Fionn,thanks for that additional info. My mention of Belfast might be a red herring, but I thought that we might be stereotyping the "lowland Scots ingenuity" idea by nececssarily trying to locate bagpipe developments there. I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't a few ingenious types around the Belfast linen trade as well. Not to mention Newcomen in Cornwall. Cromford in Derbyshire etc etc.