Piper’s House

About Piper's House

Piper’s House dates from 1604 although it was remodelled in 1896. If you look at the lintel over the central window on the first floor, you can see the initials of Adam Ainslie, who built the house, his wife Janet and the date 1604. The window replaced the original entrance door that was at the head of a flight of stone stairs. The town’s last official piper, Robin Hastie, is said to have occupied a portion of the house. On the last crow step to the south east, there is a carved figure of a piper. According to Sir Walter Scott,the Hastie family had been Burgh Pipers for three hundred years. When Hastie died in the early 19th century, Scott wrote that “old age had rendered Robin a wretched performer but he knew several old songs and tunes, which have probably died with him”. The building has corbels on the south elevation that may have been used to support a lean-to building.