3 historic facts about The Tin Whistle

by Joao Ferreira

Browsing through the internet and reading many articles about music, traditional Irish music, songs and tunes, I found out many historic facts about the Tin Whistle or Penny Whistle.

So, in this article, I list these 3 facts. Let`s see if you know some or all of them..

1 – Players of the fealodan

Historical research notes that the oldest surviving tin whistle dates back to the 12th century. However, players of the fealodan are also mentioned in the description of the ‘King of Ireland’s court’ found in the Brehon Laws dating from the 3rd century A.D.

2- Penny Whistle

The term “Penny whistle” came to light on the streets of Dublin in the late 1500s because of the whistles popularity among beggars and vagabonds in Ireland. The word “tin whistle” also came to light as early as 1825 but neither word seems to have come common until the 20th century.

3- 19^th Century.

The Whistles had a cylindrical brass tube. Like many old whistles, they had lead fipple plugs. However, since lead is poisonous, caution should be exercised before playing an old whistle. Today the lead fipple plugs have been replaced by plastic, which is safer and hygienic.

I hope you have had fun reading these facts. Did you know them?

I believe after these 5 Feadog Whistle features, you will be inspired to learn how to play our Feadog Whistles better and better. So, browse our website and look for the one that suits you. If you are already a player becomes our fan visiting our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to be aware of tips and further information.