog of the Cambridgeshire fens, which may explain why the church escaped the depredations of the Puritans. Other churches in the area still retain carved angels from the same workshop, but none possesses the same splendour as March. March has one hundred and twenty angels. Originally, when they were painted, the effect must have been a bright representation of the heavenly host. Most are fixed to the roof, but twin musicians line the nave, at the end of each roof beam. The two taborers face each other, their fingers poised to play in a position we recognise.

I have built up a spreadsheet of these taborers, recording the placename, position of the taborer, material it is made from, postcode and other information.