Ross, Alexander

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Does this bagpipe look familiar?  In 1923 Mr. Alexander Ross of Kiltarlity Cottage, Beauly, Invernesshire was granted a Patent for “Improvements to and Related to the bag pipe.”

He turned to his long-time friend James Robertson to build that bagpipe. The drones of this bagpipe are fitted with practice chanter reeds and the bores are such that a unique sound is produced. It is not known how many of these bagpipes were made by Robertson, but we do know that this same profile and some of the same details can be found on James Robertson’s Great Highland pipes made during that same time

These final three pictures show that a relatively soft wood was used…and that someone attempted a restoration or refinishing along the way using a wire brush! The instrument was terribly compromised as a result. Perhaps Robertson used a lesser wood because of availability or because he deemed the small pipe “unworthy” of ebony, cocuswood, or African Blackwood.