Enough With the Bagpipes...

A few months after my buddy Dave died we had a big party at his shop. 

I hired a bagpiper, a white guy named Tyrone, and didn't tell anybody. I told him to start playing off in the distance and walk up to the shop around 4:00. I knew by then we'd all have had a couple of drinks.

I heard the pipes first, of course, and waited for the reaction. Somebody swung open the large door and there was Tyrone, in full regalia, playing Scotland the Brave (Dave was proud of his Scottish heritage). He then played Amazing Grace and everybody was openly weeping. Dave's sudden absence had been a shock for so many people it was good to see so many other people felt the same way.  

Then, as I had requested, Tyrone played the most jaunty, bouncy jig he had. I saw Dave's dad singing along with some bawdy lyrics thru both smiles and tears. Tyrone then turned and walked off around the corner, playing the whole time. We all kept listening but you could never really tell when he stopped playing.   

It was a perfect send off to a great guy. It also helped pull me out of the darkest depression I ever went through. I decided I would dedicate my life to bagpipes. 

Tyrone gave me some X-rays of a Great Highland bagpipe and I set to work making crazy looking composite bagpipes. It took me years of work and contributed to both my wife leaving me and the failure of my boat business, but they are beautiful examples of Functional Art. They are perfectly functioning Great Highland bagpipes that could also be displayed in a museum. I'm very proud of them. Not because of the art or vision or any of that, but because of the countless hours I put into them.

THOUSANDS of hours to make pipes that 99% of the bagpiping community completely dismissed as stupid. I took them to many Highland Games and of the ten or so sets of bagpipes I made, I only sold one, the Guinness pipes but that was because I was desperate for money at one am and needed $500 now. I still regret it. 

But I'm done. I put my last set, the Green Marble pipes, up on Ebay for $4,000. It got over 1,500 views and nobody wanted them. So I raised the price to $20,000. 

​I would much rather have them not sell for $20,000 than not sell them for $4,000. That would just be embarrassing. 

---