These are a set of pipes I believe to be made by John Ban Mackenzie, who lived between 1796 and 1864.
They belonged to a gentleman named Ken Macrae, who’s 90th birthday I played for in January 2019. Sadly, on 26th June 2019 I played for his funeral after he passed away.
Kenneth Grant Donaldson Macrae, 24/12/1928 – 15/06/2019
UPDATE – MAY 2021
Ross at Johnstone Bagpipes has done a great job of refurbishing the pipes.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure if they would take a modern chanter and drone reeds, and be tuned to a pitch considerably higher than what was played all those years ago. However, I’ve been very pleasantly surprised!
This is a quick recording made using my phone after I stuck in a G1 plastic chanter with a random old chanter reed, and plugged in some Crozier Cane drone reeds. The recording was made pretty much straight after sticking the reeds in and making a few adjustments.
Slow Air and Hornpipes
On the chanter, indistinguishable in the photos, are etchings Mck above the High G and High A holes.
S F. Donaldson was Ken Macrae’s grandfather.
The above photo shows these pipes next to my Sinclairs. The top sections on the Sinclairs are a bit longer.
