SOLD – This Duncan MacDougall set came to me from New Zealand, where it had been played over the past 40 years by prominent NZ piper Murray Mansfield and his father Ian. New Zealand was a popular destination for MacDougalls in the latter part of the 19th century.

The pipes are ebony, mounted in ivory, some of which may be marine ivory, likely walrus. The pipes were stripped, revealing no cracks. All pieces appear to be original except for the blowpipe, which is a replica mounted in premium imitation ivory.

Duncan MacDougall was of course a near-mythical pipemaker who made pipes from 1857 until his death in 1898. This set almost certainly comes from his Aberfeldy period.

With my Canning reeds the pipes were immediately steady. They displayed a full, rich sound with a particularly fulsome bass.