Michael Keenan, c.1895-1978.
Tantalising evidence is emerging that suggests that Lowland Scots pipe-making did not disappear after the flurry of interest in Northumberland in the 1930’s. Here Paul Roberts reports on his investigation into the operations of an Irish pipe maker in the 1960’s

As a teenage schoolboy in 1965 I was suddenly gripped by an overwhelming desire to play the Highland Bagpipes. Somehow a friend and I scraped the money together to buy a cheap and nasty Pakistani set between us. Thus began my spasmodic piping career.
Unable to afford a decent set, I compensated by accumulating free catalogues, over which I would drool wistfully for hours on end. Some of these I still have, including two 5 ¼” x 10 ½” sheets from an Irish maker, Michael Keenan of Glasleac, Co. Cavan.
One sheet gives details of his “Irish or Highland War Pipe”, which ranged from 30 Guineas for a basic set to 100 Guineas for ivory and silver mounted. The other sheet details his “Irish or Uillean [sic] Bagpipe”, which ranged from £85 to £105 - the latter silver mounted with a detachable bass regulator.
I suspect I only enquired about these two instruments - either way, he didn’t send sheets detailing the other bagpipes he made, all carefully listed at the top of each page. The heading - which is rubber stamped on an otherwise professionally printed sheet - reads:

MICEAL O CIANAIN
(Michael Keenan)
Expert in All Types of Bagpipes
Irish War Pipes - Highland Bagpipes
The Original Brian Boru Chromatic Bagpipes
Scotch Lowland Pipes **  English Northumbrian Pipes
Army Contractor, Kilts & Costumes
All Requisites
OUR MOTTO:
QUALITY & COURTESY
GLASLEAC (SHERCOCK,
CO. CAVAN
DUNDALK, EIRE

Clearly it is of great interest that any pipe-maker was still offering SCOTCH LOWLAND PIPES as late as the 1960s, but that one in Ireland was doing so is perhaps even more surprising. Indeed, as far as I know, the only other person to make the instrument between the disappearance of the “Reel Pipe” from Scottish makers lists about 1900 and the introduction of John Addison’s “Half-Longs” around 1975, was Pipe-Major James Robertson, for the short-lived Northumbrian Half-Long revival c.1926-39. And Keenan may well have been the only maker to have offered the instrument under the name of “Lowland Pipe” between the mid-19th century and the late 1970s. [1]
Fortunately, thanks to the wonders of the internet, I have been able to accumulate a certain amount of information about Keenan. Though now largely forgotten, in his day he was a well known figure in Irish music, and those few who remember him do so with affection.
He was born around 1894-96 and died in 1978 aged 82 or 84, so in 1965 he was already about 70.
He came from Glasleac, a small village in the civil parish of Shercock in southeast Cavan, on the County Monaghan border.  It is part of the ecclesiastical parish of Killan, which includes Bailieborough to the south. Although Cavan and Monaghan are in the Irish Republic, both belong to the historic nine counties of Ulster.
Like the rest of Ulster, Cavan and Monaghan had been subject to major settlement by British Protestants during the 17th century, and as a result a deeply politicized sectarian conflict was endemic here. Keenan was born into a world where to be Catholic was to be a Nationalist, and he was of the generation that transferred its loyalty from the moderate federalism of the Irish Nationalist Party to the hard Republicanism of Sinn Fein. It is not surprising, then, to find that Keenan was a committed Republican who preferred to use the Irish form of his name, whose proudest memory was  piping ahead of Arthur Griffith’s election parade in 1918, and whose workshop was decorated with IRA and Sinn Fein posters even when in his 80s. [2]
Given this background it’s not clear how far his involvement in Irish music and piping reflected his own local culture or was simply the product of the Gaelic revivalism which enthused Nationalist Ireland in his youth. In a deeply politicized area like south Ulster it would be hard to keep the two apart. But there was certainly a Union/Uilleann pipe tradition in south Ulster reaching back into the 19th century, and a Highland pipe scene which, though its great flowering was in the early 20th century among the rival nationalisms of Protestant and Catholic, probably had older roots.
What is clear is that traditional music dominated Michael Keenan’s life, and that he was that strange creature well known to readers of this journal - the bagpipe obsessive!
He was a leading member of important revivalist organizations like Na Piobairi Uilleann and Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, and was a well known figure in Irish music circles both nationally and locally, playing War Pipes, Uilleann pipes and mandolin at dances, concerts, public meetings, parades, and on the radio and TV. He played in several countries including the USA, and sold his pipes as far afield as Australia and Hong Kong. He taught the local pipe band in the 1910’s and 20’s, ran a successful local Ceili band in the 1930’s, taught or advised several young pipe-makers in the 1970’s, and taught many younger pipers throughout his life. It seems he also had antiquarian interests (for example, donating some of his own bronze age finds to museums) and was an inveterate collector of “interesting things” (his prize possession was an original Edison phonograph and 450 cylinders, all in perfect working order!)

