Bob Hardie was a lovely, quiet, modest man and an icon of 20th-century piping. He was a leading soloist in the 1940s and 1950s, and his band, Muirhead and Sons Ltd., won five straight World Pipe Band Championships in the 1960s. In 1950 he and John Weatherston founded one of the most successful bagpipe making companies of the time. The company continued until 2005, though Bob died in 1990.

This Hardie bagpipe was made in 1956. It is mounted in hand-engraved Sterling silver and ivory. All parts including the chanter are original except the mouthpiece bulb, which is an imitation ivory replacement. The blowpipe had a slight crack but has been glued and sealed.

Hardies were renown for using well seasoned, high quality wood. Even after 55 years, all pieces in this set are straight and true. The finish on the pipes has not been touched except for the bass bottom, which has been refinished to match.

The drones are mellow, steady and easy to reed. The chanter is flatter pitched and a little more difficult to reed becasue of its age, but the Hardie chanter was the chanter for both top bands and soloists during the 1950s and ’60s.

This is the loveliest Hardie instrument I have seen.