Many pipers believe that of all pipemakers, Duncan MacDougall, in his prime, displayed the greatest combination of tonal excellence, craftsmanship and style. He began making pipes around 1858 and died in 1898, leaving the firm to his son Gavin. Duncan MacDougall’s pipes are prized above almost all others.

This set likely dates from about 1890, later in Duncan’s career. They are likely ebony, though a hint of red through parts of the finish might suggest cocuswood. All mounts are elephant ivory.

The pipes came from an estate disbursement and had not been played since 1929. I acquired them from pipemaker Blue MacMurchie, who buffed the ivory and the wood, but did no other work on them. There was a barely visible crack in the top of the blowpipe stock near the ferrule, which I had invisibly whipped. You cannot tell this work was done.

I have played the pipes since last fall, and they are spectacular: steady, rich and full. There are no cracks or major blemishes. The tenor caps are slightly different, suggesting work may have been done sometime in the past, but the two tenor tops are certainly original.
One curiosity is the two-piece blowpipe stock equipped with a built-in brass watertrap, which I found quite useful used in combination with my McGillivray Piping tube trap. I’ve seen this on only two other sets, including a silver and ivory MacDougall set I now own that is replacing this set as my #1 pipe.

If you’re looking for a prime, full ivory Duncan MacDougall pipe, I doubt you will do better than this!