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D. M. Atherton Bagpipes
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Bagpipes by Dave Atherton, from McGillivray Piping |
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Atherton MacDougall pipes hit the big time
How is this for remarkable — Dave Atherton started his own pipemaking business in September 2007. Eleven months later, 15 sets of Atherton MD pipes were played in the Grade 1 Final at the 2008 World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, most with the Grade 1 winner.
In 2009, the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band repeated as World Champions, again with more than a dozen Atherton sets in the band.
In addition, here are a few of the solo prizes won by many of those pipes during August 2008 in Scotland:
1st and 3rd places, Gold Medal, Northern Meeting, Inverness
2nd, Clasp to the Gold Medal, Northern Meeting, Inverness
1st, Open Piobaireachd, Cowal Gathering
1st, March and Strathspey and Reel events, Invergordon
2nd, Senior Piobaireachd and Silver Medal events, Argyllshire Gathering, Oban
It says something about Dave's commitment to excellence that none of these pipes were his top-priced instruments. All were his entry-level MD or MD2 pipes.
Scroll down for sound files and models available
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Dave Atherton specializes in meticulous reproductions of Duncan MacDougall bagpipes. This set is fully mounted in palm ivory, a great visual match for the marine ivory seen on Duncan MacDougall pipes that are well over a century old. |
Dave Atherton learned bagpipe making during 12 years in the shop of C. E. Kron in New York. He has developed a level of care, craftsmanship and tonal expertise that is quickly proving unequalled in the world today. Owners of Kron bagpipes – Dave was pipemaker at C. E. Kron since the late 1990s – can attest to Dave's attention to detail and his insistence on working with top quality and well aged wood.
His eye for aesthetics is superb. His enthusiasm for innovation in bagpipe making combined with his respect for and knowledge of the work of the classic makers make for an enviable set of skills in the now much-automated world of pipemaking. Dave makes the entire pipe from start to finish, and he is committed to creating a legacy as one of the great pipemakers. He is a piper, and a virtuoso rock guitarist, with an excellent ear for pitch and harmonics.
Full-bodied or mellow toned drones, MacDougall™ reproduction
While at C. E. Kron, Dave was instrumental in developing the popular Kron Heritage bagpipe using the bore measurements of a set of prize-winning vintage pipes from the early 1900s. In his new shop just outside of Chicago, Dave will make pipes with vintage Lawrie (full-bodied) bores or more mellow Glen bores.
However, Dave's specialty pipe is an instrument modelled after the classic sets made by Duncan MacDougall. Duncan MacDougall is renown as the best of the MacDougall makers, making pipes in Breadalbane and Aberfeldy, Scotland from around 1857 until the 1880s.
Exact reproduction Duncan MacDougall drones
The D. M. Atherton reproduction MacDougall™ pipe is an exact replica of an original Duncan MacDougall bagpipe, right down to the 32-threads-per-inch ring caps and bushings.
The pipes are available in Sterling silver and a variety of other mounts. An outstanding and unique Celtic silver pattern taken from a Gavin MacDougall bagpipe made in 1903 is also available. Gavin MacDougall was Duncan MacDougall's son and the last of the MacDougall makers.
Every detail is painstakingly replicated using the same techniques used to make the originals, in keeping with the Duncan MacDougall legacy for unparalleled quality.
McGillivray Piping is pleased and proud to be the premier dealer of D. M. Atherton Bagpipes
and consultant in Dave's line of instruments.
Sound files
Hear Jim McGillivray play G. S. McLennan's 6/8 march "The Braemar Gathering" and a portion of the piobarieachd "Lament for the Children" on a Dave Atherton 'MD' model MacDougall™ reproduction. Click below to select. These files were made in stereo with two microphones. No effects have been added.
"The Braemar Gathering" mp3
"Lament for the Children," line 1, mp3
D. M. Atherton Bagpipes Ordering Options
McGillivray Piping offers numerous options with Atherton pipes. The standard instrument comes with:
For each of the following substitutions you choose, add to the listed price of the pipes. NOTE THAT ALL PRICES ARE QUOTED IN US FUNDS:
"Sticks only" option
If you are looking to keep your purchase price down and already have a bag, bag cover, cords, reeds and chanter, consider the "sticks only" option. This means you purchase the drones, stocks and blowpipe only and save on accessories and set-up. "Sticks-only" prices are available on request.
ALL D. M. ATHERTON INSTRUMENTS ARE 100% HAND MADE.
