A musician friend of mine died recently. He owned and played several rare and precious instruments - an antique set of smallpipes, a set of halflongs and a modern 16 key set, all in excellent playing order.
I was wondering what his family will do with these treasures (no, I don't wish to have them) and then I got to thinking, what will happen to mine when I go? (I'm not planning on leaving just yet but it'll happen one day.)
There's no-one in my family who is likely to follow in my footsteps, so will they just be sold? I don't think I want them to go to just anyone.
Ideally, it would be nice if my teenage daughter were to carry on with my Northumbrian pipes, but I know she doesn't like them and nor does she have the necessary patience to master them.
They could go in a museum but then the leather bits would just go hard and brittle, and an instrument unplayed is like a song that's unsung. That's just a waste.
They're not a Stradivarius or even a Martin but there's a lot of 'me' in them - I've had them since 1972.
It occurred to me that I could do as MacPherson did -

He took his fiddle in both his hands
And he broke it o'er a stone,
Saying, "There's no-one here shall play on thee
When I am dead and gone."

But that would be a shame.
And then there's my Oscar Schmit autoharp, my mountain dulcimer, my accordion, my Ray Durrand guitar, the Hohner lute (guitar strung), the banjo, the bodhran, etc., etc.
Have any other mudcatters thought about who you will leave your precious instuments to, when you no longer need them?
Robyn