King Louis XI once commissioned a pig organ with, you know, pigs

Remember the Monty Python skit about the mouse organ? It was pretty shocking for its time.

Turns out that this wasn’t just a thing thought up by the Pythons. The same thing was attempted IRL a number of times using pigs.

If we go back to 15th-century France, we will find the Piganino, an actual instrument (also known as the Sweinway, the Hor Harmnonium, and the Porko Forte) that worked the same way. Blame King Louis XI for demanding that such a thing be built.

Why would anyone even think of this? Turns out that ol’ Louis was a bit of a nutter, a paranoid whacko who spied on everyone. For fun, he demanded the Abbé the Baigne to build a pig-based piano for his amusement. This was accomplished by collecting together pigs of varying sizes (and hence difference squeals) and arranging them so they formed a scale. The keyboard was connected to a spike that stabbed each pig as required, creating a melody of squeals.

They sure knew how to have fun in the Olden Days, huh?

(Via ClassicFM)