unknown044

These are nothing more than a couple of fragments, however they provide important insight into the early history of the Great Highland Bagpipe. These were donated to the Edinburgh University Collection of Historical Musical Instruments (EUCHMI) by Andreas Hartmann-Virnich. The picture does not show the significant 19th-century bag fitted both with two separate fruitwood stocks and a large hole for a common stock closed with an appropriately sized wooden stopper. The bag had also two blowpipe stocks, one for the mouth and one for bellows. The leather is very thin and fine, like a glove, and the stitching very well made, maybe by a professional glove-maker? These items, along with other very early examples of Highland Bagpipes, confirms the use of a common stock for drones.