Record

Highland bagpipe chanter

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early 19th century

Postcard of Highland bagpipe chanter.
000-000-579-747-C
© National Museums Scotland

Highland bagpipe chanter

Highland bagpipe chanter with an ivory sole. It is badly split and bound with eight threaded bindings.

Until recently, about the mid-20th century, pipers would retain damaged and cracked bagpipe chanters and would repair them intricately to keep them playing. They might not be able to afford a replacement and bagpipes were not being mass-produced as they are today. Now we would try to replace a broken chanter immediately and would consider that its quality and acoustic properties had been impaired.

The Highland bagpipe of Scotland is a universally recognised musical instrument but historically, in the last 2-300 years, only one in a variety of bagpipes growing out of the rich piping and musical traditions of the British Isles. Though its precise origins are still obscure, it seemed to arrive in the Highlands in the 15th or 16th centuries and was adopted as the principal musical instrument after the clarsach of the Gaelic clans. By the late 18th century, the Highland bagpipe had emerged in more of less fixed form with chanter and three drones, the style and embellishment becoming a matter of fashion as well as standardisation with a uniformity being required for band playing and competition. By the early 19th century professional bagpipe makers were offering different sizes of Highland bagpipe such as 'Full-size', 'Half-size', 'Reel' or 'Lovat Reel Pipe' and Miniature.


Record details

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Online ID: 000-000-579-747-C
Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
Project: 0869: The Bagpipe Collection
Project description | View all records in project
Ref: National Museums Scotland  H.LT 81
Date: Early 19th century (date of manufacture)
Material: Ivory and thread
Dimensions: 363 mm L x 70 mm Dia
What: Chanter
Subject:
Who: The Museum of Piping, Glasgow (place of display)
Where:
Event:
Description: Chanter for a Highland bagpipe with an ivory sole, badly split and bound with thread.
References:
Translations:
Related Records:
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