The following article and image appeared in The International Piper Vol. 3 No 12 in April 1981. It describes the first gathering of what, two years later, was to be formally constituted as the Lowland and Border Pipers’ Society.

 The final day of the 3rd Edinburgh Folk Festival (1981} was the occasion for a meeting n the Festival Club in Teviot Row, which had as its object the revival of the Lowlands pipes. Much interest has been shown in the last decade or so in musical instruments and musical traditions which have been overwhelmed by changes In taste, fashion and technical detail. The Lowland bellows bagpipe is such an instrument, but so far, with one or two distinguished exceptions, it has escaped the revivalist net.
It was known that there was a number of people around the country interested in the bellows pipes and it was felt that the time was long overdue to have a get-together to see what could be done about the apparent eclipse of the instrument.
The meeting decided that a Lowland Pipers' Society should be formed without delay and accordingly those present agreed that the aims of such a Society should be:
1    To promote the playing of the Lowland Pipes.
2    To study the music and traditions of the Lowland or Border Bellows Bagpipe.
3    To revive the making of Lowland Pipes.
One or two folk still play the Lowland Pipes or have taken up the instrument as an extra, being mostly Highland pipe players. Others have seen these instru­ments languishing in Museums and wondered what had happened to the Lowland piping tradition. One or two more ambitious souls have tried their hand at repairing old sets or reconstructing them from measurements taken from old sets of pipes.
There is considerable scope in a subject such as this. You did not march in the military fashion playing the Lowland pipes. It was best to play sitting down. It was a social instrument for ceilidhs, weddings, dances and feasts. So what did folk play on the Lowland pipes? Do you know the tune Buttered Pease? it is a Border or North of England tune, first published under this name in the early eighteenth century. The same tune also appears as Stumpie in the eighteenth century, and probably in the first half of the nineteenth century, was developed into the six part 2/4 March Highland Wedding. The original simpler tune has been obscured and the name lost, except for the vague tradition that this is a tune to play at weddings. Certainly we know that Stumple was a traditional wedding tune, by which fun was had at the bridegroom's expense and perhaps his manhood called into question at a critical moment in his career. Another old Lowland tune with a varied history is the Strathspey The Bob of Fettercairn. Originally this melody was called Had I the wyte she bade me and had the reputation of being a bawdy song. It then appears as Brew Lads of Jeddart and as Highland Hills, then as Fettercairn Reel and later The Bob of Fettercairn, also a reel, 'bob' being an old Scots word for 'dance' Finally the tune became a Strathspey. Some tunes have disappeared from pipe music altogether such as Soor Plooms o' Gala­shiels and the sinister Gillatrypes which was known as the Devil's tune in the seventeenth century and was quoted at the witch trials of that period.
Those present at the Edinburgh meeting agreed to meet on 3rd October 1981, the first Saturday of the month, in Linlithgow. Not only is this a central venue but also it is an appropriate one because Linlithgow was probably the first and certainly the last Burgh to have a town piper in the good old Lowland tradition.
Anybody interested in the formation and aims of a Lowland Pipers' Society should come to the Autumn meeting in Linlithgow. If you want more infor­mation about this and the Society, contact any of the following people:
Mike Rowan, Mains Castle, East Kilbride; or
Gordon Mooney, 2 Lionwell Wynd, Linlithgow; or
Hugh Cheape, National Musuem of Antiquities of Scotland, Queen Street, Edinburgh
[Ed: remember these are 1982 addresses; don’t attempt to use them!]