Provenance (from the French provenir, ‘to come from/forth’) is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, paleontology, archives, manuscripts, printed books, the circular economy, and science and computing.
Credit: Wikipedia
The Highlanders have three sets of bagpipes which were donated to the band to be used with students. It seemed like a reasonable idea to keep a record of when these pipes were donated, their make, who they came from, who has played them and when. As such, welcome to our new section, Provenance!
Set #1 R.G. Hardie Bagpipes
This set came to the Highlanders in July 2018 from Lucy Valencia who contacted us on behalf of the family of Michelle Gleason whose family wanted them donated to a band which would use them with students. Michelle and Lucy were both members of the Ft. Dearborn Highlanders pipe band. As an aside, other former Highlanders who knew Lucy and Michelle include Jack Taylor and Trey and Barb Higgens who were fellow members of the Ft. Dearborn Highlanders.
Dan Tesch did some light refurbishing to the set and they went back into the case.
In 2019 Dan sent his own pipes off to Brian Donaldson to be refurbished and he expected to be without them for a while so Dan played this set during 2019 and part of 2020. While Dan was playing them, several people commented on how good they sounded and Dan says the old L&M bag on the set is the best he’s ever played.
In November 2020 the pipes were given to then student Sawyer Koruba who has been playing them since and is now a full member of the Highlanders and planning to purchase his own set soon.
Set #2 Kintail Pipes
This set came to the Highlanders from the family of former Highlander Don Larson after he passed away in January 2018.
Don joined the Highlanders in 2011, he was a member of the Shannon Rovers prior to that.
The set was played by Molly Sommer between June 2020 and January 2022 when Molly purchased her own set from Henderson’s.
Don was a tall guy and the set had a large Gannaway bag, too large for Molly so Dan Tesch replaced it with a medium size hybrid and Highlander Greg Meyer is currently using Don’s Gannaway.
In the summer of 2022 Don’s pipes went to student Jaxson Wilder who is currently learning to play them.
Set #3 David Naill DN2 Bagpipes, click for scan of product sheet.
This set was donated to the Highlanders by former band member Carol Eubanks in March 2023 for use with students.
Carol purchased the pipes from Henderson’s in 2008 and was in the Highlanders from 2010 until 2019.
The set has a small Gannaway bag which is perfect for a 12 year old beginner. After a little seasoning, a new chanter reed, and some re-hemping, they will be used by Baxter MacKenzie as he transitions to the pipes.
