MATERIALS

DAVID MOORE with small pipe chanters turned variously from (from left) Holly, Boxwood, Parmali and African Blackwood (he holds a chanter made from Yew)… “I was always interested in the and, being a tropical forester, I had every opportunity to indulge my hobby helping Hamish (his son, Hamish Moore).” Photo: Mike Paterson The pipe makers’ dwindling resource

By DAVID MOORE

HE CHARACTERISTICS of suit- secondly, according to the presence of other Density is of major importance as it affects able timbers for the manufacture materials of “miscellaneous deposits”. the resonance of a timber. Tof bagpipes can conveniently be There are four main physical properties to Density can be loosely defined as the weight divided, firstly, according to the physical consider, bearing in mind that none is absolute of a material relative to the weight of the same features that arise from the nature and on its own and that one characteristic can affect volume of water. One cubic foot of a timber that arrangement of their cell structures and, one or more of the others. weighs 68.5 pounds, while a cubic foot of water

PIPING TODAY • 42 MATERIALS A knowledge of wood weighs 62.5 pounds, dividing 68.5 by twice that of the radial face. Thus, the DAVID Moore, now 89, left school at 14 and served a six-year 62.5 gives a density of 1.096. chanter block no longer has a square apprenticeship and as a signwriter and gilder to the coach The densities of Cocus Wood or section; one radial face (the one closer and house painting trades in Glasgow. It was a trade through which he became familiar with coachbuilders and wheelwrights, the Jamaica Rain ( ebenus), to the log’s centre) will have become blacksmiths and other practitioners of trades that are now all Partridge Wood (Andira inermis), narrower than the other. but forgotten. ( ebenum) and African When a chanter is turned from a At the outbreak of the Second World War, David Moore enlisted Blackwood ( melanoxylon) all properly seasoned blank, it will hold and served with the Highland Division. He was among those who were taken prisoner of war at St Valery, France, on 12 June, 1940. fall within the range of 1.1 to 1.2 when its shape well. But, if the timber is still “Because I was in the Medical Corps I had the good fortune to find the moisture content of the timer is moist the chanter will become oval in myself in an officers’ camp in Warburg, assigned to work in the camp about 12 per cent. cross section. A deformation of a frac- hospital,” he said. And he began to make good his early departure Compared with these densities, tion of a millimetre is enough to affect from school. “I first took my London University Matriculation in 1941,” he those of indigenous Scottish timbers the chanter’s acoustical properties. said. “Then we were moved to Eistadt in Bavaria, and, through the used for pipe making before Cocus This raises another physical factor to Red Cross, took my first year university subjects: chemistry, physics, Wood and other species became avail- consider here: the dimensional stability botany and zoology because I wanted to do forestry. You could get able had densities of 0.75-0.85. It is of the chosen timber. almost any educational help you might want in a camp of 2,000-3,000 British officers.” clear that the resonance of pipes made Let us say that you have a chanter David Moore would get up regularly at 5 a.m. to study before going from the indigenous must have made from fully seasoned timber. to work in the ward then do more study afterwards. “But I had the been inferior to those of more recent During its lifetime, the chanter will be very best tuition,” he said. times as Blackwood, for example has exposed to varying moisture conditions “When I was doing my matriculation, the man who taught me chemistry had been a Professor of Chemistry at Nottingham Univer- a density that is greater by up to half depending on hot wet or dry a blower sity; I had a local French teacher to teach me French. It would have as much again. the player is and the humidity of the been hard to fail.” A second important quality is fine- environments in which it is played. When he returned to Scotland in 1945, David Moore had yet to ness of a timbers structure: clarity and These changes in conditions will pro- complete the practical part of his university courses. “Again,” he said, “I was fortunate. I was posted to Edinburgh Castle richness of tone call for a fine rather duce minute dimensional changes. So