Darrin Knox is offering a reward after his vintage bagpipes were stolen from his home in MacPhersons Mills, N.S.
Three years ago, Knox purchased a set of 1920 Henderson bagpipes. Considered top-of-the-line in Scottish circles, the bagpipes were made with African blackwood and sterling silver ferrules and mounts. They were valued at nearly $8,000.
“They were handmade instead of mass produced, and I also think it takes a good 50 years for the African blackwood to properly season in order to get the right amount of resignation out the drones,” says Knox.
Over the weekend, someone broke into Knox’s home and stole the Henderson pipes. They were in a case, and it was the only item taken from the home.
“I feel pretty, you know, insulted, violated by losing those, especially if the person that took them knew how much they meant to you,” says Knox.
Brad Connors is a piper with the Halifax Fire Department’s Pipe Band. He says bagpipes of that vintage are highly sought after in the bagpiping world, because of their rarity and phenomenal sound quality.
“In the piping community, I guess you can compare them to a Stradivarius in the fiddle world, they just sound that good and you can’t replace them. I mean, a set of pipes that were made in the twenties will never be duplicated,” says Connors.
“I bought them three years ago, thinking that they would probably and hopefully be the last set of bagpipes I ever had to buy. But unfortunately, that may not be the case,” adds Knox.
Knox is offering a financial reward for the return of the bagpipes, and the services of a piper at your next family wedding.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh
