William Gunn lived from 1789 to 1867 and, according to Jeannie Campbell, he made pipes in Edinburgh from 1834 to 1866. He was a competing piper and published The Caledonian Repository of Bagpipe Music in Edinburgh in 1848, a significant book republished by the National Piping Centre quite recenlty. He also composed the piobaireachd “The Gunn’s Salute,” which was published by William Ross and has been set for the piobiareachd competitions at Oban and Inverness in recent years.

This gorgeous cocuswood and ivory set was purchased as a Donald MacDonald set, but after consulting several expert colleagues, the possibility of Gunn as the maker was raised. The barely visible remnants of a stamp on one tuning pin clearly show a “W” at the start of the first line — and not much else — confirming the possibility that William Gunn may be the maker.

The pipes have been meticulously refurbished at some point in recent decades. The wood may have been slightly sanded to remove imperfections, and the ivory lightly buffed. All pieces are original, except for the bass ring, which has just been replaced with an ivory reproduction. One projecting mount has at some point been chipped, but the original piece has been glued back in place. This and a small gap in one other ring are the only imperfections on the set.

UPDATE: In late June and early July I spent three weeks playing these pipes with a variety of reeds and found them tonally exceptional: robust, rich and buzzy, and extremely steady, very much in the Duncan MacDougall tradition. It is tonally almost identical to my #2 bagpipe, a cocuswood J&R Glen set circa 1870s (soon to be pictured on this page), so I have decided to pass this one on. My #1 bagpipe remains the silver and ivory Donald MacPhee set, also shown on this page.