This is quite possibly ignorance on my part here, but ...Mr.Gumby wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 12:29 am You are making a lot of assumptions there. I don't think there were any metal whistles before the mid 19th century. I have yet to see any tuning slides in older whistles : the first tuneable whistles were the Generations when they adopted the plastic heads in the early 1950s. Proper slides weren't seen before the final quarter of the last century.
Very few old metal whistles have anything to associate them with Ireland. The ones available here were usually British made, available in Ireland in hardware shops etc. Whistles in celluloid, metal and occasionally wood were available on the continent but didn't cross the channel. They were, on the main, cheap and mass produced. Without slides.
I have a metal whistle, with 5 keys and a tuning slide, and I always thought it was olde3r than the 1950s. Do I remember you mentioning those things at some point on this forum? Am I wrong about their age?