where they had nothing for us to do and I talked my way into being than coarse structure. a wood in which the tangential and released every morning to go to Edinburgh University to complete The third important physical factor radial shrinkages (or expansions) are my first year.” is shrinkage. All timber shrinks as it approximately similar will hold a cir- He graduated in 1948, joined the Colonial Service and was posted to Trinidad. “The training involved two years in your territory and dries and, as a log dries out, the outer cular bore section more closely than a then a year of post graduate study at Oxford University — and that’s layers contract on a core that remains wood in which the radial and tangen- what I did.” He said. wet. Something has to give and the tial shrinkages differ more widely. “In Trinidad, forestry was started very early, at the start of the 17th outer layer splits towards the wetter The presence of natural waterproof- century, and has the oldest and largest plantations in the Western Hemisphere. That continued in my time, with tropical plantations core. It is of great advantage, therefore, ing agents in the wood will greatly as well as regenerating the natural forests. to cut up the log into the required sizes increase dimensional stability. “In fact, the oldest forest reserve in the Western Hemisphere is as soon as possible after felling. In the The wood par excellence is African in the former French colony of Tobago. The French reserved an area case of Blackwood, this is generally Blackwood. of mountain land and on a map of 1785 it is shown as “reserved in forest for rains” — that was to encourage the rain or to conserve the done. The ends of the cut blocks are Fig. 1 rain when it fell. coated with wax to retard end-drying Available information concerning density and shrinkage during the drying of several timbers that have been used “Silviculture and forest management were the real aims of forestry and related cracking. in bagpipe manufacture. in Trinidad.” – personal communication from When he retired at 44, David Moore had no intention of working A great deal of mythology is at- J.D. Brazier, BSc, DSc, FIWSc. Average (green to oven dry) overseas again. tached to timber seasoning but, in density “But I received a telegram from the United Nations’ Food and (@12% Tangential Radial Volumetric point of fact, effective seasoning is no moisture shrinkage shrinkage shrinkage Agricultural Organisation, asking me to go as a forestry advisor to more than controlled drying to a point Species content (per cent) (per cent) (per cent) Venezuela. It was a three-year assignment, coming home every six Blackwood 1.18 –– ––­­ 7.6 months to see my family, and after that, I told the FAO I’d only do where the remaining moisture is in Ebony 1.19 6.5 5.5­­ –– short-term work. Holly 0.8 12.0 5.0­­ –– equilibrium with the average humid- “So, from then on, I was doing three or four months at a time in ity of the environment in which the Hornbeam 0.77 7.0 5.0­­ –– 0.87 5.8 2.7­­ –– Central and South America, , India and, on one occasion, Sarawak. timber is to be used. Yew 0.67 3.5 2.0­­ –– So I got around a lot of the tropics over the next 20-odd years.” Imagine a long cut sawn to make as When his son, Hamish Moore, decided to quit a secure career as a veterinarian to make pipes and pursue his love of music, David Moore many square cross-sectioned chanter WATER is one of the “miscellaneous embarked on a new career: “I was always interested in the wood and, blanks as possible. The long face of the deposits” found in all timbers. In being a tropical forester, I had every opportunity to indulge my hobby block that has been cut across the log’s freshly cut logs of some species, such helping Hamish,” he said. growth rings is identified as the ‘radial as Balsa ( pyramidale), it can “Hamish, though, was always the engineer and I was the mechanic, making pipes to his specifications and it has worked out. I probably face’; that that has been cut with the account for as much as 90 per cent made the first 20 sets for him growth rings is the ‘tangential’ face. As of the total weight. In a wood like “I came from Glasgow. All my forebears were engineers, fitters and the block is properly seasoned, shrink- Blackwood, it amounts to only 25 that sort of thing, so I have a good pair of hands. And I passed this on l age on the tangential face can be up – 30 per cent of the log’s weight. to Hamish and to Fin (Hamish Moore’s son).”