He found time for all this by avoiding the two major distractions that have shriveled many a promising musical career: he never married (though apparently something of a ladies man in his youth) and he never drank (he was a lifelong member of Fr. Cullen’s Pioneer Total Abstinence Association).
He probably began his piping career on the newly revived Irish War Pipes when still a boy. He participated in a Fèis in 1907 when he was only about 12 years old, and was already a “renowned” War Piper when he started teaching a local Pipe band in 1917 (with whom he seems to have played till the band closed down in the late 1940s). He seems to have learnt the Uilleann pipes later, making his first set in the 1920s because he couldn’t afford to buy one. His Uilleann playing style was apparently affected by his War Pipe background, one piper recalling his decorations as “warpipey”.
However, the fact he made  Highland, Lowland and Northumbrian pipes as well as the full range of Irish pipes (including the revolutionary new bagpipe of his youth,  the chromatic Brian Boru pipes) suggests his bagpipe enthusiasm went well beyond the confines of Irish music.
But where did he get the idea of making “Scotch Lowland Pipes”?  In his time neither the instrument nor the name figured much in the piping world’s consciousness, unlike the other pipes he offered.
The instrument was once played over a wide area of the British Isles, but by the mid-19th century it was little more than a minor adjunct to the expanding culture of Highland piping. By 1900 it was virtually dead outside a few pockets like rural Aberdeenshire, and remained so until the 1980’s revival, apart from the brief “Northumbrian Half-Long” revival. In fact, apart from P/M Robertson, who supplied the Northumbrian movement, I know of no-one else who offered the instrument between 1900 and 1975. [3]
We cannot say for sure where Keenan first encountered the instrument, but he would certainly have been aware of the Half-Long revival because of his friendship with fellow piper William Clarke of Ballybay, Co. Monaghan. Ballybay is only about ten miles from Shercock and Keenan is described as a “frequent” visitor to Clarke - and Clarke was a regular visitor to the Bellingham show in Northumberland and a friend of both Anthony Charlton and P/M Robertson, the team behind the Half-Long revival. The three of them featured on the famous “Pipes of Three Nations” record, Clarke paying the Uilleann Pipes, Robertson the Highland Pipes and Charlton the Northumbrian Small Pipes. [4]
According to his friend George McCullagh of Derryvalley, Clarke picked up a set of Half-Longs around 1926 and played them till his death in 1934, teaching McCullagh to play as well (see appendix). So Keenan could well have got his inspiration from Clarke. It is still rather striking, however,  that he called them “Scotch Lowland Pipes” instead of “Half-Longs”, the term used by the Northumbrians and hence by Clarke and McCullagh.
Over the years and in different areas this instrument has had a variety of names. The term “Lowland Pipes” seems to have been created by scholars in the late 18th century - its first appearance is probably in Tytler’s “Bagpipe” article for Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1777-8. The name was popular for several decades, but seems to have disappeared from general use around the 1840’s as the lowland pipe tradition was absorbed into a pan-Scottish GHB based piping culture - thus there is no reference to the instrument in Britannica from 1842. In fact pipe-makers continued to make the instrument up to about 1900 but they no longer called them Lowland Pipes, they marketed them as bellows-blown “Reel Pipes” - the "Lowland" title must have ceased to have real meaning in a Scotland where all now claimed the right to the GHB as a national symbol, and Highland pipers like Malcolm Macpherson now played the lowland instrument for dancing.
The reassertion of the term “Lowland Pipe” seems to have arisen in the early 20th century out of a growing interest in the history of bagpipes and their music - with antiquarians, folklorists, and music historians like Manson, Flood, Charlton, Askew, and Cocks. But they were essentially talking about historic instruments.  The name in common usage since the 1840s/50s seems to have been “Reel pipes”, while the 1920’s Northumbrian revival used the local term “Half-Longs”.
Perhaps as a literate revivalist operating within a culture of bagpipe enthusiasts, Keenan knew the “Scotch Lowland Pipes” and the “Northumbrian Half-Longs” were essentially the same instrument. This fact wasn’t necessarily as obvious back then as it is now, but he could have got this knowledge from Clarke with his Northumbrian contacts - NPS scholars like Charlton and Askew were in the forefront of researching the instrument in the 1920’s and 30’s. Having made the link, perhaps he preferred to market them as “Scotch Lowland Pipes” - in a mental world where every culture province was supposed to have a distinct bagpipe proper unto itself, maybe he felt this filled a void between Highland and Northumbrian Pipes. Possibly his Nationalist spirit revolted at calling them English, though he had no qualms about advertising the small pipes as “English Northumbrian Pipes”. Perhaps he preferred to make them with bass and two tenors rather than bass, tenor, and alto/baritone, and was following the ideas of Charlton and Askew who tended to make a dubious distinction between Half-Longs and Lowland Pipes on the basis of the drone arrangement.
Most intriguing of all is the possibility that he had an Irish market - that there lingered a tradition of playing this instrument in early 20th century Ireland, one that used the older Scottish name. The most likely group to harbour such a tradition would be the Ulster Scots. It’s a tantalizing thought for which I can offer no evidence, and it wouldn’t be easy to research. Ulster Protestant music and folk culture has never had the kudos of Irish music and culture: it has been generally ignored by the Irish and British folk revivals, and much of its music and lore has simply gone unrecorded. But if we view the Ulster Scots as a fringe Scottish community one might well expect them to be a bit behind the times and to host some antique cultural traits. There was certainly a Union Pipe tradition in the Ulster Protestant community well into the 20th century, long after its apparent disappearance in Scotland. [5]  
What is clear is that at some stage in his long career Keenan felt there was some sort of market for this instrument, or he wouldn’t have advertised it. Which leaves us with a whole series of unanswered questions.  How many sets did he actually make? Who exactly was buying them - and playing them? And are any of his Lowland Pipes still in existence?  [6]
Nowadays he is a little remembered figure. The only memories I could find beyond the sparse offerings on internet forums - mostly in response to my own queries - are purely local. The latest sighting is his inclusion in a 2009 talk to a local history group on “Local Characters” of Bailieborough. But in his lifetime he had a much higher profile and status than simply “local character”, as is clear from this obituary:

