The very little we know of John Davidson can be found in Jeannie Campbell’s Highland Bagpipe Makers. She writes “John Davidson is mentioned by Hugh Cheape as being a bagpipe maker in Aberdeen. He does not appear in the Post Office Directories from 1824 onwards.” She indicates that he made bagpipes “early 19th century Aberdeen. You can imagine my delight when a bagpipe surfaced in New Zealand with a chanter stamped J. Davidson.
My good friends at Gannaway were kind enough to share these images with me. The current owner of the bagpipe has papers that claim this bagpipe was played at the Battle of Quatre Bras (May 16, 1815). The piper was killed by a cannon ball whereupon the pipes were presented to Sir Duncan Cameron, nephew of Sir John Cameron, who was shot as he lead his Highlanders against Marshal Soult. The pipes were gifted out of that family sometime later in the 1800s and remained locked away for decades. They were recently brought back into playing condition by Mike and Scotty at Gannaway in New Zealand.
The chanter is stamped “J. Davidson” between the E and F note holes and “Edinburgh” between the B and Low A note holes. Of course, it’s impossible to definitively connect the chanter to the bagpipe unless similar stamps are discovered on one or more drone pieces. All elements of the bagpipe point to the early 19th century however it may be impossible to accurately attribute the bagpipe to Davidson or otherwise or to establish an absolute date of manufacture. Without question, this is an exquisite and important artifact and musical instrument.
There were no stamps or other identifying marks on the bagpipe itself, which begs the question, is the chanter original to the bagpipe or are they unrelated? Of course, there is no way to know with absolute certainty. The diameter of the chanter bulb is smaller than the diameter of the chanter stock, which suggests they are not a match. It is worth noting that there were few makers active in the early 1800s. Hugh Robertson, Allan MacDougall, Donald MacDonald, a few others that we know of and perhaps more that have yet to be identified. The subject bagpipe is very well made but we can only conclude that the makers was a craftsman of considerable skill.