For information and prices on pipes made by Dave Atherton in the vintage Lawrie or Glen tradition, please email.
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The D. M. Atherton Duncan MacDougall™ Line |
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Calum MacDonald playing the Duncan MacDougall full-ivory pipes. |
While Dave Atherton has measured and worked with many sets of MacDougall pipes over the years, it was decided to model the reproduction set after a superior set of Duncan MacDougall pipes. Previous measurements would be used only for verification purposes to ensure that no pieces from the model set had undergone any subsequent re-boring.
The set selected is a full ivory set of Duncan MacDougall pipes owned by Calum MacDonald, who lives just outside of Fergus, Ontario.
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Removal of one of the tenor drone bushes revealed threading that is testament to the high level of Duncan MacDougall's attention to detail. |
Calum is the son of the well-known Scottish ex-pat Roddy MacDonald, who long resided in Delaware, and now lives in Florida.
Roddy was a prominent professional piper in the 1960s and early 1970s, and his name features highly in the U. S. and Canadian prize lists during this time, including as winner of the North American piobaireachd championship in Maxille around 1970. He was known for the beautiful tone and steadiness he got from this instrument. He was a student of Pipe Major Donald MacLeod in the 1950s and '60s, and it was Donald MacLeod who secured the pipes for Roddy. Roddy gave the pipes over to Calum in the mid-1990s. Roddy describes his acquisition of the pipes as follows:
"I never played any other pipe that was as sweet and all you had to do was sit back and let it sing. As you know, at that time all I played was cane reeds, and once tuned it could last through any length of piobaireachd without any movement. I bought the pipes in 1961 from a gentlemen called Neil Sutherland from Inverness and he mentioned that they were made between 1857 and 1880, so I can't pin down the exact date. He also mentioned that they were owned by John MacDonald of Inverness. I asked Wee Donald to give them a good look over, asking him if he had seen John MacDonald with this type of pipe. He mentioned that John had a few sets of pipes and that these looked very similar to the MacDougall set that he had. They cost me 25 pounds, and I paid them up at 5 pounds per week and that was a lot of money for a young teen. Before I bought them I was trying out an old Henderson and an old Lawrie set and thought that the thin appearance of the MacDougall set looked rather odd, but after comparing them with these other two sets there was no comparison in sound and I fell in love with them."
Calum generously loaned his family pipes to Dave for several months, allowing Dave plenty of time to create the reproduction.
The D. M. Atherton MacDougall™ Line is offered in African blackwood, which is guaranteed for one year against defect cracking.
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This Atherton MacDougall™ reproduction set was made with ebony, Duncan MacDougall's favoured wood, renown for its warmth. |
"Sticks only" option
If you are looking to keep your purchase price down and already have a bag, bag cover, cords, reeds and chanter, consider the "sticks only" option. This means you purchase the drones, stocks and blowpipe only and save on accessories and set-up.
ALL D. M. ATHERTON INSTRUMENTS ARE 100% HAND MADE.
NOTE THAT ALL PRICES ARE QUOTED IN US FUNDS. Atherton bagpipe orders
require 50% down on all orders.
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MD — Nickel and imitation ivory |
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This is as close as you'll get to an 'entry-level' MacDougall™ reproduction set!
The projecting mounts and bushes are imitation ivory. These mounts can also be made in holly, boxwood or blackwood.
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Dave Atherton will provide projecting mounts and bushes in extremely durable (left to right) imitation ivory, holly, boxwood or African blackwood. Add US $220 for projecting mounts in boxwood or blackwood on any set, add US $325 for holly.
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The ferrules and ring caps are plain nickel and, like all Atherton mounts, are both threaded and glued on to the blackwood.
The blowpipe, chanter stock and blowpipe stock are delrin. For a blackwood chanter stock, add US $125. For a blackwood blowpipe with a brass lining and threaded top, add US $385. For ferrules in one of the specialty woods, add US $220, for holly, add US $325. To substitute plain silver for nickel, add $US 850
Sticks only, no chanter
US $2,500 plus shipping
Set up to play (Ross or Bannatyne bag, McCallum MCC2 solo blackwood chanter, bag cover, cords, Canning drone reeds)
US $3,195 plus shipping.
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MD2 — Full Artificial Ivory |
This set has the classic MacDougall sound and look.
The appearance of the pipes is pure Duncan MacDougall – a distinctive visual treat even from a distance.
