My (American) neighbour derives the name from the Illinois pipes. And it's thought that Part of the Union was written by Lou Reed.

What's the evolution like compared with Northumbrian and Scottish Lowland pipes, or the Auvergnais cabrette? More to the point, my understanding was that pastoral pipes had a cylindrical bore, like the Northumbrian and Lowland pipes, whereas the conical bore of the Irish pipes gives access to a second octave, so was the Union pipe a hybrid, and if so what was its conical forebear?