MacPherson's of Edinburgh

[OC Richard]

look at these! Hugh was also famous for his gold and ivory pipes. Made for him by his own company...

Very interesting! If those are MacPherson pipes, it's the first time I've seen that particular engraving pattern on anything other than a Henderson. Here's a full silver Henderson pipe with that pattern



It might be called Knot & Dragon. (Well, not a dragon actually, but the Each-uisge.)

I've seen three variants, all on Henderson pipes:

1) the design contained within rectangular frames

2) the design contained within a cartouche, that is, parallel sides and curving ends (seen at top)

3) the design meeting its twin with no break in between (full silver set above)

At one local Highland Games we had three sets of Hendersons laid out on a table showing all three variants.

Hugh MacPherson bought out the Leith pipemaker Sinclair, and what were in effect Sinclair pipes were made under the "Sinclair-MacPherson" stamp for a few years, until Sinclair bought back his pipemaking business after which MacPherson pipes were made in-house. Many people confuse Sinclair and MacPherson pipes but they usually have details which set them apart.

[TJMACPHERSON]

Hugh Macpherson was my great uncle. I unfortunately never had the chance to meet that side of the family. My grandfather, Richard (Hugh’s brother) moved to Southern Ontario and imported Hugh’s goods. Sadly, Richard passed away in 1964/5 when my father was only 13. In the mid 80’s my father ordered us full dress kilt packages from Hugh for our Clan Macpherson US gathering. My dad was pissed because he charged us full retail, haha. I had actually been contacted on Facebook 7 years ago by his daughter. She mentioned that her daughter (mentioned by the original poster) had since taken over operations. I still have our kilts from 33 years ago. Obviously I fit into my fathers now, and my son should fit in my old one soon. Unfortunately I don’t fit in my fathers 38 Short Prince Charlie

[OC Richard]

Very cool to have people here who are relatives of Hugh MacPherson, and people who knew him.

I only know him through the pipes I've seen, and from what Jeannie Campbell has written in her book Highland Bagpipe Makers:

Hugh MacPherson was born on 27 April 1907 at Balnagarrow, Loth, Sutherland, the son of Robert Alexander MacPherson and his wife Jemima, daughter of Hugh Matheson.

Hugh's father was a railway platelayer but by 1914 he was a sergeant in the 5th Seaforths. Hugh had two brothers, Robert (Bert) and Richard (Dick). Hugh and his brothers had their first piping lessons from Willie MacKay, Achnagarron.

...his father got a job in Canada so the whole family, mother, father, grandfather and the three boys left Scotland on 18 October 1924. Hugh, then 17, got a job at a bank. He was in great demand as a piper and found that other pipers often asked him for reeds and piping supplies, so he became an agent for a Glasgow firm and imported reeds, bags, hemp, and seasoning. He met his wife Janet in Canada, although she was Falkirk born.

When war started in 1939 he joined the 10th St Catherines' Battery RCA...he became a Captain in the training battalion and stayed in Canada with the band.

After the war it was decided that Dick would run the Canadian end of the import business and Hugh, Janet, and the girls (Sheila and Jean) would return to Scotland. They arrived in Edinburgh in September of 1945. In June 1946 Hugh MacPherson Highland Outfitting opened at 17 West Maitland Street.

...Hugh became president of the Scottish Pipe Band Association in 1953, a position he held for eight years. He was a prominent figure in local affairs as a Councillor and a Baillie.

[TJMACPHERSON]

Thank you for sharing Richard. I wasn’t sure of the date that the family moved to Canada. I only knew my grandfather Richard ran the Canadian operations for imports.

[Balaamsass51]

Plenty of Highland Games in South Carolina this year. Tartan Day South 4/2-5 in Cayce outside Columbia; Costal 4/25 Mrytle Beach; Greenville 5/23; Swamp Fox outside Florence 9/26; Charleston 11/7. Plenty in North Carolina too.

[OC Richard]

Thank you for sharing Richard. I wasn’t sure of the date that the family moved to Canada. I only knew my grandfather Richard ran the Canadian operations for imports.

You're welcome! So cool to be from a family so prominent in the piping world. My grandfather played banjo...

For us pipers the Sinclair/MacPherson connexion has provided frequent challenges in bagpipe identification.

The William Sinclairs, Senior and Junior, opened their pipemaking business in 1931, stamping their pipes Sinclair Leith.

Starting in 1946 Hugh MacPherson began selling Sinclair pipes stamped Sinclair-MacPherson.

In 1957 William Sinclair Jr sold his pipemaking business to MacPherson, he and his turners Willie Bryson, Jimmy Tweedie, and Jimmy Frame all making pipes stamped MacPherson Edinburgh.

In 1962 Sinclair Jr bought back the pipemaking business, but Bryson and Tweedie stayed at MacPherson. (Tweedie later returned to Sinclair.)

This all resulted in identical or nearly identical bagpipes being made by both firms! Since often only the chanter is stamped, and chanters get changed out often, it's sometimes difficult to know if somebody is selling a MacPherson pipe or a Sinclair pipe.

Later former Sinclair/MacPherson turners Jimmy Tweedie and Tim Gellaitry left to form their own pipemaking businesses, resulting in even more bagpipe firms from the Sinclair lineage.