The Maltese Zaqq

Abstract

Of those instruments that fall within the category of 'bagpipes' few are less known or more poorly documented than that of Malta. The paucity of information regarding the Maltese bagpipe is reflected in that even in Baines's far-ranging and informative book on bagpipes it receives only brief mention. It was, indeed, Baines's remark that 'an interesting offshoot of the Aegean group of bagpipes exists or has existed, in Malta' that inspired the present investigation. This became possible when parents of one of the authors (J.K.P.) became resident there, and gives the results of three visits to the Islands in Dec. 1971, Dec. 1972 and Sept. 1973. It became apparent at the outset that an immediate investigation was called for, as the instrument appeared to be on the verge of extinction, and only a very few elderly players remained. Furthermore it was considered that the Maltese bagpipe might be uniquely interesting in view of Malta's position as a 'cultural crossroads' having been influenced by, or owned by, peoples of widely different origins, Phoenicians, Arabs, Greeks, Italians, French and British amongst them. Also, being confined to Malta and Gozo, the instrument has a clearly defined geographical distribution which precludes 'overlap' with other neighbouring types of bagpipe, and within which the instrument has been able to evolve independently. In view of these factors, an attempt has been made to retrieve and document every piece of available information on the instrument, whether of a musical, sociological or ethnological nature, and regardless of whether it seemed of importance or not. It is not possible with our present-day value judgments to know what will be of greatest significance to the investigator of the future, and with the impending disappearance of the instrument it seemed essential to record all obtainable pertinent information as of equal value. We have also collated as many published references as we could find to the existence of bagpipes on Malta and Gozo, so that this paper may also serve as a bibliography of the Maltese bagpipe. No doubt many stones have been left unturned, but the results of our inquiries are here presented.