Mr. Keith Allan of Perth, Western Australia (top image) with his button-mount nickel-ferrule Sandeman bagpipe. He is seen as a boy in the picture below, the day he received this bagpipe. His thistle-top Sandeman bagpipe is next, in the box with the blue bag cover. The Sandeman bagpipe with the “Robertson” looking mounts is seen both in the box and otherwise in the pictures at the bottom of the page.
Allen wrote further “Peter MacLeod Jnr lived in Rhodesia before during and after WWll. There are photos of him playing a white pipe chanter made by Sandeman. One can safely assume that a high quality player like Peter MacLeod Jr would only use a very good chanter, which says something about the tonal quality of Fred’s pipes.”
Examples on this page of Sandeman’s carved thistle-top bagpipes. The bagpipe below was the fourth set of pipes he made and the first thistle-top. By all accounts they produce a bold steady sound.
Peter MacLeod Jr. playing the full ivory Sandeman chanter. My information was that he “cleaned up” on the boards that summer. Upon his return to Scotland, Sandeman was said to have snapped the chanter in two, declaring that no one else would play it.
The lower-left image is of a bagpipe made entirely from elephant ivory. Accounts from those who heard this instrument spoke highly of the sound. Other instruments made by Sandeman reflect an influence by James Robertson, although I cannot speak beyond apparent visual similarities.
