For years I kept these photos of MacMillan bagpipes, not knowing anything of the maker. My patience was rewarded and the following was sent to me.
“There was a considerable demand for bagpipes during and after the Second World War. Neil John Salmon McPhee was arguably the most famous of New Zealand’s pipe makers and his story is elsewhere in this museum. Another who achieved fame as a pipe maker was Archie MacMillan of Dunedin.
Archie was the youngest of a family of twelve who came from Machrihanish near Campbelltown in Scotland. Born in 1897 he arrived in New Zealand with his family in 1908 and settled in the Dunedin area. Although their father was not a piper, all the boys in the family played.
Two of his piper brothers were Angus and Eddie. Angus, as well as being a fine player made pipe bags and dancing pumps of high quality. In the Notices of Australian Pipers on page 21 of The Piping Times, Vol 31, No 10, Douglas Thoreson states that Angus may have served in the N. Z. Scottish Regiment or the Otago rifles in the First World War.
According to his nephew Colin MacMillan this was not so. Angus lost a leg in an industrial accident before the war and such a disability would have precluded him from joining the Army. The same article states that Angus played a set of pipes in the early 1950’s that he made himself. He was indeed a versatile man. Eddie, who also was reputed to be a very fine player, lived in Australia and served with the Australian Armed Forces in the Great War.
At the outbreak of war Archie, who was under age, enlisted as a soldier in the Otago Rifles. He saw service in France and is mentioned in The Piper In Peace and War by C. A. Malcolm, 2nd edition published by Hardwick Press 1993. He was a first class performer and was apparently taught by Duncan Cameron of Mataura. He composed the excellent unpublished six parted march The Centennial Route March.
In the late 1930’s Archie learned the art of pipe making. Bill Stewart (mentioned in an earlier article in this series) assisted Archie in the early stages. Later he experimented with many of his own ideas: his son Colin can remember the copper being used to boil the timber in a foul smelling concoction and then the oven, or hot water cupboard being used for the drying process. Later a dedicated drying room was constructed. Then there was the oil in which the artificially seasoned timber was soaked. Colin thinks that it may have been a mixture with the main ingredient being linseed oil. For weeks, or even months the timber was left to soak.
Archie experimented with a variety of timbers but the two he used were South Island rata, known locally as ironwood, and lignum vitae. Puriri was used for the chanters. The mounts were cast metal and later silver plated. Many were engraved with a thistle pattern.
Archie made pipes on a large scale throughout the Second World War. The writer has seen a number of sets that have been attributed to him. At one stage there were eight sets in the R N. Z. A. F. Te Rapa Pipe Band. A number were purchased by the New Zealand Army during the war and taken overseas by the soldier pipers.
Ill health forced Archie to give up pipe making in 1948 or 49. In about 1950 he moved from Dunedin to Tauranga where he was to live for the rest of his life, dying there in about 1968.
When Ian McKay of Wellington was a teenager in 1948 he recalls seeing Archie judging the B grade at Palmerston North. At one stage he vacated his judging seat and competed in one of the A Grade events. When he finished he returned to his deliberations at the B Grade board. This could only happen in New Zealand.
Ian was impressed by the fact that Archie was able to take his instrument out of its box, get up on the board, tune it in and then play a tune that was worthy of a prize on the day. Ian also states that Archie was one of the judges at the first Highland Games held in Hastings in 1950.
The writer has known of Archie MacMillan for over thirty years. Many of the older pipers who knew him convey an impression of an extremely pleasant likable man. Many pipers passing through the city where be lived were always made welcome when they called upon him and his family
Special thanks to Colin MacMillan of Morrinsville, Airdrie Stewart of Dunedin and Ian McKay for their assistance in preparing this article.”
