My Pipes
My bagpipes were made by Peter Henderson in the late 1940s. They are very simply appointed with wooden projecting mounts, nickel ferrules, and imitation ivory drone caps that have turned orange over time.
The pipes were originally presented to Mr. Eugene Lucas of the Carnegie Tech Pipe Band in Pittsburgh, PA, by his late wife the first Christmas they were married. Mr. Lucas used the pipes very gently over the years, and eventually stopped playing for health reasons around 1985. In the early 1990s he had the pipes refitted in the hopes his grandson would learn, but they ended up sitting in a box in Mr. Lucas’ apartment. In the spring of 2006 I heard from a friend that Mr. Lucas intended to sell the pipes; he was understandably reluctant to part with them because of the emotional connection to his wife, but he also recognized that they are a good set of pipes that should belong to someone who will appreciate their quality.
I bought them directly from Mr. Lucas in June 2006 and have been extremely pleased with them. At the moment my setup includes a hide Gannaway bag with a tube moisture trap, Selbie tenor drone reeds, an inverted EZee Drone bass, a modern blackwood Naill chanter with Shepherd reed, and an adjustable blowpipe from Peter Crisler.
hi enjoy your hendersons ihave 2sets 1900 halfmounted plain silver half boxwood with original chanter awseome the no2 set 1926 approx full ivory with original chanter wonderful sound but mostly i play my 1910 ivory lawries good luck and good piping john
September 10, 2010 at 4:48 am
I know those pipes of Mr. Lucas. I brought them back to life after sitting many years in a case in his garage. I was also teaching his grandson on the chanter. The grandson was going through the motions of learning to please his grandfather, but otherwise was uninterested. Needless to say, I lost interest in teaching him. I was teaching him to please Mr. Lucas, my friend, and the boy’s father of whom I’ve lost track. I thought of buying those pipes, myself, but didn’t have the money.~Dave O
November 7, 2010 at 6:55 am
Did you know the pumpkin orange drone caps can be restored to the original color fairly easily?~Dave O
November 7, 2010 at 7:00 am
It’s neat to hear of your encounters with my pipes. I took a few weeks to get them playable, and they have been great. They have been one of the best purchases of my piping career.
In regards to the orange caps, I’ve read about removing the patina, but they’ll turn orange again within a few years.
November 7, 2010 at 7:43 pm