Jack Dunbar's Passing
Ron Bowen
died early this morning. He was admitted to hospital only last week. He
will be missed.
The following ariticle was recently published in The Piping Times.
The Piping Times
Jeannie Campbell
I recently had an opportunity to sit down with Jack Dunbar and I thought
that readers of the Piping Times around the world might be interested in the
following.
Jack started his apprenticeship with Henderson Bagpipes in 1934. He was
conscripted during WWII and served for five years, returning in 1945. At
that time, Henderson Bagpipes employed six or seven turners. Among them
were Jack Dunbar, Thomas Liddell, and John Maitland. Jack and Thomas left
Henderson by late 1945 and were in the process of starting their own bagpipe
making company when they were approached by John Maitland. John suggested
that the three meet with Hector Russell (who operated a radio store at that
time) for dinner to discuss a potential business partnership. That evening,
all parties met, agreed, and Highland Industries, Greenock was formed.
Highland Industries manufactured bagpipes until the end of 1946. Hector
Russell was neither a piper nor a bagpipe maker and looked after other parts
of the business. Because the other three partners had worked at Henderson’s
the bagpipe that they made was identical to the Henderson bagpipe in every
detail. By the end of 1946, the business ran into difficulties and the
partnership was dissolved.
Hector Russell started back up some time after that, having hired a turner,
and followed the Henderson patterns secured from his previous partners.
Dunbar, Liddell, and Maitland started a new company, Piob Mhor Highland
Industries, with the backing of Charles Hepburn of Red Hackle Distilleries.
Piob Mhor again followed Henderson bagpipe specifications and carried a full
line of Scottish made bagpipe related goods. During this time, Piob Mhor
hired Bob Hardie, who later went on for form his own very successful
company. John Weatherstone was also employed by Pior Mhor and went on to
become PM of the renowned Red Hackle Pipe Band. By 1950 the partners
decided to go in different directions.
Jack Dunbar came to Canada in 1951 and thought that he had left the bagpipe
making business for good. In the 1960’s it was necessary to send bagpipe
repair work back to Scotland. Because of the nature of the work, it was
often pushed to the bottom of the order file. In 1966, while working for
General Motors in St. Catharines, Ontario, Jack was approached by John
Kirkwood to look after bagpipe repair work. Jack started doing these
repairs in his basement during his spare time. Most of the tooling required
was not readily available or even known to North America. Relying on his
knowledge of machining and bagpipe making, Jack had proper tools created for
the various steps in manufacture and repair.
Jack was a pioneer in the use of alternative materials. In 1968 Jack made
several sets of pipes using impregnated maple. He tried other woods and
plastics and eventually found favor in Polypenco. Iain Donaldson, now PS of
78th Frasers was the first piper to ever play a set of Dunbar polypenco
bagpipes. Dunbar bagpipes are available today in either polypenco or
African Blackwood.
By 1985 the hobby had turned into a full-time business, requiring Jack to
open a shop and employ several people. They are a very healthy company
today, still making bagpipes to the same Henderson specifications learned by
Jack back in 1934.
Ron Bowen
Keith McGrath
Keith McGrath
"Ron Bowen" <ron_...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:p0Xt8.20246$qX3.2...@news20.bellglobal.com...
Ron Bowen
Street, St. Catharines, Ontario - 905-684-6346 on Wednesday at 11 am.
Brad
Jack was a great guy.
Not only a great pipemaker, but a genuinely good guy.
I was surprised by how much time he spent with me, just showing MJ and
I around the shop.
Brad
JOHN MITCHELL
> died early this morning. He was admitted to hospital only last week. He
> will be missed.
Jack was a character and a half and he lived a long full life which
I'm sure he had no complaints. Now they'll have to deal with him
upstairs, so don't be surprized if they send him back. ;-)
Take care old friend, we'll all see you again soon!
John
MrRobotTow
"Make no mistake about it! Without humor, freedom would drive you insane."
Bill
I am so cool, that sheep count ME before they go to sleep.
http://hometown.aol.com/mrrobottow/
Ron Bowen
day-to-day operation of the business has been managed by Rick and Jackie
Pettigrew for some time now. Jackie is Jack's daughter. Jack's son Barry
is also a managing director of the company.
Ringo
MrRobotTow
>day-to-day operation of the business has been managed by Rick and Jackie
>Pettigrew for some time now. Jackie is Jack's daughter. Jack's son Barry
>is also a managing director of the company.
Glad to hear that at least.
Jonathan
This is most unfortunate. My condolences to his family and friends.
I have a set of Dunbar pipes, and their sound and craftsmanship are second to none.