Vintage Bagpipe Archive

Lawries, Circa 1915, Ebony, Imitation Ivory Ferrules, Caps

SOLD – This set came to me with the imitation ivory mounts added. The stocks are replica Lawrie stocks, except for the chanter stock, with came from a different set and is mounted in holly. The blowpipe is also a replica.

The drones are all original, and the projecting mounts are ebony or African blackwood. Some hairline cracks have been repaired pro-actively to prevent later troubles. When these pictures were taken I had lost the chanter stock and took the photos with a replacement. The original has since been found — it had rolled off the worktable and into a Kleenex box on the end table….

Tonally this set is extraordinary: very full, very steady, and with superb chanter blend. This ivory-free set would sound great on any stage.

Donald Macphee, Circa 1876, Ebony, Full Ivory, Nickel Slides

SOLD – This set immediately struck me as a Donald MacPhee set when I first saw it two years ago. I sent photos of it to Ron Bowen. By a remarkable coincidence, he just happened to have a set of pipes in his possession that had its original 1876 bill of sale from Donald MacPhee’s shop in Glasgow. The two sets of pipes were identical in every respect. The chanter that is with the set is a very old Henderson, probably made early in the life on the Henderson shop. Of course, Donald MacPhee’s shop became the Peter Henderson shop when MacPhee died at 37 in 1880.

I’ve been playing this set as my primary bagpipe for the past year. As I tend to do, I’m moving on to a different set that has come into my collection. This MacPhee set is robust, steady, rich, and has an excellent blend with the drones. I have enjoyed playing it immensely. I just noticed a small crack in the blowpipe stock. This will be invisible whipped and will never be a problem again.

The set was refinished a year ago.

This is a first-class set from one of the great figures in piping history.

Circa 1910 MacRae, Nickel, Ivory

SOLD – The Duncan MacRae firm made pipes in Glasgow from 1897 to 1952. One of their patented innovations was the “hempless slide.” This is a nickel tuning slide sheath with grooves cut near the top that can be sprung slightly to act just like a hemped tuning slide. Most of them lose their shape after some decades and folks have them cut short in favour of a hemped tenon. Some forward-thinking soul was smart with this set and left the upper bass slide “hempless” as original. It is quite firm and perfect for the bass upper. There is no telltale patent number on any of the nickel slides, suggesting the pipes were made around the time or before the patent was approved. Patent-numbered slides give 1909 as the date of the patent. The use of blackwood would suggest a manufacturing date later in the first decade of the last century.

Another distinctive MacRae feature of this set are slightly different bore measurements between the two tenor drone tops.

This set has typical, beaded MacRae nickel and ivory mounts. The tone is also typically MacRae:  boomingly robust and steady, locking in nicely with my Kinnaird Edge reeds. The set was polished, but not stripped and refinished.  A crack was invisible-whipped under one tenor stock. A slight separation in one ivory ring was filled. There is a little-fingernail-sized chip in one projecting mount.

MacRae has become a popular name in recent years, and every MacRae  bagpipe I have through the shop confirms for me why.

Circa 1950s Lawrie, Full Imitation Ivory Mounts

SOLD – This is a slightly unusual set in having artificial ivory material I have never encountered before. It varies in clarity — some mounts polished up brighter than others — and has the texture almost of porcelain. The bottom projecting mount on one tenor piece was broken on arrival, but I was able to replace it with an old ivory mount that matches quite nicely, to the point where you would have to look very, very closely to know it’s ivory.

The wood is a rich, reddish-brown. It almost looks like cocuswood, though I think it is African blackwood. The pipes needed a polish and the reedseats needed opening out, as many Lawries of this vintage do. But they cleaned up beautifully. The cork on the tuning pins instead of hemp is perfectly sized, and with a little cork grease provides quite a lovely tuning action.

Tonally the drones locked in from the get-go with a rich, mellow sound not as voluminous as earlier Lawries: quite a Hardie-like tone. These would make an excellent starter pipe, or a work-a-day, foul weather or travel set

Circa 1950s Lawrie (?), American Rosewood, Nickel and Imitation Ivory Mounts

SOLD – This flat-combed bagpipe is a bit of a puzzle. For all intents and purposes it is a button-mount Lawrie, but the wood may well be Amercian rosewood, and there are no other known Lawries made of this wood. However, it may also be particularly rich-coloured cocobola, which would be more in keeping with pipemaking.

The ferrules are nickel and the ring caps are imitation ivory which replaced orange catalin at some point in the past.

The pipes are in excellent shape, with a full (but not booming) and quite warm tone that locked in nicely with my Kinnaird Edge drone reeds. The pipes are slightly lighter in weight than a blackwood set.

This resilient little number would make an excellent starter pipe, or a work-a-day, foul weather or travel set.

Circa 1930 Henderson, African Blackwood, Nickel and Ivory

SOLD – This old Henderson came to me in spectacular condition. It had been refurbished some years ago and needed no additional work. Profiles suggest a manufacturing date close to either side of 1930, and the exquisite drone tone would confirm that they are from the great Henderson years.

The wood colour suggests cocuswood, and although we can’t be sure without stripping the wood, I believe the pipes are African blackwood.

The tuning pins were recently fitted with cork joints. The fit is absolutely perfect provided a bit of cork grease is applied. Cork grease is provided with the pipes. The sound is robust, seamless, rich and steady as a rock with my Kinnaird Edge drone reeds — what the old Hendersons are renown for.

This set is classic Henderson and would do well on any competition stage in the world, including the major gatherings at Oban or Inverness.

