Certain little-known baroque composers used to mark their scores 'flauto plastico' to ensure the use of the correct instrument, as the subtle differences in tonal quality and temperament were considered more important than they are today. I believe there was also a 'transverso flauto plastico' in use at the time but these were not so popular. They were originally invented in the 15th century by the eccentric 6th Earl of Clacton for playing underwater - however, rumours persist that the Earl had a Japanese grandfather, which casts some doubt on the question of whether the instrument can be considered correctly as being 'traditional English'. To this day, scholars tend to think of them as 'cheap Japanese shite'.