This is the original 1880s Breadalbane MacDougall bagpipe used in this reproduction.

“The Breadalbane” is a reproduction of a bagpipe made by Duncan MacDougall around 1880. The name comes from the stamp he used on his pipes during the time he lived on the Breadalbane estate at Taymouth Castle during the 1870s and early 1880s. Pipes he made at this time were stamped “D McDougall, Breadalbane.”

I purchased the original bagpipe, pictured at right, from a well known Scottish piping figure, the late Allan Beaton. He acquired it from the Taymouth Castle estate where it had resided for as long as anyone can remember.

This reproduction is made by Dunbar Bagpipes in St. Catharines, Ontario, a superb pipemaking firm founded by Jack Dunbar in the 1960s. Jack learned his trade at the Henderson shop in the 1940s. This company undertakes all of my refurbishment work and in my opinion is a vastly underrated pipemaker.

These reproductions are available in African Blackwood.  The projecting mounts are of imitation ivory, and the metal mounts are aluminum alloy, hand-engraved by David Davidse of Truehand Engraving. David matches the engraving on the original nearly perfectly. Both craftsmen have captured superbly the lines and shapes of the original pipes.

Like the original, the tone is rich and subtle — neither booming like a Henderson pipe nor subdued like David Glen’s. The classic, enveloping Duncan MacDougall bass drone sound has been captured beautifully.

Click the arrow below to hear Matt MacIsaac play John McLellan of Dunoon’s classic World War 1 retreat march, “The Bloody Fields of Flanders” on a set of Breadalbane reproduction pipes:

This bagpipe is offered in several styles:

1) The closest match to the original has with open, un-beaded ferrules and caps, (“Beaded” refers to the metal ring encircling one end of the ferrule or the bottom of the ring cap.)

2) It is also offered with closed, beaded  ferrules, beaded ring caps and plain aluminum alloy slides.

3) Either of these models can be offered with no engraving for a more affordable price.

4) The bagpipe is also available with full imitation ivory mounts. For these sets, we also have a limited number of hallmarked plain Sterling silver slides that can be installed on the sets for an additional CAD $485.

Note that the blowpipe  and blowpipe stock are made in polypenco, both pieces can be upgraded to polypenco-lined wood. These replica sets come with a two-year guarantee against cracking.

Email me about this reproduction.

Sticks only:

1 -Full imitation ivory mounts, sticks only:
African Blackwood: CAD $2,350
(For poly-lined wood blowpipe and blowpipe stock instead of polypenco add CAD $165.)

2 – Open-ended, un-beaded ferrules, engraved, imitation ivory and no metal slides (closest to the original), sticks only:
African Blackwood: Engraved – CAD $2,795 …. No engraving – CAD $2,450
(For poly-lined wood blowpipe and blowpipe stock instead of polypenco add CAD $165.)

3 – Closed, beaded ferrules and caps, engraved, plain aluminum alloy slides, sticks only:
African Blackwood: Engraved – CAD $2,885 …. No engraving – CAD $2,535
(For poly-lined wood blowpipe and blowpipe stock instead of polypenco add CAD $165.)