J. Hewit & Sons Ltd are pleased to present their "CURRAGH" goatskin for the production of bagpipe bags.  We have been the sole tanners in Scotland of sheepskin for the production of bagpipes for nearly twenty years. During the last few years, there has been a steady decline in availability of suitable sheepskin pelts. As a result we have decided to use our expertise in the tanning of both sheepskin bagpipe leathers and vegetable tanned goatskins to develop what we believe to be a superior leather for making bagpipe bags.

Our new leather is a vegetable tanned goatskin that has been re-tanned using the best parts of the bagpipe sheepskin process. Potassium alum is added and the skins are then oiled with our special bagpipe recipe. Finally the skins are dried flat and softened prior to dispatch.

The advantages of the "CURRAGH" leather are:
- Enhanced ageing properties when compared to either vegetable tanned leathers or aluminium tanned leathers.
- Goatskin is a considerably more durable leather than sheepskin. It has a tighter fibre structure and will not delaminate during use, a problem that is quite common with sheepskin. When taken in conjunction with the improved tannage we would therefore expect a goatskin bag to have an increased life span.
- The tannage has been designed to give a softer and rounder handle compared to that of sheepskin bags.
- We believe that our "CURRAGH" goatskin should not suffer from the problems of drying-out that occur with the sheepskin bags in dry climates.
- This leather is available at very competitive rates. Since we already deal directly with the public, we will gladly accept orders for this leather down to one skin. We accept payment by credit card, and are delighted to send skins to any destination in the world.

Average size - 0.65 sq.m. (7.0sq.ft),  selected to yield a typical size Scottish pipe bag
Standard Substance - 1.5mm


If you require further information, prices or samples with regard to our "CURRAGH" goatskin  please contact us for further details at sales@hewit.com

For those of you wishing to purchase a ready-made pipe bag, we are pleased to recommend the services of:

Laurence Thompson
'Crosslands'
Crook of Devon
Kinrossshire
KY 13 0UL

Tel: +44 (0) 1577 840336
E-mail: bagpipebags@tinyonline.co.uk