zampognari: Nicola Scaldaferri, Quirino Valvano, Antonio Abitante, Giuseppe Michele
The goats that graze the hills in this region are free to go where they please. One day, when they reach an old age, their goatherd will slaughter them. Their hides will be carved off and cured in a barn. After a few months those hides will be turned inside out, stitched together at the back. A woodworker then will puncture them with wooden pipes. Once they have been reborn as instruments they can return to wandering across the hills.
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There were four of us left our village at the same time. We all four played de zampogna. My father was not content that I voyage the world. He was very sorry. We got our passport arranged tout de suite, two passport for us four. We all began to play our instruments together, as soon as we were out of the village. Four of our friends accompanied us on our road, to say adieu. We took bread of corn with us to eat for the first day. When we had finished that we played at the next village, and they gave us more bread.
testimony of a Neapolitan zampognaro, recorded on the streets of London, 1861
Henry Mayhew, "London Labour and the London Poor," 178
