Be part of our wider piping family and keep upto date with our news on this page and scocial media
USQUAEBACH, William Grigor and Son, and Gaelic Bard AJ McMillan Inverness.
This is a very unusual sheet of music from our family archive collection. Grigor’s Salute composed by AJ McMillan Inverness. AJ McMillan was crowed Gaelic Bard in the 1960 National MOD in Edinburgh. It is printed on a waxed type paper and is large at 58cm x 35cm. I...
Glengarry Sprig 100 years on
This photo of John McDougall Snr on the left as you look at it and his brother Billy was taken on the banks of the Water of Tanar in 1921. The picture was taken near the bridge that today leads from the car park over the river to the rangers station, Braeloine...
The McDougall’s of Sloch, Ardnish, Arisaig in the summer of 1902.
This is the oldest photo in our archive, and shows the McDougall’s of Sloch, Ardnish, Arisaig. The picture was taken at Sloch in the summer of 1902. From left to right, Isabella McDougall (nee Gillies) aged 62, husband John aged 67 and daughter Marjory aged 18....
Tunes on Wood
Today we are launching a new product. Which we call Tunes on Wood. Choose from Piobaireachd, Light music, Standard tunes, or for the ultimate gift choose your favourite tune or even one you have composed yourself. Etched into solid Scottish Beech Wood, this makes a...
300 Year Old Scottish Beech Wood
The oldest tree in Scotland is the "Fortingall Yew" and it is believed to be over 2000 years old. Between the 16th and 18th Century's, there was a huge Royal hunting forest which belonged to the Earl of Moray. The forest stretched through Cawdor to Darnaway, Logie and...
Square Bagpipes !
One of the most frequently asked questions about bagpipes is what are they made of? We exclusively use African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) this is the choice of wood for most woodwind instruments, including, clarinets, oboes, flutes and of course bagpipes. All...
The 100 Year old pipes.
One of our most treasured family sets of pipes are 100 years old this year. They were made for John McDougall Snr in 1920 by a local cabinet maker Charles Ewen from Aboyne. There were 2 sets made one for John and one for his brother Billy we don’t know where the other...
Importance of good bellows
There are many advantages of bellows blown pipes. But one of the most important things for playing and is they need to be as airtight as possible. Any leakage of air in any of the main places leads to less efficient playing method. Losing air you having to work harder...
Welcome to our new website
Welcome to our new website. We have taken a different and more personal approach to this site. Strong new elements include the family archive page, a greater emphases on the wide range of products we produce. In the archive section we will be putting up items from the...