‘Irreplaceable’ bagpipes stolen
Family offer reward for return of 120-year-old pipes
Olivia Smith feels like a part of her soul was taken and replaced with guilt when bagpipes blown by four generations of her family over 120 years were stolen from her car boot.
The 23-year-old sat down to a quick meal with a friend about 8.20pm on May 27 believing the bustle of Auckland’s restaurant strip Dominion Rd would keep her pipes safe only metres away.
But driving off from the corner of Carmen and Dominion Rds barely an hour later she immediately tweaked to the puzzling sound of an open window.
“I pulled over, opened the boot and literally my heart just sank, I could not believe they were gone. They’re irreplaceable,” Smith said.
“I could buy another set of pipes, that’s fine, but they had so much history. I really feel like you’ve let your family down a little bit by having them stolen.”
Smith says what would have initially looked like a black laptop backpack was swiped in a smash and grab job though a small quarter glass window accessing the boot.
What was taken were bagpipes that her great-grandfather, Thomas Magee Smith, bought in Glasgow, Scotland, around the turn of the 20th century.
After immigrating to New Zealand, Thomas Smith joined the Canterbury Caledonian Society where he and his son played the now missing bagpipes for decades throughout last century.
While in Year 11 at St Andrew’s College, Olivia Smith decided to continue the family tradition and also joined the Canterbury Caledonian Society.
While working as a manager for Synlait Milk during the day, Smith “aspires to be New Zealand’s best woman piper” and is already playing in the top Grade 1 band nationally.
The loss of the family pipes means she cannot compete in the National Bagpipe Solo competition in Dunedin over Queen’s Birthday weekend.
It has also just left a huge void in her daily life.
“The routine is you get home from work and you take the pipes out for an hour or so and that’s your routine.
“It feels a bit like someone’s taken your bloody soul.
“It’s a massive part of my life and my family’s life really — coming to competitions and things.”
Smith says she reported the theft to police, and contacted Cash Converters and Trade Me to alert them.
Notices were also posted to every Facebook resident group Smith had access to. One post from her stepmother garnered 6300 shares.
Smith says it would be both unwise, and unprofitable to try to onsell the Smith family bagpipes due to their distinctiveness, and the tight-knight nature of the New Zealand bagpipe community.
“If it goes back to the bagpipe community it’s a very small community as you can probably imagine.”
The Smith family have offered a money reward for anyone who returns the pipes, call 021 569 917.
Smith assures this can be done without fear of repercussions.
“I’m not interested in getting the police involved to prosecute or anything like that. That’s the least of my worries, we’re just really wanting the pipes back,” she said.
My heart just sank, I could not believe they were gone.
Olivia Smith