SOLD – This is a really neat bagpipe. Tonally, it is one of the best instruments I’ve had in my hands in some time. The sound is huge and room-filling. When I put my own Ezeedrones into them and plugged the drones into my own stocks and with my own chanter, I tuned them and immediately played 4 minutes of 4/4 marches without the slightest wobble. They locked like they were digital — but with life and boldness.

They came to me as unknown, though educated guesses range, in order, from Henderson to early Lawrie to Donald MacPhee, the latter being Ron Bowen’s considered assessment. Certainly in the Glasgow tradition. The sticks are ebony and quite massive. The pipes are noticeably heavier than other such mounted pipes, confirming the amount of wood used, especially in the drone tops.

The ferrules are quite distincive — a bit in the old Robertson tradition — and may well be later additions. The lovely old ebony shows sapwood here and there, adding to the visual character. As with any 125-year-old ebony, there were a couple of hairline cracks. I take no chances and have all of these filled or whipped, whether they look threatening or not. This set needed no whipping. The two tenor stocks are quite noticeably different lengths. This is not uncommon among pre-1900 pipes of various makes (especially Glen), though no one is quite sure why. The bass bottom joint is worn almost smooth.

The set was stripped (which is how we find the wee hairlines) and refinished. The tuning chambers were reamed perfectly even.

A first-class set of pipes which may live out their lives unnamed.