Earlier this afternoon, I checked out a set of uilleann pipes that a woman was thinking of buying as a Christmas present for her son, a very good GHB player. She said the pipes were on loan from a family friend who had found them in the attic of a deceased relative more than a few years back. The current owner hasn’t a clue as to their value or who made them and when.
These pipes are pitched in D and narrow bore. The bag is made of rubber. I would guess they were made sometime around the early '80s, but I have no idea who made them–they didn’t seem to be marked anywhere with a maker’s name. Anybody have any guesses as to who the maker might be?
I’m not altogether sure the chanter would qualify as a true “narrow bore.” However, the finger holes seemed much smaller than normal for a concert pitch D and the spacing on the bottom hand seemed slightly wider than usual…
One astute observer has guessed Wilkinson & McCarthy…Any others here know their work very well?
I think so, too. The drones and bellows are most definitely Lambe. Im not too sure about the chanter though the blocks also look like Lambe. Eugene Lambe was strongly influenced by Matt Kiernan, whose concert pitch chanters were “on the narrow side”
Beneath are three photos of a Lambe practice set. The clapper of the bellows has a different shape, the leather strap binding the two halves is different. The intake is similar but smaller on the Lambe bellows, definetely not original belts but neither is mine anymore.
The chanter has different shaped mounts and the keyblocks are also different. While I would say this is not a Lambe set I can not say who it is, sorry.
I do not have the drones to compare to although a set sold recently on e-bay and is mentioned in an earlier thread.
Eugene Lambe liked to do a lot of different types of turnings on his Im Ivory mounts: look at a dozen sets and you’ll see a dozen different styles. I’ve seen Lambes with classic Rowsome-style turnings, with these big round golfball turnings, with huge trumpet-shaped turnings, eveything you could imagine. I think he wanted each set to have a distinct look.
I can’t be certain!
Funny think about the Lambe photos - Ginzberg has used almost the same golfball type mount shape for bass regulator bars. The drone turnings are not unlike some of Ginsberg’s work either.
I haven’t seen enough Vignoles work, or really seen enough of the 70’s/80’s sets, to say much.
I once owned a set of drones and bellows that were exactly the same. They were purchased in a large store in Dublin sometime in the eighties. the original chanter went missing or was damaged several people suggested Lambe or Wilkinson and McCarthy whenever I asked. I still have the bellows. Doesn´t really help clear it up I guess. The drones played fine. Pat
Incidentally, I bought a Lambe C chanter of the same vintage from Kirk Lynch back in 1987 or 1988; other than the fact that it is made of lignum vitae, it is identical to the chanter of which Hans-Joerg posted pictures…
Kieran O’Hare
