It has at various times in its history been part of what is now Scotland, a separate kingdom in its own right, and the territory of some particularly vicious feuds between families. Although the majority of its inhabitants today are happy to call themselves English, most have an even stronger allegiance to their own area, a high affinity with the peoples of the Scots side of the Border, and a marked disdain for the inhabitants of Southern England. The continued tradition of bagpipes in Northumberland is inseparable from its position as a border county, and this partly explains why they are rarely referred to as 'English' pipes. The latter term has come to mean an entirely different family of mainly reconstructed and revived instruments. Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows blown bagpipes.
Pipes using bellows occur in many parts of Europe, and in many forms in Britain.
Some have one tuning bead so that the G drone can be retuned to A. Many tunes are accessible to such an instrument, although some teachers do not recommend starting on them. That is to say, the player lifts a finger to sound the the note he calls 'G', but the sound that is produced is approximately an 'F', one tone lower. Sets like this, which are generally recommended for beginners, and those likely to play with other pipers, are referred to as 'F' sets. Not all pipemakers will make all types. The commonest form of NSP, and that on which most beginners start, is the 7-keyed 'F' set .