This striking set is absolutely unique. Some months ago I purchased a very old bagpipe that was badly cracked and contained several replacement pieces. It was clear that a number of the pieces were Duncan MacDougall’s, made during his Breadalbane period in the 1870s, and that all of the original silver and ivory mounts were present and in mint condtion. There was no sense in restoring the original mix of drone parts. So instead I asked Dunbar Bagpipes, my sole and superb refurbisher, to carefully remove all the original mounts and use them on one of the Breadalbane MacDougall reproductions they have been making for me for some years now.

It was a match made in heaven. The Dunbar reproduction is exemplary, both visually and tonally, and it would not be hard to pass this set off as a MacDougall original that had been restored and refinished. To prevent this, the bottom bass drone joint and all stocks have been stamped to identify the pipes as a modern reproduction. (Note that the stamps were added after these photos were taken.)

The deep-cut silver is gorgeous and the ivory is blemish-free but for a couple of age stains. As stated elsewhere in this site, the reproduction drones are an exact copy of a Breadalbane MacDougall set that I acquired from the late Skye piper Allan Beaton. I’m thrilled with the way these pipes turned out tonally — a very steady sound, with a large, cradling bass — and I will be playing my set during my summer foray to Scotland to play with the Inveraray and District Pipe Band. The set pictured here was made from wood that was purchased in 2006 and has been aging ever since.