In 1967 Willie Reid, Robert’s brother, came to New Zealand with two sets of pipes. One was his own 1910 Hendersons, the other a set he said were owned and played by the famous Robert, but not the pipes you always saw him with in photographs.
By David Philip
Willie and local piper Barry Brougham became friends and at the time Barry was doing well on the solo boards. At some stage Willie sold the Hendersons to J Allan MacGee and told Barry that if he sold his set of Hardies, and gave him what he got for them, he could have the other set.
Barry sold his Hardies for around £50 and with a handshake the deal was done; Barry became the new owner of the Robert Reid bagpipe.
Barry believed from the very day he got them they were MacDougall of Aberfeldy pipes and pretty much everyone in NZ thought likewise. They became known as ‘Barry’s MacDougalls’.
In 2011 Barry’s health deteriorated and his son Christopher put them up for sale. Although his intentions were good he made the mistake of advertising them with the well-known picture of Robert Reid playing his ‘three bass stock’ bagpipe:
Also in the advert were pictures of his dad’s MacDougalls. With the pipes not matching, you can imagine how potential buyers reacted. They remained unsold.
But some good came of it. There was further confirmation of the Reid connection from a Mr Dougie Forsyth. He wrote: ‘My father was a family friend of the Reids and knew the brothers well. I came to NZ in 1962 and my parents came out and spent time with us during 1967-68.
‘While here, my father visited Willie Reid and on his return said that Willie told him that Robert had left a set of pipes to each of his four brothers, that Willie and Sandy had got the MacDougalls, and that Willie had sold his set in New Zealand to a well known piper – no name given. I later found out it was Barry Brougham.’
Barry had been my tutor / mentor since 1986. Now and then after he had given me a lesson he would talk about his pipes being owned by Robert Reid and he would show me photos and newspaper clippings with Robert and his pipes.
In 2007 my career as a policeman took hold and I didn’t see him as much. However in 2012 I bumped into him. We got talking and I ended up purchasing the pipes.
A couple of weeks ago I put them up for sale and a chap George Hannah contacted me to advise ‘those pipes of yours are not MacDougalls’. I was a bit shocked and pulled the ad as I wanted to get to the bottom of it. He told me they were 1920 J&R Glens.
Are the pipes MacDougall or Glen? It’s not impossible that Willie or Barry got their wires crossed about the maker. Mr Forsyth confirmed the MacDougall connection; Mr Hannah the Glen.
Other points: The pipes are ivory, nickel silver and ebony. The date circa 1920 fits in with the time period that Robert Reid was about. There are photos out there with Robert with pipes that look very similar to those above.
The pipes themselves are an immaculate pipe with tone quality up with very best. It doesn’t appear Willie wanted to make any money on them.
Nor am I looking for any monetary gain in the fact they may have been owned by Robert Reid but would like to hear from others about the manufacturer and Reid’s ownership. Regardless of the outcome, they remain a very fond set that will find a good home.
- If anyone can help please respond in our Comments section.
