Just got my FIRST real Irish flute!

Jon C. · Post by **Jon C.** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 4:15 pm

This flute was made by one of the few Irish flute builders (is there any others?)
Here is his Bios:

George BUTLER was born about 1795 in Dublin.

The farthest back we can trace our Butler family is to George Butler, a musical instrument maker, who, according to William Waterhouse's "The New Langwill Index: A Dictionary of Musical Wind-Instrument Makers and Inventors" (London, T. Bingham, 1993), "flourished in Dublin from 1826 as a successor to a Mr. Dollard, maker of flute, Kent-bugle, serpent and bass-horn".

It appears George moved to London probably in the 1820s (his children were born there in the 1830s) while still maintaining the business in Dublin. It seems he worked for others in London for a number of years (the 1851 census of England shows that George, along with his son George, was working as a "journeyman trumpet maker"), but in 1859 it's believed he set up his first London shop at 17 Brydge's St. in Covent Garden.

In Dublin it's possible George's workshop was located for a time on Capel St. because the only Griffiths Valuation entries for a George Butler in the entire city of Dublin are for (i) 155 and 156 Capel St (warehouse, house, warerooms and small yard) and (ii) an address on what seems to be a lane between 13 and 14 Strand St. Little (just off Capel St.) where an office was rented. Part of Strand St. Little runs behind shops on the river end of Capel St. where numbers 155 and 156 are located. Griffiths Valuation was undertaken for the Capel St. area in May of 1854.

This flute is one of those antique flutes that are like a nice old pair of shoes that are real comfortable, but are showing a little wear... They play great right out of the box. (It kind of smells like a old pair of shoes too!) The tone holes, well worn, look like it was played continously most of it's life! You have to wonder where it has been, and who played it for its 150 year old life.

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:01 pm

bet ya wish ya'd kept some of dem socks, eh?

Terry McGee · Post by **Terry McGee** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:13 pm

The NLI lists 38 makers under Dublin/Eire. These are woodwind makers, not just flute makers, so you'd need to go through the entries to strike out non-flute makers.

This is impressive in the light of 12 entries under Edinburgh, 11 in Glasgow, 15 in Birmingham, 5 in Newcastle, and suprisingly no mention of Belfast. Dublin was of course a major cultural centre back then (remember Handel premiered the Messiah there).

Known flutemakers include Dollard and Ellard. Dollard is known for a sneaky slide arrangement which, if I understand correctly, had a male slide in the head penetrating a cork-lined cavity in the barrel. Oooooh, no wonder I love flutes.

I don't know what his motivations were - perhaps avoiding having to make a close fitting female slide, perhaps avoiding barrel splitting, perhaps just trying to keep prices down. I haven't tried it but can't see why it wouldn't work, providing the leading edge of the tube was well smoothed.

Clinton is listed as a London maker (that is where he made flutes) but is a native of Dublin. This was rubbed in his face by Carte claiming that he (Carte) was England's first native performer on the Boehm flute, after Clinton claimed that he (Clinton) was the first to introduce the Boehm flute to the English public. Even then Carte got it wrong, Card preceeded him. This claim of Carte's is one of the many false bases upon which Clinton's name was smeared by Carte and Rockstro, and subsequently every flute book writer since. We're slowly going through them and will have some very interesting stuff to say about Mr Carte soon.

And sigh, Capel street. Many a day my feet trudged down Capel street when living in Dublin in 1974. Great session in Slatterys on the Sunday morning, and the Tradition club run there on Wednesday nights by Kevin the bodhran player now with the Chieftians. And the ham sandwiches in the mornings! Poked my head in there in 2002, but it had become a Japanese pub.

Terry

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:34 pm

Vewwy sexy.

Does it play, Jon? What does it sound like?

P.S. Thanks, Terry. Fascinating post.

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:02 pm

I notice the very oval tone holes on the flute. These are more difficult to make than round holes, so, obviously, they were made that way for a good reason. My thought is that they were made oval to better facilitate half-holing. However, the flute has five keys, making it less necessary to half-hole. Another thought is that the maker deliberately drilled the tone holes small and then tuned them oval by hand as he was voicing the flute.Can anyone tell me an alternative reason for making the tone holes so oval?

Jon C. · Post by **Jon C.** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:18 pm

jim stone wrote:Vewwy sexy.

Does it play, Jon? What does it sound like?

.

Good strong tone, very Rudallesk. The intonation is very good. Nice reedy tone. It is a lot like my HY Potter 6 key. I can see why the flute is well worn. I will fully restore it, when I recover from my cold.

I notice the very oval tone holes on the flute. These are more difficult to make than round holes, so, obviously, they were made that way for a good reason. My thought is that they were made oval to better facilitate half-holing. However, the flute has five keys, making it less necessary to half-hole. Another thought is that the maker deliberately drilled the tone holes small and then tuned them oval by hand as he was voicing the flute.Can anyone tell me an alternative reason for making the tone holes so oval?

I think it is a optical ellusion, as the tone holes are round, but the edges are well rounded, to make them look oval in shape.

