Peebles
EH45 8LQ
Scotland
High Quality Scottish Smallpipes, English and other bagpipes from one of Britain's most innovative makers
BORDER BAGPIPETHE BORDER OR LOWLAND BAGPIPE IS A LOUD CAULD WIND PIPE, WHICH IS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING A GREAT REVIVAL. |
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Border, Lowland or 'Cauld Wind' bagpipes differ from the Highland bagpipe. Their drones are set in a common stock, they are usually bellows blown and they have a quieter, sweeter tone. During the 17th and 18th centuries the Scottish Border was a centre of popularity for the use of these pipes and each town employed its own toun piper. | |
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My Border Pipe is a copy of a fine set of bellows-blown Border pipes that were given to the Royal Scottish Museum in the 1920s by a family from Peebles. It is a set that obviously has seen a lot of use. I measured this pipe long before I had any plans of moving to Peebles. I was initially interested in it because the thumb hole on the chanter has a distinct notch cut or worn across it. This is evidence of 'pinching' - a well-documented technique used by Scottish pipers of placing the thumb nail across the hole. This hole then acts as a vent which allows the chanter to overblow one note above the octave. |
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I have measured and copied the chanter in great detail. The internal conical bore is complex, with three different gradients. Several of the fingerholes on the original chanter have been greatly enlarged - especially the C hole. It is hard to assess what actual pitch it originally played at; I have approached it on the assumption that it plays in concert A (A = 440). It plays well at this pitch with a special reed that I have developed, using fingering similar to the Highland pipes. It has a loud bright tone - considerably quieter than its Highland cousin. It plays a 'Scottish' scale with flattened top and bottom leading notes. The top leading note can be fingered either flattened or sharpened which greatly increases its musical possibilities. |
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The original pipes have the splendid combination of one bass drone and two tenors, set in their common stock. (I am prepared to discuss fitting a baritone or alto drone instead of one of the tenors). The chanter and drone ends are of boxwood and drone mounts are of brass. Horn mounts and ferrules can be fitted as an extra. The bag is hand-sewn leather, with a traditional green baize woollen cover. |
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| I have put a great deal of care and attention into the design and construction of the bellows based on many of the better Scottish bellows I have measured in the collections. The leather is handsewn to the clapper boards which are finely made of hardwood. The boards have a solid- drawn hinge, which gives a much more positive action than the simpler and more commonly employed system of using a leather thong as a hinge. For more information, visit my bellows page | |
| Mouth-blown Border Pipes | |
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I am quite prepared to make Border Pipes with a mouth-pipe instead of bellows - indeed there are several old depictions of Border Pipes being mouth blown. |
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