Jeannie Campbell’s first edition of Highland Bagpipe Makers came out in 2001 and was written in response to the many requests she received over the years for information on makers, as at the time there was very little available in print on the subject. The well known makers were covered in them, plus others who were almost unknown. Dates and locations were given, with information on the people involved in each firm.
Biographical accounts of the famous pipers employed by or associated with the firms were also included. Illustrations of instruments and their makers were included as were advertisements, price lists and catalogues showing the range of instruments available. A second expanded edition followed in 2011, as in the intervening years Jeannie discovered more information. It also included information on the manufacture of bagpipes and the materials used.
More records and archives became available over the following years so a supplementary volume, More Highland Bagpipe Makers was published in 2017. This did not repeat anything which was in the 2nd edition but contained additional information on some of the makers covered in the previous book plus information on several more makers which were not included before.
Jeannie’s stock of the 2nd Edition (the red one) is now sold out apart from three water damaged copies. There are still available 50 copies of the supplementary volume More Highland Bagpipe Makers (the blue one). Going by the numbers printed, there are lots of people out there who have the 2nd edition, but not the supplementary volume, so now would be a good time to get it.
Contact Jeannie by email here to order a copy direct, or from the The National Piping Centre Shop links below:
https://www.thebagpipeshop.co.uk/collections/books/products/highland-bagpipe-makers
https://www.thebagpipeshop.co.uk/collections/books/products/more-highland-bagpipe-makers
Jeannie’s other book, Pipe Bands, is still available and you can read more about it here – https://bagpipe.news/2023/06/01/jeannies-comprehensive-pipe-bands-history-book-now-available/