Glen pipes

[Hank Delison]

My wife and I both have J&R Glens. From the Sharp and Co. website, I read that this pipemaker was from 1848, but also that David Glen is even older. Also from the Naill website, (I think I got this there) Naill bought out J&R Glen about 1970's, So, my question is does anyone know what the history of the Glen pipes is. Are David and J? and R? related? Were they in Edinburgh? Was it a family company till Naill? Where does Greig Sharp come in to the picture?

I find the connectivness of history facinating.

Oh, our Glens are newer ones from Sharp & Co.

Hank

[Iain Sherwood]

1. Naill had no relation to the Glens. Les Cowell worked for Starck.

2. David Glen was amalgamated with J&R Glen in 1911. The business was run by Andrew Ross until the 1970s when old man Ross sold up to Gordon Stobo, who ran the business into the ground.

3. Greig Sharp bought the rights to the Glen names from the heirs, and has been producing exact copies of Glen drones for over twelve years.

4. Thomas (1804-1873, David (1797-1859) David* Sr. (1853-1916), Alexander (1801-1873, father of David* Sr.), David Jr. (1883-1958), John (1834-1904), and Robert (1835-1911) (sons of Thomas) Glen were all related. Theirs is one of the most prolific and important pipemaking families in the history of the instrument and its music.

You can find out more from Highland Bagpipe Makers by Jeannie Campbell.

[Matt]

Hey Iain, Does tha book have a lot of pictures of actuall sets of bagpipes? I'm interested in getting that book for sure.

[Iain Sherwood]

it has pipes, advertisements from makers, portraits of makers (hwere known) and a wealth of information about their lives.

It's a good investment; unfortunately it only covers Scottish makers - no mention of Canadian or US makers. Even so, it's well worth the money.

[Matt]

Yeah it's sounds worth checking out.