“Michael 0 Cianain of Glassleck, Shercock Co. Cavan, who has died, aged 84, was one of the oldest and best-known makers of Uilleann and other Irish bagpipes in the country. He was also a well-known bagpipe player and he exported his pipes to Australia, the United States and Britain. He also taught enthusiasts from Germany, France, Britain, as well as Ireland how to play the Uilleann pipes and he gave his last demonstration of  pipe playing at Cavan Trades Fair at Christmas. A leading member of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, he played on RTE television and radio on numerous occasions. “
But alas, no information on his “Scotch Lowland Pipes”, here or in the recollections of the few pipers and pipe-makers who still remember him.

APPENDIX: William Clarke’s Half-Longs
Whilst I don’t doubt that Clarke owned a set of Half-Longs, I have some doubts as to whether this was the instrument he taught George McCullagh.
The information about Clarke’s Half-Longs comes from extracts of an interview with McCullagh played during an RTE radio programme featuring Rab Wallace and his Lowland pipes, but mediated through articles in Common Stock and Musical Traditions. Possibly a full transcript of the interview would help clarify matters, but as it stands the available material suggests McCullagh was confusing the Half-Longs with the Northumbrian Small Pipes, which Clarke also played, made, and repaired.
“the instrument concerned was described as sounding rather like a practice chanter….‘it was nice for the house……nice little drones on them too, tenor bass and alto’.” (my italics)
This doesn’t sound like Half-Longs, certainly not a Robertson set which were notoriously loud and had a baritone drone. Possibly Clarke had one of Robertson’s prototypes, which had a different chanter and may have been quieter, possibly McCullagh was confused about the difference between alto and baritone drones, possibly the pipes were a quieter antique set, possibly the practice chanter comparison was not to be taken too literally. But if we do take this description literally it sounds much more like simple/early style Small Pipes than Half-Longs. The only reason for thinking these were Half-Longs is that McCullagh calls them that.
The Common Stock article states that McCullagh inherited Clarke’s Half-Longs and was still playing them at the time of the interview, but the Musical Traditions article only states he learnt to play them in Clarke’s house, makes no mention of current ownership, and implies McCullagh only “remembered” them, while all the quotes from McCullagh’s testimony talk about the instrument in the past tense. So he was probably talking about something from long ago.
Harry Bradshaw in the MT article writes:
“George McCullagh also remembered an unusual set of pipes which Willie had, the half-longs or Lowland pipes. This unusual instrument was a hybrid, a cross between the Uilleann Pipes and Bagpipes using a conventional bagpipe set, but having an elbow bellows rather than blowing them from the mouth. This instrument was the subject of a revival in Scotland at the turn of the 20th Century but sets are very rare in Ireland. George learned to play the instrument in Willie's house; ‘they were nice for a house, not as wicked a sound as the bagpipes’. ” (MT)
This is clearly describing Half-Longs,  and he even uses the alternative “Lowland Pipe” name. But this was written after the Rab Wallace programme by its producer - doubtless he got the “Lowland” name and probably his idea of what the instrument was like from Wallace. There is no indication anywhere that anyone had actually seen the instrument, and it is specifically stated in the Common Stock article that there was no recording of either Clarke or McCullagh playing it.
One thing we can be sure of: William Clarke will have known Half-Longs from Small Pipes. He was an  intelligent enthusiast who visited the Bellingham Show yearly, who played and made the Northumbrian Small Pipes himself, as well as the Highland, Irish War, and Uilleann pipes, and who knew leading Small Pipers like Billy Pigg, Archie Dagg and John Armstrong of Carrick, as well as the leading Half-Long experts of the time. I don’t doubt that if Clarke had a set of pipes he called Half-Longs, then that is exactly what they were, and the fact McCullagh used the name at all clearly suggests Clarke did own a set. Indeed, it’s doubtful if an eclectic bagpipe enthusiast and maker like Clarke could have resisted acquiring a set - the fact he is said to have got them in 1926, the year Robertson first introduced his, suggests early Robertsons. But while it seems highly probable that Clarke owned some Half-Longs, whether this was the instrument remembered by McCullagh remains open to question.
