Adamson, John
John Adamson emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts from Dunfermline Scotland in 1905. He ran a bagpipe import and repair shop up until the early 1940′s.
His grandson John R. Adamson kindly left this information -
“John Adamson was born in Dumfermline, Scotland as one of 16 children. He emigrated with his parents to the United States. He had many jobs, beginning in the coal mines, which his family had done in Scotland, as a grocer, a newspaper editor/publisher in Boston, and finally as a bagpipe manufacturer. All of this with a 5th grade education! He always worked alone to produce the finest pipes.
My father learned both how to make bagpipes and piping from grandpa. Dad spent the rest of his life with pipe bands, beginning with playing the pipes when he was 4 and leading his first band when he was 11.
Grandpa made pipes in the USA for more than 50 years. His customers were across the US and Canada. When I was getting married in Billings, Montana, one of his very old customers (who had started buying his pipes from grandpa around the 1920s), William Flockart, played at our wedding.
The following pictures are courtesy of Duncan Adamson, he made a scan of an old newspaper add from 1945. Duncan says ,
“This article was from the Sunday News, “New York’s Sunday Picture Newspaper” (March 4, 1945). My father’s family lived in Brooklyn, NY from the late 1800s through the 1950s. I have a feeling my grandfather saw this in the newspaper back in 1945 and thought it was interesting that there was an Adamson making bagpipes in Boston. I’ve been digging through boxes of old photos, and when I saw this, I assumed it was my great-grandfather’s brother William Adamson (name, age, and born in Scotland… all match!). But I read the bio on the website (written by his grandson I believe), and nothing seems to match. I would be curious to get in touch with the grandson and ask some more questions to be sure.”
Photos below courtesy of Don Watts – Boise ID
Confirmed miniature highland pipes by Adamson
Maker's mark on chanter
Close-up of miniature drone tops.
John Adamson was my wife’s grandfather, her father being William Adamson, the long time director of the University of Iowa Scottish Highlanders. My wife’s mother and my wife were both dancers with the Scottish Highlanders.
Are you aware of any John Adamson made bagpipes that might be for sale?
Hi Tom,
I am not aware of any Adamson pipes for sale. Do you have any other information about John Adamson you could tell us?
Thanks
Gord
Hi Tom………I purchased a set of Adamson Highland pipes a couple years ago. I hadn’t really thought about selling them, but I would be happy to send you photos.
Mark Taylor
Your comment that my Grandfather may not have been a bagpipe maker surprised me. I remember from the time I was about 4 years old being in his workshop in Jamaca Plain, Massachusetts. He had all the instruments and materials in the workshop to make bagpipes.
The following is information on him:
“John Adamson was born in Dumfermline, Scotland as one of 16 children. He emigrated with his parents to the United States. He had many jobs, beginning in the coal mines, which his family had done in Scotland, as a grocer, a newspaper editor/publisher in Boston, and finally as a bagpipe manufacturer. All of this with a 5th grade education! He always worked alone to produce the finest pipes.
My father learned both how to make bagpipes and piping from grandpa. Dad spent the rest of his life with pipe bands, beginning with playing the pipes when he was 4 and leading his first band when he was 11.
Grandpa made pipes in the USA for more than 50 years. His customers were across the US and Canada. When I was getting married in Billings, Montana, one of his very old customers (who had started buying his pipes from grandpa around the 1920s), William Flockart, played at our wedding.
This is interesting. I have a newspaper article from 1945 (Sunday Times) showing John Adamson making bagpipes at his workshop in Jamaica Plain. Since it was in with old family photos, and his name and age matched that of my great-grandfather’s brother – I assumed it was him. But the description of him being one of 16 children and being a coal miner doesn’t match. My great-grandfather and his brothers were seamen. Anyway, if you are interested in a scan of the article, please let me know. My email address is dsadamson (at) gmail.com.
My teacher introduced me to Mr. Adamson when I was just a boy and I recall my teacher telling me on the way to the shop in Millis, MA that Mr. Adamson was experimenting with making pipes from unusual and local woods. He had a set made of birch and another made of maple which he showed me when we met.. I do recall that I was told that he made a set of pipes for Egyptian, Hieli Selassi (I am sure I mis-spelled-sorry) that had gold mounts. Upon reflection, that would have been a VERY heavy set of pipes. I am sorry I don’t recollect much about his personality or what his shop looked like. He must have made an impression though because I have had an abiding lifelong interest in pipe makers and have made the effort to meet several iconic makers in person. What a joy it has been in my piping career to have met these folks.