PIPING TODAY • 43 MATERIALS

For many purposes, it is necessary to accu- years of the 20th century, imported timbers. rately know how much moisture is contained During the 16th century, the Spanish, Early in the 20th century, as Cocus wood in wood (e.g. in the kiln drying of boards, or English and French were engaged in bloody became relatively scarce (and remember that the manufacture of plywoods). This measure rivalry in the West Indies and, by the first half there was great competition for supplies from is known as the “moisture content” and is ex- of the 17th century, the English were colonis- the manufacturers of other woodwind instru- pressed as a percentage of the dry wood matter ing Barbados, St Kitts, Trinidad, Jamaica and ments, such as Boosey and Hawkes), ample present. In practice, this is often determined other islands. supplies of ebony met the demand. by electrical resistance but accuracy requires It seems reasonable to suppose that, for many Concurrently, and particularly since the a sample of the timber to be oven-dried, with years afterwards, cargoes shipped to England First World War and the takeover by Brit- weighings repeated about every half hour until from these colonies consisted of valuable com- ain of German East Africa (Tanganyika, two successive weighings show no change, in- modities such as tobacco and spices. now Tanzania), Africa was opened up to dicating that all of the moisture has been driven At a later time, perhaps during the late 17th increasing commerce. African Blackwood from the wood. century, additional resources such as fine timbers (Dalbergia melanoxylon) became available in Investigations over many years show that and logwood for dyes began to be shipped. In steadily increasing qualities and, because of cut timber settles down to moisture content in the case of woods for pipe making, these colonial its superior characteristics, took the place of equilibrium with the average environment at timbers would have become available by the end ebony. I would imagine that, from 1945 and, moisture content of about 12 per cent. It will of the 17th century and would have included at least until the very recent introduction of be lower in wood that is stored in a centrally Cocus wood (Brya ebenus) from Jamaica, Iron- satisfactory synthetic materials, virtually all heated house and higher in wood stored in a wood or (Guaiacum officinale) of Scotland’s reputable bagpipe makers have damp cellar. from various places in the West Indies and, later, used Blackwood exclusively. In practice, bagpipe makers keep a supply Rosewood (Dalbergia stevensonii) from Belize, The distribution of African Blackwood of timber blanks in their workshops until they followed by Partridge Wood or Bridal Veil Tree runs from the old Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, determine it is suitable for working. (Caessalpina granadillo) from Venezuela. through Uganda and Kenya to Tanzania, Other “miscellaneous deposits” are laid down Parallel to, but later than developments Malawi, Mozambique and the two former in and branches as they pass through the in the West Indies, the fledgling East India Rhodesias. It grows sparsely throughout the transition phase between the actively growing Company was laying the foundations of savannah type “miombo” forests that are cambium just below the bark and the physi- what would eventually become known as found at elevations of less than 5,000 feet in ologically inert but mechanically supportive the “Jewel in the Crown” of the then British rainfall zones of 35-45 inches a year, and with tissue of the heartwood. Empire: the colonial annexation of India. dry seasons of seven or eight months. The deposits in this transition area, which From the early 1800s, gradually increas- Soils here are generally poor and tree later becomes heartwood, include silica, mineral ing shipments of Ebony (Diospyros ebenum) canopy covers less than half of the ground. oils, resins and gums. Some of these substances and Rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia) from The rest is grassland. provide waterproofing and improve the dimen- India, together with the exotic timbers from Botanically, Blackwood belongs to that sional stability, as is the case with Blackwood. the West Indies, progressively displaced in- wonderful genus Dalbergia that, with more In the case of ebony, the deposits are different digenous timbers in the workshops of pipe than 120 species, includes such musically and, during the transition phase of tree growth, makers. Details of wood purchases by the important timbers as kingwood, Brazilian ebony undergoes a process that is analogous to, Glens of Edinburgh in the mid-19th century tulipwood, and Brazilian, Hondu- though not the same as, fossilisation. can be found in Hugh Cheape’s 1983 paper ran and Indian . ‘The