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? about penney whistles

25 Mar 98 - 10:58 PM (#24622)
Subject: ? about penney whistles
From: Jon

Howdy,

I have a question about penney whistles and tin whistles. When did they first appear in the form that they are now (6 hole, center blow, etc) and where that was. I'm curious about their history and origins(I'm sure that they are some derivation/cross of a recorder and a 6 hole flute type instrument). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jon

26 Mar 98 - 11:41 AM (#24641)
Subject: RE: ? about penney whistles
From: Jon W.

A quote from the Lark in the Morning catalog:

The pennywhistle, also called the tinwhistle or flageolette, is a very ancient instrument going back to prehistoric times with surviving instruments made of bone. These instruments are very popular in the British Isles. They have a fipple like a recorder and are very easy to make music with, yet lend themselves to a great deal of creativity & virtuosity as well. The perfect pocket instrument.

I suspect that the pennywhistle and the transverse 6-hole flute (or fife) are co-ancient and the recorder, being more complicated, is a later refinement of the whistle. Of course, the ancient bone whistles referred to probably had a different scale than our modern diatonic scale.

Another Jon (Jon W.)

26 Mar 98 - 04:46 PM (#24661)
Subject: RE: ? about penney whistles
From: Frank in the swamps

There was an article in Scientific American 09/97 about a neolithic flute that had been found, fascinating stuff, go here...

http://www.sciam.com/0997issue/0997scicit4.html

Frank i.t.s.

26 Mar 98 - 06:54 PM (#24677)
Subject: RE: ? about penney whistles
From: Dan Mulligan


The Tinwhistle, as we know it today, seems to be an invention of the early 1800s. The earliest known reference to it is from 1825, one can assume that it is probably somewhat older than this.The tinplate that the original whistles were made from only became readily available in the late 1700s. As others have already pointed out, there were many antecedents to the tinwhistle made from other materials.
Dan

26 Mar 98 - 07:06 PM (#24678)
Subject: RE: ? about penney whistles
From: Dan Mulligan


The Tinwhistle Tableis one of my favorite sites about Tinwhistles. Check it out.
Dan

26 Mar 98 - 07:17 PM (#24679)
Subject: RE: ? about penney whistles
From: Dan Mulligan

LINK

One of my favorite sites about Tinwhistles. Click on it to check it out.
Dan

27 Mar 98 - 12:26 PM (#24745)
Subject: RE: ? about penney whistles
From: jlm

don't forget to distinguish the penny and the whistle. The whistle seems to be very old not the penny (currency) end of joke