Notes [1] There is some uncertainty about who was first to start making the instrument again in the current revival, but it was probably Addison in about 1975, followed by Chris Bayley and maybe Colin Ross 1977/8. All these makers offered them initially as “Northumbrian Half-Longs”, though Ross at least may have sometimes sold them as “Lowland Pipes” in response to customer useage. Michael McHarg in Vermont may have been the first to advertise them as “Lowland Pipes” around 1980, followed by Grainger & Campbell in March 1982. During this gestation period a few individuals - notably Rab Wallace and Jimmy Anderson - also made their own sets, and some amateur makers like Brian Gumm in Northumberland appear to have made a few sets for others.  Research  is ongoing in this whole area, and hopefully will lead to a fuller and more accurate picture.
The inter-war Half-Long revival awaits a proper study. Robertson made his first sets in 1926, and from the trajectory of the movement as outlined in the NPS History and elsewhere I doubt if he made many, if any, after the mid-1930’s.
[2] One piper recalls that in the early 1970’s when a member of Na Piobairi Uilleann proposed a resolution against internment in Northern Ireland, and chairman Breandan Breathnach refused to allow it on the grounds it had no place in a musical organization, Keenan walked out of the meeting and had nothing to do with the NPU thereafter.
[3] Note the qualification “virtually”. The instrument probably never completely disappeared. Throughout the Victorian era it was used by some Highland Pipers as a secondary instrument, and there seem to have been scattered individuals playing throughout the 20th century, especially in north-east Scotland. And whilst the inter-war Northumbrian revival petered out it did leave behind a few players who were still active when the current revival began.
[4] See Common Stock Aug 86/Nov 87 re the “Pipers of Three Nations” disc and for a photo of Clarke, Robertson and Charlton at Bellingham. I have a copy of the 78 and can confirm that no one plays the Half-Longs on it, contrary to the statements in Common Stock and despite persistent optimistic rumours to the contrary!
[5] Though not, apparently, from Northern England.  Remnants of a Union Pipe tradition have been detected in east Lancashire in the early 20th century, and in North Yorkshire as late as the 1930s, though both sightings need properly following up.
[6] Regarding the quality of his instruments I find mixed messages. One piper comments: “I only ever saw one set of his [uilleann] pipes. I don't know how they sounded, but I thought them extraordinarily ill-finished”.  Pat Sky recalls: “There was a fellow in Rhode Island who had a set of his pipes. They were rather large and clunky based on the Taylor style.” And one piper who worked as Keenan’s apprentice in 1976 writes “ His pipes were quite Taylor-ish and the regulators were a bit bulky, being square and not turned except for the ends but the chanters were quite slim with dimples over the finger holes making then extremely comfortable to play.” All of which might imply that one man’s “ill-finished” was simply another man’s distinctive style. Certainly we have to consider that Keenan appears to have been a professional maker and player - at least there is no indication in any of the sources that he had any other career - and the reference to him being an Army contractor suggests at least reasonable competence, while one obituary describes him as a “meticulous craftsman” who took a year over each set of Uilleann pipes. SourcesTreoir, Marta/Aibreain (March/April) 1969; Iml. 10, 1978, Uimhir 2 & 3 (Vol 10, Nos. 2 & 3)
Anglo Celt, 12th January, 1946; 4th March, 2009
Bailieborough News, 25th March 2009
Common Stock, Vol. 3 No. 1 (Aug 1986) & No. 2 (Nov 1987); Vol. 16 No. 2 (Dec 2001)
http://comhaltasarchive.ie/system/documents/CPP/TRE-1969-7/TRE-1969-7.original.pdf  
http://comhaltasarchive.ie/system/documents/CPP/TRE-1978-2/TRE-1978-2.original.pdf http://comhaltasarchive.ie/system/documents/CPP/TRE-1978-3/TRE-1978-3.original.pdf
http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/w_clarke.htm
http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=75621
http://www.irishidentity.com/extras/wayoflife/stories/warpipers.htm
http://www.bailieborough.com/news/details.php?news_id=210
http://www.cavancommunity.ie/dbcws/publish/general/documents/d510255031009.pdf
http://www.ireland-information.com/jan10.htm
https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A2=irtrad-l;VMN1EA;200203271436410000
http://www.eirgridnortheastprojects.com/media/14.2%20Topographic%20Files.pdf
http://www.northumbrianpipers.org.uk/history.html
http://forums.bobdunsire.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130419

