Northumbrian Small-Pipe

This instrument, which was purchased in Scotland, features nine keys, a common set-up for the Northumbrian small-pipes. The chanter is signed JN CENTER. John Center was a bagpipe maker and photographer born in Scotland in 1830. By 1886, he had stopped his photography business and concentrated on bagpipe making. His pipe-making business was based in Edinburgh from 1869 to 1908. He then emigrated with his family to Melbourne, Australia in 1908, where he continued his piping business, which was continued by his son James (Campbell 2001:81). John Center is mainly known for his Great Highland Bagpipe making activity.


Small-pipes with a stopped end (no sound can come out when all fingers are on the instrument) were played from the late seventeenth century onwards; keys were only added around 1800 (Wood 2019). Pipe maker Robert Reid from North Shields (1784 – 1837) developed the Northumbrian small pipes into their current form, standardizing the instrument. The instrument was expensive, even in its earlier days, made of costly materials. It was mainly played by people of means who could afford such a purchase.


Over the course of the nineteenth century, interest in the Northumbrian small-pipes decreased as other instruments took over, such as the flute, the violin, and the concertina. The dearth of makers also made the maintenance of the instrument a complicated affair (Wood 2019). In order to support the practice of the instrument, which many feared was in danger of completely disappearing, the Northumbrian Small Pipes Society was founded in 1893. The Society organized competitions and published their proceedings until 1899, when they stopped their activities. The Northumbrian Pipers’ Society was founded in 1928, and is still active to this day, promoting the instrument through competitions, publications, and public events.

(Cassandre Balosso-Bardin, 2023)


Technical description

Single rosewood(?) chanter, 283 mm, with cylindrical bore closed at lower end, 7/1 holes of varying sizes and unevenly spaced, 9 brass keys on block mounts, cane double reed on brass staple, 54 mm (broken), with waxed lapping, metal tuning bridle;

4 drones each in 2 sections: 183 mm, 222 mm, 281 mm, 353 mm, single downcut reeds, 3 made of cane, 1 for largest drone made of elder; 2 tuned by pitch balls on tongue, all 4 having tuning bridles;

Single-fold leather bellows covered with blue velvet, bellows boards varnished, 2 metal brackets for (missing) straps, leather loop at bottom stocks mounted with brass, all pipes mounted with ivory and brass;

Pipes and stocks with turned grooving;

Leather bag covered with blue velvet.

References

Campbell, Jeannie, 2001.　Highland Bagpipe Makers. Magnus Orr Pub.

The Northumbrian Pipers’ Society, 2023. ‘History’, Northumbrian Pipers’ Society, https://www.northumbrianpipers.org.uk/the-society/history/ [last accessed August 25, 2023.

Wood, Francis, 2019. ‘In Praise of Old Pipes’. Chanter (Winter)