This is one of the older sets of Henderson pipes we’ve had on the site for a while. They likely date to around the 1890s or earlier as suggested by the narrow beading and the much finer bead on the ferrule. The pipes are ebony, with ivory mounts that are in excellent shape except for a couple of rice sized chips.

There are a couple of anomalies with these pipes. The two tenor bottoms appear on closer inspection to be Lawrie pieces rather than Henderson, though the vintage of the pieces looks quite similar to the Henderson. I double-checked my own knowledge of Henderson and Lawrie pipes of that era with Rick Pettigrew, who runs Dunbar Bagpipes and is my refurbisher. He confirmed that back in these days Henderson and Lawrie were making pretty much exactly the same instrument except for cosmetic differences. They were known even to job out to one another.

Rick measured up the two tenor bottoms and they match up perfectly with Henderson tenor bottoms from that era. The bass drone stock and blowpipe look like they may be Lawrie as well through the mounts appear original.

As is usual with ebony that is more than 100 years old there were a couple of cracks that have been invisible whipped and will give no trouble again.

The slight differences in pieces have no detrimental effects on the tone of this instrument, which is classic, refined, bold, seamless Henderson.This is a lovely set for any level of serious piper who would like a vintage bagpipe with character and tone.