Conditions of Use & Sale

Welcome to LBPS.net.  LBPS.net provides access to the  LBPS.net website (the "website") and sells our products to you subject to the conditions set out on this page.

Please read these conditions carefully before using the  LBPS.net website. By using the  LBPS.net website, you signify your agreement to be bound by these conditions. In addition, when you use any current or future LBPS.net service, you will also be subject to the terms, guidelines and conditions applicable to that service. ("Terms"). If these Conditions of Use & Sale are inconsistent with such Terms, the Terms will control.

Conditions Relating to Your Use of LBPS.net

Conditions Relating to the Sale of Products to You

Conditions Relating to Both Your Use of  LBPS.net and Sales to You

Conditions Relating to Your Use of LBPS.net

1. Your Account

If you use the website, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password and for restricting access to your computer to prevent unauthorised access to your account. You agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password. You should take all necessary steps to ensure that the password is kept confidential and secure and should inform us immediately if you have any reason to believe that your password has become known to anyone else, or if the password is being, or is likely to be, used in an unauthorised manner.

Please ensure that the details you provide us with are correct and complete and inform us immediately of any changes to the information that you provided when registering. You can access and update much of the information you provided us with in the Your Profile area of the website.

LBPS.net reserves the right to refuse access to the website, terminate accounts, remove or edit content, or cancel orders at our discretion. If we cancel an order, it will be without charge to you.

Back to top

2. Privacy

Please review our Privacy Notice, which also governs your visit to LBPS.net, to understand our practices.

Back to top

3. Access to  LBPS.net

We will do our utmost to ensure that availability of the website will be uninterrupted and that transmissions will be error-free. However, due to the nature of the Internet, this cannot be guaranteed. Also, your access to the website may also be occasionally suspended or restricted to allow for repairs, maintenance, or the introduction of new facilities or services. We will attempt to limit the frequency and duration of any such suspension or restriction.

Back to top

4. Licence for website access

LBPS.net grants you a limited licence to access and make personal use of this website, but not to download (other than page caching) or modify it, or any portion of it, except with express written consent of  LBPS.net. This licence does not include any resale or commercial use of this website or its contents; any collection and use of any product listings, descriptions, or prices; any derivative use of this website or its contents; any downloading or copying of account information for the benefit of another merchant; or any use of data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools.

This website or any portion of this website may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, visited, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without our express written consent.

You may not frame or use framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) of  LBPS.net without express written consent.

You are granted a limited, revocable, and non-exclusive right to create a hyperlink topages within the  LBPS.net website as long as the link does not portray  LBPS.net or its products or services in a false, misleading, derogatory, or otherwise offensive matter. You may not use any  LBPS.net logo as part of the link without our express written consent.