R. G. Lawrie, Silver and Ivory, Hallmarked 1959

SOLD – This lovely silver and ivory Lawrie set is hallmarked with RGL and the 1959 symbol on every piece. Every piece is original except for the mouthpiece bulb. Ivory mouthpiece bulbs rarely service, though the engraved silver sleeve is original.

This set was made at a time when the shapes of the Lawrie bells had departed somewhat from the original design — much more square rather than the rectangular shape on top of a sloping fountain. When I acquired this set from a well known professional player, the drones were fairly flat in pitch and tuned low on the tuning pins. However, this was a fairly simple fix with a couple of bore adjustments by Dunbar Bagpipes and the drones now tune in their proper positions.

It’s a typically robust Lawrie sound:  bold, rich and steady.  This is a beautiful instrument for someone in the market for a great combination of tone and aesthetics.

Atherton MD, 2014, Holly Mounts

SOLD – This is a rare, button-mount, Dave Atherton MD (MacDougall bores).

Made in 2014, the profiles and bores of this instrument were modelled after a circa 1870s Duncan MacDougall bagpipe owned by the late Roddy MacDonald of Wilmington Delaware. (Roddy’s bagpipe did not have button mounts.) I was working with Dave when this model of bagpipe was developed and can attest to the incredible quality of craftsmanship and wood that went into his pipes. The tone is a superb reproduction of Duncan MacDougall’s sound:  full and rich, with a bass that cradles the entire bagpipe sound. They are remarkably steady, and in recent years Athertons have won prizes at the highest levels, including the Gold Medal at Inverness and the M/S/R at the Glenfiddich Piping Championship.

This instrument came to me with small fissures in two stocks. These have been invisible whipped superbly by Dunbar Bagpipes and will never present another problem. The blowpipe is brass-lined blackwood, and the blowpipe stock is polypenco.

Grainger & Campbell, 1972, African Blackwood, Full Ivory

SOLD – Grainger & Campbell was founded in 1946 in Glasgow, and subsequently moved into Duncan MacRae’s shop on Argyll Street when that firm ceased doing business in 1952. Through the 1960s and early 1970s John MacFadyen and Pipe Major Donald MacLeod were part owners and oversaw all instrument design. G&C made superb pipes during these years and most are still in active duty.

This set was purchased from the shop in 1972 by its only owner and has seen limited playing during its 47-year lifetime. The pipes have their original finish and are in superb condition save for some yellow staining on the ivory. The turner spared no blackwood when making this set and the bottom joints in particular are heavy and ample. The set comes with its original chanter which, under MacFadyen and MacLeod’s direction, was a very good stick in its day. The tuning chambers are still perfectly even, indicating the quality of wood used at the time.

The tone is full and steady and this would be an excellent starter or lifetime set for a hobbyist.

Atherton MD, 2011, Nickel, Imitation Ivory

SOLD – This is a slightly unusual Henderson set. It appears to be a mixture of cocuswood and Brazillian kingwood. This was not an uncommon Henderson configuration in the 1920s and 1930s. The ferrules are nickel, and the mounts and caps are ivory.

This is a tonally superb set, with a sweetness to the Henderson sound that is different from the more robust blackwood.

There are a couple of very slight dings in the projecting mounts, one on the blowstick, and a smaller one on the bass bottom.

The set has no original chanter (the chanter in the photographs was included by mistake). All stocks are replicas with matching ferrules, as there were no stocks with this set. The blowstick stock is a poly split stock, the rest are blackwood.

The pipes were refinished some years ago and the finish is still in excellent shape. The unusual wood configuration and replacement stocks result in a superb price for the classic Henderson sound.

Kintail, 2008, Blackwood, Nickel, Imitation Ivory

SOLD – The Kintail pipemaking firm was founded by Greig Sharp in the early 1970s and still operates today. Sharp learned his trade during the latter years of the Henderson firm before it was sold to R. G. Hardie in 1971. Greig Sharp passed away in 2009.

Though Kintail is rarely ranked in the top tier of pipemakers, Sharp’s pipemaking pedigree produced a solid and reliable set of pipes with a bold, steady sound. This set is a substantial set to hold in your hands: no skimping on wood.  It locked in nicely with my current set of Kinnaird Edge drone reeds. The set has been well taken care of and is in superb shape, with nickel and imitation ivory mounts in pristine condition. The original Kintail poly pipe chanter plays very well.

This would be an excellent set for a new piper or an adult hobbyist looking for a reliable instrument at an accessible price. I played a set of Kintails in the early years during my first couple of years as a professional competitor.

R. G. Hardie, Circa 1970, Blackwood, Mounted in Nickel, Imitation Ivory

SOLD – This Hardie bagpipe came to me in superb condition, well taken care of, and as far as I know with the original finish. I’ve become a big fan of the old Hardies. Bob Hardie and John Weatherston used superb, well-aged wood, and made consistently good pipes that are steady and easy to reed. Smaller-bored drones, they are more mellow in tone and are an excellent choice for young beginners or adult hobbyists.

The reedseats in these drones have been opened out slightly and threaded to better latch on to the drone reeds.

Hardie pipes of this vintage and older have frequently appeared on these pages and are always well received. Bob Hardie was a gem of a man, a superb player and pipe major of Muirhead & Son’s Ltd. Pipe Band when they won five straight World Pipe Band Championships in the mid-1960s. The company was dissolved after its two principals passed in the 1990s, though the name has been revived again in recent years.

The pipes come with their original Hardie chanter. When it was made this was the premier chanter of the day. It will still play well with the right reed, though the lower pitch would be out of place on today’s competition boards.