making of bagpipes in Scotland’ in From Blackwood is often a scruffy, often twisted, AVAILABILITY of desirable woods for pipe the Stone Age to the Forty-Five (Edinburgh, multi-stemmed tree, 15-25 feet high, but oc- making is an issue that can be considered in John Donald). This paper also notes that, as casionally reaching 50 feet, with a short trunk relation to three chronological but overlapping late as the early 1900s, a pipe maker in Dun- up to 12 inches in diameter. Occasionally periods: an “indigenous” period, a “transition” dee was still making pipes from you find a tree that has grown fairly straight period and an “exotic” period. (Laburnum anagyroides) — and that Robert and that is highly desirable for musical in- During the indigenous period, Scottish bag- Reid, whose shop I remember in George struments. pipes were made using local timbers only. This Street, Glasgow, remarked of the pipes that It has been heavily exploited commercially, period spans the period from the 14th century “they are all right for lighting the fire with.” bagpipe making accounting, as I understand to the late 17th century. (And I know of one laburnum set that was it, for a mere two per cent of the export We can only surmise that the preferred being played in the late 1920s to early 1930s market. species probably included Boxwood ( in the Boys’ Brigade band in which I was a Much of the miombo forest is being de- sempervirens), Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), piper.) stroyed by shifting cultivation and excessive Holly (Flex aquifolium), Yew () I consider the time from the early years burning to stimulate new wet season pasture and various woods. of the 20th century to the present the exotic growth for grazing. The transition period began in the 17th period since nearly all of the Highland bag- Blackwood is not a tree that can be grown century and lasted, surprisingly, into the early pipes made during this time have utilised in plantations; regeneration is at a standstill

PIPING TODAY • 44 MATERIALS Towards a sustainable blackwood supply and, since it can take 80 years for a sapling to reach a usefully harvestable size, the outlook “BAGPIPES a threat to the environment,” from new Village Forest Areas that are managed railed the Edinburgh-based Scotsman daily by the local communities. However, they will for long-term supply is poor indeed. newspaper mischievously, citing Fauna and have to pay villagers a fair price and harvest only The actual quantities reaching Britain may Flora International, an organisation proud of a sustainable cut.” have increased but this has been a result of its standing as the world’s longest established Tanzanian exports no longer being restricted conservation society. Fauna and Flora International said the increased “Bagpipes have been blasted as an environ- cost need not be great as a proportion of an to one government agency. Private companies mental menace,” claimed the newspaper’s Marc instrument’s total retail price — ”but logging are now exporting and this means that the Horne. companies have said they do not existing crop will be cut all the sooner. Not quite. believe consumers in the West are Generally, Blackwood does not regenerate Fauna and Flora International is interested in buying timber sourced indeed drawing attention to the dwin- from well-managed forests.” from but by the production of suckers dling supply of African blackwood or Fauna and Flora International is from the spreading root system. mpingo (Dalbergia melanoxylon), appealing to instrument makers and Teak ( grandis) has many desirable which is says is “used to make clari- their customers to press suppliers for properties, is resistant to insect and fungal nets and , and is the medium of sustainably harvested timber. choice for local wood carvers. “And get in touch with us if they attack and is very attractive for furniture “Its dark, lustrous heartwood is are having trouble sourcing sustain- making, flooring, and other one of the most valuable timbers in ably felled timber from well-managed purposes. But it is a ring-porous timber. Each the world.” forests. year the drop to that produces a ring But, it says, mpingo is being “Please tell all the musicians you over-exploited and could become know about this. We need to get and this is quite unlike African Blackwood, so commercially extinct. the message out far and wide to it is not suitable for musical instruments. “However it also has great po- develop a critical mass of concerned The question arises, from what materials tential to act as a flagship for conservation of the consumers.” will bagpipes be made when traditionally coastal forests and miombo woodlands of East The project can be contacted by E-mail at: Africa.” [email protected]. used materials become so scarce that they are The organisation’s