Back to top

5. Your conduct

You must not use the website in any way that causes, or is likely to cause, the website or access to it to be interrupted, damaged or impaired in any way.

You understand that you, and not  LBPS.net, are responsible for all electronic communications and content sent from your computer to us and you must use the website for lawful purposes only.

You must not use the website for any of the following:

• for fraudulent purposes, or in connection with a criminal offence or other unlawful activity
• to send, use or reuse any material that is illegal, offensive, abusive, indecent, defamatory, obscene or menacing; or in breach of copyright, trademark, confidence, privacy or any other right; or is otherwise injurious to third parties; or objectionable; or which consists of or contains software viruses, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings or any "spam"
• to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety

Back to top

6. Reviews, comments, communications and other content

Users of this website may post reviews, comments and other content; send communications; and submit suggestions, ideas, comments, questions, or other information, as long as the content is not illegal, obscene, abusive, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, infringing of intellectual property rights, or otherwise injurious to third parties, or objectionable and does not consist of or contain software viruses, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings, or any form of "spam." You may not use a false e-mail address, impersonate any person or entity, or otherwise mislead as to the origin of any content. LBPS.net reserves the right (but not the obligation) to remove or edit any content.

If you do post content or submit material, and unless we indicate otherwise, you

• (a) grant  LBPS.net and its affiliates a non-exclusive, royalty-free and fully sublicensable rights to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media; and
• (b) LBPS.net and its affiliates and sublicensees the right to use the name that you submit in connection with such content, if they choose.

You agree that the rights you grant above are irrevocable during the entire period of protection of your intellectual property rights associated with such content and material. You agree to waive your right to be identified as the author of such content and your right to object to derogatory treatment of such content. You agree to perform all further acts necessary to perfect any of the above rights granted by you to LBPS.net, including the execution of deeds and documents, at the request of LBPS.net

You represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content that you post; that, as at the date that the content or material is submitted to  LBPS.net: (i) the content and material is accurate; (ii) use of the content and material you supply does not breach any applicable  LBPS.net policies or guidelines and will not cause injury to any person or entity (including that the content or material is not defamatory). You agree to indemnify  United Kingdom and its affiliates for all claims brought by a third party against  LBPS.net or its affiliates arising out of or in connection with a breach of any of these warranties.

Back to top

7. Copyright, authors' rights and database rights

All content included on the website, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips, digital downloads, data compilations, and software, is the property of  LBPS.net, its affiliates or its content suppliers and is protected by United Kingdom and international copyright, authors' rights and database right laws. The compilation of all content on this website is the exclusive property of  LBPS.net and its affiliates and is protected by United Kingdom and international copyright and database right laws.

You may not systematically extract and/or re-utilise parts of the contents of the website without LBPS.net''s express written consent. In particular, you may not utilise any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools to extract (whether once or many times) for re-utilisation of any substantial parts of this website, withoutLBPS.net's express written consent. You also may not create and/or publish your own database that features substantial (eg our prices and product listings) parts of this website without LBPS.net's express written consent.

Back to top

8. Intellectual Property Claims

LBPS.net (the trading name for The Lowland and Border Pipers' Society) and its affiliates respect the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your intellectual property rights have been used in a way that gives rise to concerns of infringement, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Back to top

9. Conditions Relating to the Sale of Products to You

This section deals with conditions relating to the sale of products by LBPS.net to you,

10. Our contract

When you place an order to purchase a product from LBPS.net, we will send you an e-mail confirming receipt of your order and containing the details of your order. Your order represents an offer to us to purchase a product which is accepted by us when we send e-mail confirmation to you that we've dispatched that product to you (the "Dispatch Confirmation E-mail"). That acceptance will be complete at the time we send the Dispatch Confirmation E-mail to you. Any products on the same order which we have not confirmed in a Dispatch Confirmation E-mail to have been dispatched do not form part of that contract.

Back to top

11. Returns

Please review our Returns Policy, which applies to products purchased from us. In addition to your 30-day returns guarantee, customers in the European Union are entitled to a statutory cooling-off period of seven business days. Details of this statutory right and an explanation of how to exercise it are provided in the order confirmation e-mail and in the Returns Policy.

Back to top

12. Pricing and availability

We list availability information for products sold by us on the website, including on each product information page. Beyond what we say on that page or otherwise on the website, we cannot be more specific about availability. Please note that dispatch estimates are just that. They are not guaranteed dispatch times and should not be relied upon as such. As we process your order, we will inform you by e-mail if any products you order turn out to be unavailable.

