Robert Thomson resided in West Kilbride and later in Leicester, England and apparently learned reed making from his father. By 1952 he was selling reeds commercially and had developed his own chanter. There is some evidence that he may have made bagpipes, or at least was somewhat knowledgeable on the subject. The chanter shown at the left originally came out of Syracuse NY and is now in Ontario. According to Jeannie Campbell’s book, there is another chanter in Australia. I recently received an email (below) from a friend directing me to The National Museums Scotland website where tools owned by Robert Thomson are displayed.
email…
“I have attached the information slip he used to send out, listing the various combinations, goose chanter, mini drone, practice chanter etc. I have also attached the slip he included with some of his shipments. His address at the time was 39 Cardinal’s Walk, Leicester, England. There is the additional comment “formerly of West Kilbride, Ayrshire, Scotland”, indicating that he was previously known at that address. I also have an old, rather battered copy of the price list for the full pipes he made that includes the listing for “Silvertone” reeds and Thomson chanter reeds.
I have been unable to determine whether this is the same Robert Thomson who published a series of articles in the Piping Times (listed by volume and part, with pages). However, based on exchanges we had it was clear that he knew Seamus MacNeil. Based on the fact that the first issue of the Piping Times was published in 1948 these articles would have been published in the 1950s.”
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7-8 Reeds The Component Parts Robert Thomson
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17-18 Reeds Physical Characteristics Robert Thomson
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7-8 Reeds The Piper’s First Aid Kit : Reed Manipulation : Robert Thomson
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6-7 Reeds Reed manipulation continued Robert Thomson
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16-17 Reeds More about Resistance Robert Thomson
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7 Reeds Choosing a new reed Robert Thomson
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6 Reeds Choosing a new reed continued Robert Thomson
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23 Reeds Practice Chanter Reeds Robert Thomson
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21 Reeds Instruction in Reeds a necessity Robert Thomson
Update 12/21/2021 – I received information and documents that confirm that Robert Thomson did indeed make bagpipes. He was corresponding with a person in the US and provided detailed descriptions and drawings. The following was taken from one of those letters.
“The reamer is made from an old French bayonet. The boring takes only 15-20 minutes. Next, mark off the length of the chanter starting from the bottom. Trim and drill the finger holes, which is much easier than reed-making. The final touches are merely experience in tuning and knowing when to leave chanters alone. Also, the thickness of the walls is important. A scrape with glasspaper often makes a difference.
Apprenticeship – Rubbish! Many turners are kept off the chanter. My mentor was W. Gray, who knew P. Henderson (died 1903) then Duncan MacRae (the best of the lot). I have his reamer and pattern on which my own are based. W. Gray has passed on to me all he knows from the old masters.”
Pictures of a Robert Thomson bagpipe are shown below. I have pictures of another Thomson bagpipe, also flat combed with no rings on the bells and no raised beads or scribe lines on the ferrules.
