Duncan MacRae sets don’t come up very often. The company made pipes in Glasgow from 1897 until 1952. The great piper Willie Gray worked closely with the firm for many years, helping them introduce numerous innovations, including hempless metal tuning slides. Many such sets were subsequently converted to hemp but, as with this set, the patent marks and dates (1929) remain on the slides.

This set appears to be a mix of ebony and cocuswood. The ivory projecting mounts are narrow and beautifully styled. Some of the nickel shows dents, including one tenor drone ferrule. Hairline cracks were sealed in the bass stock and two drone tenons — preventative measures only.

The blowstick stock appears to be a blackwood replacement. It is possible that the bass top is a replacement as well. The two tenor tops are visibly different in external diameter, but such inconsistences were not uncommon with MacRae pipes. McCallum Bagpipes recently decided to maintain a similar inconsistency in their reproduction of Stuart McCallum’s silver and ivory MacRae set.

This is the first MacRae set I have ever played, and I was quite struck by the remarkable tone — very full, engaging and stready. This set is a rare and distinctive find. both visually and tonally.