Despite our efforts, a small number of the millions of products in our catalogue are mispriced. Rest assured, however, that we verify prices as part of our dispatch procedures. If a product's correct price is lower than our stated price, we charge the lower amount and send you the product. If a product's correct price is higher than our stated price, we will, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before dispatch or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation.All prices are inclusive of VAT unless stated otherwise.

Back to top

13. Customs

When ordering goods from LBPS.net for delivery overseas you may be subject to import duties and taxes, which are levied once the package reaches the specified destination. Any additional charges for customs clearance must be borne by you; we have no control over these charges and cannot predict what they may be. Customs policies vary widely from country to country, so you should contact your local customs office for further information. Additionally, please note that when ordering from LBPS.net, you are considered the importer of record and must comply with all laws and regulations of the country in which you are receiving the goods. Your privacy is important to us and we know that you care about how information about your order is used and shared. We would like our international customers to be aware that cross-border deliveries are subject to opening and inspection by customs authorities.

Back to top

Conditions Relating to Both Your Use of LBPS.net and Sales to You

14. Electronic communications

When you visit LBPS.net or send e-mails to us, you are communicating with us electronically. We communicate with you by e-mail or by posting notices on the website. For contractual purposes, you consent to receive communications from us electronically and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

Back to top

15. Losses

LBPS.net will be responsible for any losses you suffer as a result of us breaching these conditions if the losses were reasonably foreseeable to both you and us when you commenced using the website, or a contract for the sale of goods by us to you was formed. We will not be responsible for any business loss (including loss of profits, revenue, contracts, anticipated savings, data, goodwill or wasted expenditure) or any other indirect or consequential loss that is not reasonably foreseeable to both you and us when you commenced using the website or when a contract for the sale of goods by us to you was formed. LBPS.net does not limit in any way our liability by law for death or personal injury caused from our negligence or breach of duty or caused by our gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

Back to top

16. Alteration of Service or Amendments to the Conditions

We reserve the right to make changes to our website, policies, and these Conditions of Use & Sale at any time. You will be subject to the policies and Conditions of Conditions of Use & Sale in force at the time that you use the website or that you order goods from us, unless any change to those policies or these conditions is required to be made by law or government authority (in which case it will apply to orders previously placed by you). If any of these conditions is deemed invalid, void, or for any reason unenforceable, that condition will be deemed severable and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining condition.

Back to top

17. Events beyond our reasonable control

We will not be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations under these conditions if the delay or failure arises from any cause which is beyond our reasonable control. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

Back to top

18. Waiver

If you breach these conditions and we take no action, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach these conditions.

Back to top

19. 
    Our details

LBPShop is the trading name for The Lowland and Border Pipers' Society

This website is owned and operated by The Lowland and Border Pipers' Society

For the LBPS website

Stables Cottage
Winton Gardens
Pencaitland
EH34 5AT
Scotland

You can contact us by visiting www.lbps.net/contacts.html

Back to top

LBPS.net is aware that you care how information about you is used and shared and we appreciate your trust in us to do that carefully and sensibly. This notice describes the privacy policy of LBPS.net.

By visiting LBPS.net, you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this Privacy Notice.

• Controllers of Personal Information
• EU General Data Protection Regulations
• What Personal Information About Customers Does LBPS.net Gather?
• What About Cookies?
• Does LBPS.net Share the Information it Receives?
• What Information Can I Access?
• What Choices Do I Have?
• Examples of Information Collected

Controllers of Personal Information

Any personal information provided to or gathered by LBPS.net is controlled by The Lowland and Border Pipers’ Society (the data controller), Stables Cottage, Winton Gardens, Pencaitland, Scotland

Back to top

EU General Data Protection Regulations

From the 25th May, 2018 data held, and its processing on the site will conform to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR ) under the 'Legitimate Interests' lawful basis. Our legitimate interest is in receiving subscriptions from members and in providing the services that subscribers are entitled to. These services cover

• providing online access to the Society Journal (and delivery of printed copy where provided for in the subscription)
• discount prices in the online shop.
• Delivery of goods purchased in the shop
• Newsletters provided by email; users can unsubscribe to this service

The only data we hold and process is that necessary to realise this interest. We do not pass the data we hold to any other processor except where to do so is required by law. All the mandatory information we hold is necessary to provide the services we offer; users are able to withhold other personal information if they deem it in their interest to do so.

The information we hold is available for viewing or update via the user profile

Users can request that their data be removed from our records by emailing the data controller (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) Doing so will cancel the subscription and remove access to all services provided by that subscription.

