 
This bagpipe opens a book of questions. As you will see below the chanter stock is stamped J. MacDougall
Dundee. We know that the MacDougalls made bagpipes in Perth, Edinburgh, and Aberfeldy however prior
to this bagpipe surfacing there was no information regarding a MacDougall making bagpipes in Dundee.
We do know that Allan MacDougall made bagpipes in Perth around 1790 until his son, John, took over
the business in 1834. John would have been 32 years old at that time and continued the business (in
Perth) until 1857 when his son, Duncan, took over the business.
So how is it that a bagpipe would
surface stamped J. MacDougall, Dundee? We know that John was a "wright" meaning a wheel wright or a
cart wright. Perhaps at a young age he set out to make his fortune and settled in Dundee for a spell.
Perhaps he made a few bagpipes during those years before returning home to continue his father's business.
This is entirely speculation however what struck me about this bagpipe was the "Thow" look of it.
Of course, we know that John Thow lived in Dundee and began making bagpipes commercially in 1853 at
the age of forty. In 1834 he would have been 21 years old. We know that in 1850 he is listed as a Wright
in the Dundee trade directories.
Is it possible that Duncan MacDougall and John Thow had contact
(as wrights) in the late 1820's and early 1830's? Is it possible that John Thow learned bagpipe making
skills from Duncan MacDougall? I don't know the answers to these questions however it does give one
reason to ponder.
We know that John Thow's father was a writer and that John was not only a wright
and bagpipe maker, but also a stamp cutter, tool maker, and a violin maker.
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Overall I would describe the bagpipe as being made of native wood, possibly a fruitwood. The beading
is hand-cut and the combing ranges from 7 to 13 teeth. Ivory is marine. Differences and similarities
are intriguing.
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Based on the assumed time of manufacture one would think that the bores would be huge! Not so! Bores
were very "modern" in size, except for the bushing bores. The tenors were tiny at .545 and .525 while
the bass bushing was huge at .715 inches.
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I thought that this work looked a bit crude. It's like the reed seats were opened up after the fact.
These are the two tenors. Note the differences.
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The mid-joint small bore is large at .410 while the bass bottom is modest at .345 inches. The tenors
are small at .250 inches.
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It should be understood that they had no tracing machines or CNC lathes in those days. These pieces
were individually made at the hand of the maker. There were few instruments available for comparison
purposes and I suspect that "adjustments" to certain specifications were made to the product to balance
sound and otherwise achieve what the maker was seeking.
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