Not your usual Highland pipe fare this one! The Northumbrian smallpipe is one of the loveliest instruments on earth. This is a particularly old set, almost certainly dating to the late 19th century.

It is in traditional F pitch, with the traditional 7 keys on the chanter, and tuning beads on each drone for tuning the drones to multiple keys. The drones are a mix of cocuswood and ebony, with brass ferrules and ivory mounts, perhaps walrus. The chanter is ebony with brass keys with square heads, which are typical of key heads of the period.

The pipes are in great shape and were recently refurbished by Colin Ross, regarded by many as the greatest NSP maker ever. It plays very nicely with Colin’s reeds. The original maker of the pipes is unknown.

The bellows is not original to the set. It is airtight and works like a charm. This could be an excellent first set, though it could easily be a lifetime set to someone looking to stick with a seven-key chanter.