Hugh MacPherson Highland Outfitting opened in Edinburgh in 1946. Early bagpipes sold by MacPherson were made by William Sinclair and chanters were stamped stamped Sinclair-MacPherson. According to Jeannie Campbell, MacPherson also had bagpipes made by Piobmor in Glasgow that were stamped with only MacPherson. I can’t say that I’ve seen any of these instruments (made by Piobmor).
According to Allistair Sinclair, his father sold the business to Hugh MacPherson in 1957 and had nothing to do with pipemaking until 1959 when he went to work at the Hugh MacPherson office. The business went back into Sinclair ownership in 1962.
Internally, the Sinclair bagpipe did not change during the “MacPherson” years. Willie Bryson worked for Sinclair in the 1950’s and went to work for MacPherson so the instrument essentially stayed the same. The one-piece cap appeared in the late 1950’s. The cut-in atop the projecting mount seems to have disappeared sometime in the early 1960’s. Otherwise, without a matching stamped chanter, you might be looking at a Sinclair or you might be looking at a MacPherson.
