I was watching Ben play the pipes at Chorlton Folk Club last Thursday, really exciting music.

I have seen lots of drawings of bagpipes and they clearly go back a long way. But, sorry I am sure I am failing to spell Ullean correctly, Ullean, and for that matter, Northumbrian and other pipes are amazing pices of technology.

Am I correct in assuming that, whilst bagpipes in gemeral are very old, ie pre-industrial revolution by hundreds if not thousands of years, Ullean pipes are post industrial revolution? They have so many sophisticated pieces of metal that looks like it needed to be measued and crafted to a high degree of accuracy. They look technologically close to concertinas and accordeons.

So, when and where did they evolve and from what?