SOLD – The silver slides hallmarked 1931 suggest an exact year of manufacture for this Henderson set. The lovely, aged amber appearance of the ivory, the general profiles of the pieces and the fact that the silver maker’s mark is PH, for Peter Henderson, all suggest that the slides are original to the pipes and the pipes were made in 1931-32.

The pipes came with a section of one tenor top that was missing three combed sections. This combing was subsequently added by Dunbar Bagpipes. The work is slightly visible up close to the piece. The chanter stock was cracked, but has since been invisible whipped and should give no more problems. It would appear that the blowstick stock ferrule, if not the whole stock, is a replacement. The ferrule on the stock appears to be catalin, but a pretty reasonable match to the rest of the set. The chanter is a Henderson, but not original to the set.

These played like classic Hendersons, bold, steady and seamless, and came into tune quickly with my Canning drone reeds.