| Celluloid Lawries with Ivory Bushes | The chanter is marked as "R.G. Lawrie, Glasgow, ReGaL, REG." It is not marked with a warrant symbol. ReGaL is pretty obviously a play on the makers initials... Based on infra-red analysis, the mounts are pyroxylin which is a nitrocellulose polymer also known as celluloid. This compound was made by mixing the polymer with a solvent, commonly camphor, and heating to form the part. Every mount on the instrument has continued to shrink following the manufacturing process as the solvent slowly migrates out of the part. You can see spaces between the wood and the mounts and the wood extends beyond the mounts. This was a very common phenomenon with pyroxylin parts. The ivory bushes were also shown to be a bone, although the exact form was beyond the capability of the examiner. The chanter is very thick walled and is not a remarkable instrument in any regard. The drones had cork mounted slides when I got them. There are no cracks anywhere in this instrument. There are no hemp stops. Jimmy McIntosh attempted to date the instrument one afternoon and, based on bore diameter alone, estimated it to be somewhere in the latter 1930's. I have nothing in writing. A world reknowned instructor at a summer school offered me $2000 for the instrument in 1994. He said he'd silver mount it and sell it for a fortune in a few years. Angus MacDonald, of the Wee Hoose in Pennsylvania, suggested that the ReGaL moniker was used for many years.
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