Mpingo Conservation Project priced off the market? is promoting sustainable and socially equitable ALSO addressing the issue in Tanzania is the African Various types of plastic have been available harvesting of African blackwood and other valuable Blackwood Conservation Project (ABCP), an initia- for many years but the tonal qualities have timber stocks, working with government agencies tive launched in 1996 by James Harris, an American and local communities on the development of ornamental wood turner, and Tanzanian environ- seldom proved acceptable. wood, “Participatory Forest Management“ programmes mentalist Sebastian Chuwa to promote awareness (Acer sp.) impregnated with epoxy resin has in southern Tanzania, with the setting aside of and undertake re-plantings of African blackwood a density in the region of 1.18 and the tone managed reserves. in its home range of eastern Africa. is excellent but, particularly in the case of “Current harvesting of mpingo to make musi- “Blackwood,” it says, “is the premier wood of cal instruments is not sustainable,” says Fauna and choice for fine concert-quality woodwind instru- Highland piping, objections arise over the Flora International. “This is clear from the long term ments such as , oboes and flutes, as well wood’s cream colouration. trend whereby logging has moved southwards from as being used in the manufacture of bagpipes. Hamish Moore has produced a number Kenya, through northern Tanzania, to the present Blackwood is also the finest material available today of sets of smallpipes from an industrial harvesting areas of southern Tanzania and northern for producing ornamental turning. In its African Mozambique. homeland, it is used to make intricate and highly composite material, Parmali Wood, which “It is also evident every day in the forests where detailed carvings, and plays a vital role in the ecol- is mostly used as a high voltage insulating we work, where good quality trees are being ogy of the East African savannah. material. Parmali consists on laminates of stripped out far quicker than they can re-grow. “But it is now considered near threatened in wood (Fagus sp.) impregnated with In 2004, over 70 per cent of the timber extracted its primary harvesting area of eastern Africa,” from southern Tanzania was illegally felled, and says the organisation. It is seeking to replenish the high density resin that are then heat treated rural communities receive a tiny percentage of the blackwood resource. to produce a reddish-brown material which, ultimate value of the logs. On behalf of the African Blackwood Con- turned on the lathe, displays a naturalistic, “Some logging companies are more responsible servation Project, the British ethical gifts online interesting grain. than others, but the practices of the worst of- catalogue, Good Gifts, has listed “bagpipe tree” fenders have driven international prices down to plantings as a novel gift idea— see: www.goodg- This material is virtually impervious to unprecedented levels in recent years. To compete iftsshop.org (and search for “bagpipe”). water and, therefore, to dimensional change. even the better companies have to play dirty or “By planting mpingos, you’ll be helping to rebuild The density is 1.28 (c.f. Fig. 1) and the tonal face going out of business. However it does not the forests, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, quality is excellent. It is the best substitute have to be like this.” generate income and keep scores of musicians Responsible logging and more efficient sawing puffing,” says Good Gifts’ catalogue. yet available, that I know of, for he natural practices could provide a long-term sustainability Donations on behalf of others can be made materials ideally suited to climates where for both the manufacture of musical instruments in the amounts of £15.50 to 21 African extremes of humidity are common. and for the indigenous carving industry, said the blackwood saplings, £35 for 50 saplings and £42 This assessment is particularly true for organization. “Local communities are in a posi- for 60 saplings. tion to regulate logging if given the incentive of Good Gifts, the brainchild of the British Charities smallpipes. Although machining difficul- a fair price. Advisory Trust, itself a registered charity, guaran- ties can occur in the making of Highland “The Mpingo Conservation Project’s com- tees that all of the money it receives is handed over bagpipes from this material, no technical munity forestry programme, supported by new in full, and says “the charities that deliver our gifts difficulties have been encountered in the laws in Tanzania, is addressing just this. Soon, have all guaranteed that the money will be used l l logging companies will be able to extract timber solely for the purpose stated.” making of smallpipes.

PIPING TODAY • 45