Duncan MacRae was a superb and innovative maker who made pipes from 1897 until his death in 1930. The company continued on until the early 1950s. He worked closely with P/M Willie Gray, a great thinker and piping innovator himself.

The cocuswood would suggest that this 3/4 set or “reelpipe” was made in the 1920s or earlier. The original tuning pins on the pipes were “hempless.” This was a MacRae invention that used expanding vertical nickel bands to maintain constant pressure on the tuning chambers so the pins didn’t need to be hemped. The sliding action on this set had deteriorated over the years, so the bands were removed and the tuning pins were threaded and hemped. The lower parts of the slides are original and still show the patent number MacRae had stamped on each to protect his invention.

The set is in great shape, with no cracks.  There was no chanter stock with the pipes, so a cocobola chanter stock with a matching nickel ferrule has been made to match the set. The satin finish is in great shape and was not touched

There was no chanter with the pipes, so it comes with a cocobola 3/4 chanter made by Roddy MacLellan in Bb. The set comes with a Ross extended small bag and Ezeedrone 3/4 drone reeds. The drones are steady and buzzy. Set up with an easy reed in Bb, a set like this is great for a small child or for your own entertainment and playing with concert pitch instruments.