Afterword on the Jedburgh Piper

TIIE carving of a piper on the “Piper’s House” at No. 1 Duck Row in Jedburgh deserves more attention than it has so far

received, not because of its high standard of artistry but because of its uniqueness; I know of no other three-dimensional repre- sentation of a piper in Scotland before the 18th century. All the evidence suggests that it is con- temporary with the house, which carries a “marriage lin- tel” with the date 1604 (perhaps this could be read as 1609).

Since the Hastie family are said to have held the office of town piper in Jedburgh for 300 years, this presumably represents one of their line. The piper is seated, wearing a skirted tunic with a wide sleeve; the right arm, un- der which the bag is held, has disappeared.

The pipes are mouth-blown and the single drone rests over the player’s left arm. The carving has been poorly “renovated” and is in a deteriorating condi- tion.

At this year’s AGM the Society agreed to explore the possibility of the carving’s conservation.

Editor’s note: a review of The Day It Daws will appear in the next edition of Common Stock (Photographs copyright John Molleson, taken from The Day it Daws).

Copies of both The Day It Daws and Robin with the Bagpipe are available from Julian Goodacre, 4 Elcho Street, Peebles, EH45 8LQ: www.goodbagpipes.co.uk