And thanks Terry for the post. I thought there might be more Irish flute builders out there, now I have to get one of each....

I got the information on Butler from a site named Helen's family tree, she is related to Butler. She emailed me and said that folks email her and ask if she can help them fix there Butler Bagpipes, she tells them that the family didn't carry on the trade anymore...

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:47 pm

It may just be the photograph, but the reach on the right hand looks very modest...if the dimensions in the photo are accurate, this could be a very good keyed flute design for someone with smaller hands.

I don't think I could handle the long-F key, though...again, hard to tell from a photo, but I don't think my pinky would reach the touch.

Beatiful flute!

--James

Jon C. · Post by **Jon C.** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 10:16 pm

peeplj wrote:It may just be the photograph, but the reach on the right hand looks very modest...if the dimensions in the photo are accurate, this could be a very good keyed flute design for someone with smaller hands.

I don't think I could handle the long-F key, though...again, hard to tell from a photo, but I don't think my pinky would reach the touch.

Beatiful flute!

--James

Your right James, the reach is pretty good on the tone holes, but the long F is a reach! Reachable, but I wonder why the maker made the long F so short? It usually lands on the G# block, but this one falls short...
Jon

glinjack · Post by **glinjack** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:58 pm

I really like flutes made by George Butler, I consider the flutes made by him to be right up there with the best Rudall & Rose flutes.
I have had quite a few Butler flutes, the last one i had was an 8 keyed cocuswood with silver keys and mounts. Great flute maker, and i think i did put in a bid on that flute, but what can one do when you have every tom dick and harry bidding from all angle's. Enjoy the flute , it looks great.

Jon C. · Post by **Jon C.** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:18 pm

glinjack wrote:I really like flutes made by George Butler, I consider the flutes made by him to be right up there with the best Rudall & Rose flutes.
I have had quite a few Butler flutes, the last one i had was an 8 keyed cocuswood with silver keys and mounts. Great flute maker, and i think i did put in a bid on that flute, but what can one do when you have every tom dick and harry bidding from all angle's. Enjoy the flute , it looks great.

The flute does have a special feel to it. This is kind of your "working mans" quality 6 key, with the nickel silver, but he got the holes in the right place!
You can do like me with Ebay, and just bid higher...

Jennie · Post by **Jennie** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:23 pm

Thanks for posting the bio!

I just acquired a Butler too, a sweet little F flute in cocus and rosewood that I'm having fixed up a little before I give it to my daughter for Christmas. It's missing a ring and the end cap, so I am letting a couple of friends supply those parts. It used to have more keys. Let's see if I can post a picture of it:

It sits just so easy in my hands. I think I need to get my own F now, so I can play along and so I can practice without the stretch.

Jennie

Jon C. · Post by **Jon C.** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 1:17 am

Jennie wrote:Thanks for posting the bio!

I just acquired a Butler too, a sweet little F flute in cocus and rosewood that I'm having fixed up a little before I give it to my daughter for Christmas. It's missing a ring and the end cap, so I am letting a couple of friends supply those parts. It used to have more keys. Let's see if I can post a picture of it:

It sits just so easy in my hands. I think I need to get my own F now, so I can play along and so I can practice without the stretch.

Jennie

Hi,
Too bad it lost it's keys...
That should be perfect for daughter, I remember a while back when you were trying to figure out what flute or whistle to give her.
You can stain the upper joint using Terry's technique of dyeing it with dark brunnet hair dye. A little safer then the nitric acid fuming.

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 5:07 am

glinjack wrote:I really like flutes made by George Butler, I consider the flutes made by him to be right up there with the best Rudall & Rose flutes.
I have had quite a few Butler flutes, the last one i had was an 8 keyed cocuswood with silver keys and mounts. Great flute maker, and i think i did put in a bid on that flute, but what can one do when you have every tom dick and harry bidding from all angle's. Enjoy the flute , it looks great.

(faints)

M

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:39 am

Jon C. wrote: You can stain the upper joint using Terry's technique of dyeing it with dark brunnet hair dye. A little safer then the nitric acid fuming.

A little safer?

That's an understatement Jon

Jennie, if you ever do get a wild hair to dye that center section dark, you'll get a much closer match to the aged cocus, and more depth to the look of the dyed piece by dying first with a red base colored hair dye, and then a black as the second step. Black alone tends to give an unnatural and "thin" look to the finish. It can also end up looking a bit green, depending on the brand and the color of black that you use.

Loren

Jennie · Post by **Jennie** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 9:20 am

I can just see me at the checkout counter with TWO colors of hair dye. The cashiers are all my students, or at least their parents.

I am such a "granola girl" that I'm sure everyone in town would be watching for the day I show up with some odd shade. "It's for my flute," yeah sure.

Jon, you say yours plays in tune. This one doesn't seem quite so to me (I sent it to my wood turner friend before I had much time with it) and I suppose that it may be because it obviously wasn't created as a single flute. Or that my embouchure is used to my other flute.

Jennie