Does anyone have any information on the design of the contraption Johnny Doran used so that he could play while walking around. I know about the stick he used to prop his leg while playing, but that only worked from a stationary position.
Pat Sky
Perhaps Bill Ochs knows? He talked a bit about this at his slow airs workshop in Killington last summer at the Pipers’ Gathering.
“Gadget soldered to the bass drone” is what I remember from the Long Note program on Johnny. Also “Saturday night! Every Saturday night! Sometimes he would be comin’ of a Tuesday or a Wednesday, but we would always be there to welcome and meet him.”
You could get in on the act by affixing, oh, a leather shod coaster to your set. Something non-destructive, you know? Can’t be going around destroying things. Maybe glue a bit of a flat 1" wide board to the bottom of said coaster, jam the other end into the bass drone tubing, lash tight with cord. Try that before attacking the set with a blowtorch. Incidentally I recently tried to solder my own tubing, and found out ispo facto that the solder in Radio Shack and jewler’s solder aren’t the same at all - latter is what you want, it melts at a much higher temp. I ordered a big coil of the easy flowing stuff - there’s also medium and high temp - from Amazon, about $33 and it’s enough wire for a lifetime.
I’m thinking you could also wrap some sheet brass around the bass drone and glue the coaster to that. Harden it to keep it from bending. Might work.
See you at the football match.
Pat this topic interests me obsessivley, to the point ive drawn up 2 drafts; based on the poor photos Ive seen of Doran. Needs another brain though: i havent the mechanical setup to execute a prototype. Springs, ball joints, etc. Nothing that wanst around in the 30;s & 40’s.
PM me if you want to check my crazy ideas out.
Not Doran (although some think it is):
yeah there s a lot about that pic thats fishy…but it is what it is;
and we see the popping valve’s attached, somehow, likely to the bassdrone bend. As opposed to the 'little shelf on the mainstock ’ idea…
seems to me tha valve would have to be spring loaded,
the attachment arm rigid, but yet have some kind of pivot ability.
another thing easily overlooked is th left shoulder strap; theres a ‘Y’ configuration going on there, see how its pulled to the right, by a 2nd strap before it hooks onto something…
heck for all I know it could be one continuous strap, hooked to the popping valve, wrapped around the regs, somehow then around the shoulder.
there might also be some clues in how Doran treats low d in the recordings; but wether or not he is using the ‘standing-up’ rig for those- i dont recall if its mentioned in the cd liner.
ok ok back to my rubber room now 
there s a lot about that pic thats fishy
Well, I wouldn’t say that. The assumption it is Doran is fishy. The piper has very different facial features than Johnny Doran. He looks a lot like old Francis McPeake and the McPeakes used to have the pic up on their website as such.
Couldn’t you just have some sort of standard hinged cap and attached to the bottom of that an L shaped piece of something with a little pad on the end. As you play and need to close the chanter you’d list tip the bottom towards your body closing the cap. Of course, I can’t imagine that playing standing up is very much fun. If you want to be in a parade I’d suggest a wheeled office chair and a helpful friend. Now that’s making an impression!
The cap on the bottom of the chanter was the opposite to the the normal ones you see on most Rowsome chanters. Instead of opening when the chanter was lifted it remained closed all the time. He just tied string onto it and tied the other end to the bass drone…every time he wanted to sound D just gave it a little pull and it opened then closed again once he released the pull off the string… As far as I know…Then just tie up the stock around you’re shoulder and you can parade away.. 
interesting: so then, he 'd have had to support the weight of the chanter rather than let it rest on some sort of rigid ‘arm’ attachment.
Of course the next logical question is: did he screw a clarinet thumb-rest onto the chanter for the right thumb? we will never know.