Back to top

What Personal Information About Customers Does LBPS.net Gather?

The information we learn from customers helps us personalise and continually improve your experience at LBPS.net. We use the information to handle orders, deliver products and services, process payments, communicate with you about orders, products, services and promotional offers, update our records and generally maintain your accounts with us. We also use this information to prevent or detect fraud or abuses of our site.

Here are the types of information we gather.

• Information You Give Us: we receive and store any information you enter on our website or give us in any other way. Click here to see examples of what we collect. You can choose not to provide certain information but then you might not be able to take advantage of many of our features. We use the information that you provide for such purposes as responding to your requests and communicating with you.
• Automatic Information: we receive and store certain types of information whenever you interact with us. For example, like many websites, we do not currently use "cookies" on this site; should we decide to do so in the future, for instance to obtain certain types of information when your Web browser accesses LBPS, details of examples of the information we can receive can be viewed by clicking here.
• E-mail Communications: to help us make e-mails more useful and interesting, we often receive a confirmation when you open e-mail from LBPS.net if your computer supports such capabilities.

Back to top

What About Cookies?

• We do not currently use cookies on this site; However, we may decide to do so in the future, and information on how this might work is included here.
• Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer's hard drive through your Web browser to enable our systems to recognise your browser and to provide features such as the storage of items in your Shopping Basket between visits.
• The Help menu on the menu bar of most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie and how to disable cookies altogether. Additionally, you can disable or delete similar data used by browser add-ons, such as Flash cookies, by changing the add-on's settings or visiting the website of its manufacturer. However, because cookies allow you to take advantage of some of LBPS.net's essential features, we recommend that you leave them turned on. For instance, if you block or otherwise reject our cookies, you will not be able to add items to your Shopping Cart, proceed to Checkout, or use any LBPS.net products and services that require you to Sign in.  
• If you do leave cookies turned on, be sure to sign off when you finish using a shared computer.

Back to top

Does LBPS.net share the Information it receives?

• Information about our customers is an important part of our business and we are not in the business of selling it to others. LBPS.net does not share any of the customer information it collects with the exception of  
• Third Party Service Providers: We employ other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Examples include fulfilling orders, delivering packages, sending postal materials, processing credit card payments and providing customer service. They have access to personal information needed to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes. Further, they must process the personal information in accordance with this Privacy Notice and as permitted by the UK's Data Protection Act and, after the 25th May, 2018,  the EU General Data Protection Regulations.
• Protection of LBPS.net and Others: We will release account and other personal information if we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law; enforce or apply our Conditions of Use and other agreements; or protect the rights, property or safety of LBPS.net, our users or others.

Back to top

What Information Can I Access?

LBPS.net gives you access to a broad range of information about your account and your interactions with LBPS.net for the limited purpose of viewing and, in certain cases, updating that information. All available information can be viewed and edited by visiting 'Your Profile', available from the Log-in form.

Back to top

What Choices Do I Have?

• As discussed above, you can always choose not to provide information, even though it might be needed to make a purchase or to take advantage of LBPS.net features such as your profile and account history. Certain areas of the site will only be available to you once you have provided the information requested.
• You can add or update certain information on pages such as those referenced above.

Back to top

Examples of Information Collected

Information You Give Us

You provide most such information when you buy, participate in a forum or questionnaire or communicate with customer services. For example, you provide information when you place an order through LBPS. provide information in your account (and you might have more than one if you have used more than one e-mail address when shopping with us) or your profile; communicate with us by phone, e-mail or otherwise; provide and post reviews; and employ other personal notification services such as such as Available to Order Notifications. As a result of those actions, you might supply us with such information as: your name; address and phone number; people to whom purchases have been shipped (including addresses and phone numbers), content of reviews and e-mails to us; the personal description in your profile... We do not collect credit card information.

Automatic Information

Examples of the information we collect and analyse include: the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet, login; e-mail address, password, computer and connection information such as browser type and version, operating system and platform [necessary for correct display of our pages in your browser]; purchase history, the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL) clickstream to, through and from our website (including date and time). During some visits we may use software tools such as JavaScript to measure and collect session information, including page response times, download errors, and methods used to browse away from the page. These functions are performed automatically by our web hosts and used to analyse site usage and improve our services; information used to analyse site usage, as listed above, is not linked to your personal data.

Back to top

 

 

TEST THIS

Username

Password

Remember Me

Log in

• Forgot Login?
• Sign up