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Antiqued imitation ivory: add $185 US for a half set; $240 US for a full set. |
Sticks only, no chanter
US $3,550 plus shipping
Set up to play (Ross or Bannatyne bag, McCallum MCC2 solo blackwood chanter, bag cover, cords, Canning drone reeds)
US $4,300 plus shipping.
To substitute boxwood or blackwood projecting mounts and ferrules instead of imitation ivory (below, left, from left to right: imitation ivory, boxwood, holly, blackwood) add $450 US. For holly, add US $550. The blowpipe is blackwood with a brass/aluminum insert to resist cracking.
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Drone tops for an MD2 full holly set. |
Full holly ferrules and projecting mounts. |
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MD3 — Buffalo horn and plain Sterling silver mounts |
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Blackwood blowpipe with an aluminum insert. |
MODEL CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE This set features buffalo horn button-style mounts. The ferrules, and ring caps are beaded, capped and threaded plain Sterling silver. The blowpipe is blackwood with a brass/aluminum insert.
For plain silver tuning slides and delrin hemp stops, add US $450.
Sticks only, no chanter
US $4,800 plus shipping
Set up to play (Ross or Bannatyne bag, McCallum MCC2 solo blackwood chanter, bag cover, cords, Canning drone reeds)
US $5,650 plus shipping.
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MD6 — Full plain Sterling silver mounts |
This set is fully mounted in plain Sterling silver. Ferrules and ring caps are beaded and capped. Bushes can be elephant or mammoth ivory or polished buffalo horn. Hemp stops are delrin. The blowpipe is blackwood with a brass/aluminum insert. Includes buffalo horn bushes. For a plain Sterling silver, large-sized chanter sole (hand-smithed, 2.75" diameter), add US $385.
Sticks only, no chanter
US $9,450 plus shipping
Set up to play (Ross or Bannatyne bag, McCallum MCC2 solo blackwood chanter, bag cover, cords, Canning drone reeds)
US $9,995 plus shipping.
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MD6a — Engraved silver and imitation ivory |
Here is a set of half-silver Atherton MacDougalls: engraved Sterling silver & artificial ivory. The ring caps , slides, ferrules and mouthpiece tube are Sterling. Delrin hemp stops. The blowpipe is blackwood with brass insert and included. Includes artificial ivory mouthpiece with engraved silver tube. The price below is for standard engraving - zoomorphic, thistle, victorian, runic patterns. Premium patterns add 500.00.Sticks only, no chanter. Click here for silver patterns. Specialty wood projecting mounts can be substituted as described above. For engraved, Sterling silver large-sized chanter sole (hand-smithed, 2.75" diameter) in regular patterns, add US $595. For premium patterns, add US $750. For 1903 pattern, add US $950.
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The Atherton MD6a, half-silver with imitation ivory. This imitation ivory has not been antiqued. |
Dave Atherton's meticulous attention to detail is apparent in the perfect turning of these projecting mounts. |
The silver pattern on this set is the Marshall Ancient Celtic premium pattern available at additional cost of US $500. |
Sticks only, no chanter
US $5,350 plus shipping
Set up to play (Ross or Bannatyne bag, McCallum MCC2 solo blackwood chanter, bag cover, cords, Canning drone reeds)
US $5,950 plus shipping.
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MD7 — Full engraved Sterling silver mounts - NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE |
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Top photo shows the original MacDougall presentation set sole; bottom photo shows the 2007 reproduction.* |
As above, but all silver is engraved. Patterns available are Zoomorphic, Thistle, Victorian and Runic. For premium patterns, add US $595. Click here for silver patterns. For the 1903 presentation pattern* shown at right, please email for a quote. Bushes and hemp stops are mammorth or elephant ivory. For engraved, Sterling silver large-sized chanter sole (hand-smithed, 2.75" diameter) in regular pattern, add US $595. For premium patterns, add US $750. For 1903 pattern, add US $950.
*This 1903 pattern has been copied from a set of Gavin MacDougall silver and ivory pipes purchased in 1974 in New York state. It is one of the most elaborate silver patterns ever seen on a set of pipes. For more photos and information on this set, click here and scroll to the bottom.
Sticks only, no chanter
US $9,895 plus shipping
Set up to play (Ross or Bannatyne bag, McCallum MCC2 solo blackwood chanter, bag cover, cords, Canning drone reeds)
US $10,595 plus shipping.
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This is an MD6a with aged imitation ivory mounts |
Slides, ferrules and projecting mounts of an MD6a with aged imitation ivory. |
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