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Crotal Bell

Ermintruder said:
Is this a solid casting, or a curled pressing?

I wonder whether this is something as mundane as a casement latch/bolt-head, or actually a Middle Ages jewelry fragment?
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Looks very much like a casting when looked at through a loupe but I'm not completely sure.
 
It resembles a whistle to me although I'm sure you would have noticed an air hole to blow through if that was the case.
 
Swifty said:
It resembles a whistle to me although I'm sure you would have noticed an air hole to blow through if that was the case.
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You're right it's definitely an old whistle of some sort, it has the air hole, but again just like with the crotal bell I'm unable to find a makers mark. There's lots of scrolling patterns on it though.
 
Swifty said:
It resembles a whistle to me although I'm sure you would have noticed an air hole to blow through if that was the case.
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Here's another photo :) IMG_9984.JPG
 
Swifty said:
Cool .. I wonder if it was a shepherd's whistle for sheep dogs ? .. it looks extremely old, do you know what kind of metal it is ?
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Yes I think it's very old, never thought of it being a shepherds whistle but quite possibly so? Not sure of the type of metal it's made from, I found it on a very old footpath during the 1970's.
 
FruitBat said:
Yes I think it's very old, never thought of it being a shepherds whistle but quite possibly so? Not sure of the type of metal it's made from, I found it on a very old footpath during the 1970's.
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The 70's ? .. that old ! .. perhaps it belonged to Kevin Keegan ? :)
 
Swifty said:
I don't think it's a shepherd's whistle going by these descriptions ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd's_whistle
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I think I've found out something about the whistle :) I think it's a post Medieval Tudor Decorated Hawking Whistle. I've just been looking at an almost identical one (albeit in better condition than mine) it was found in Wiltshire and sold for £85 at auction. I'd never sell mine but now I'm excited!
 
FruitBat said:
I think I've found out something about the whistle :) I think it's a post Medieval Tudor Decorated Hawking Whistle. I've just been looking at an almost identical one (albeit in better condition than mine) it was found in Wiltshire and sold for £85 at auction. I'd never sell mine but now I'm excited!
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Congratulations ! .. have you got a link to a pic of that other whistle ?
 
is "something" broken off the end to the left in the photo?
 
Swifty said:
Can you still get a whistle out of it ? .. the Mrs's mum works with owls and the like as a hobby so maybe you could get permission to test it out out on hawks one day in Cromer.
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The suspension loop is broken off, it was how it was when I found it. I just now held a finger over the broken part and then blew, my God it packs a punch for such a little thing! Goes to show the advantages of quality craftsmanship :)
 
Frideswide said:
is "something" broken off the end to the left in the photo?
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Yes sadly the suspension loop is broken off, it was like that when I found it, the break was already an old one so I'm glad I never broke such a precious little thing whilst removing it from the ground.
 
Dr_Baltar said:
It doesn't have anything engraved on it, does it? Such as' "Quis est iste qui venit"? :ghunt:
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I've just examined it with the loupe again but I can only see lots of scrollwork patterns. I don't think there are any words on it.
 
FruitBat said:
I just now held a finger over the broken part and then blew, my God it packs a punch for such a little thing! Goes to show the advantages of quality craftsmanship
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Am I correct when I assume that you're a friend of @Swifty in real life? If so, it would be great if you two could make a youtube video of the whistle being blown and upload it to his channel, then we could all hear it.
 
David Plankton said:
Am I correct when I assume that you're a friend of @Swifty in real life? If so, it would be great if you two could make a youtube video of the whistle being blown and upload it to his channel, then we could all hear it.
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If FruitBat's keen, I haven't got a problem sticking a vid on youtube although I'm having cables problems at the moment so will have to sort that out first ..
 
David Plankton said:
Am I correct when I assume that you're a friend of @Swifty in real life? If so, it would be great if you two could make a youtube video of the whistle being blown and upload it to his channel, then we could all hear it.
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Sounds like a plan for a future project, although I've never made a video for YouTube before :)
 
FruitBat said:
Sounds like a plan for a future project, although I've never made a video for YouTube before :)
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I've got a flashy camera and a couple of channels but I haven't put anything new on them for a while ..
 
FruitBat said:
I just now held a finger over the broken part and then blew, my God it packs a punch for such a little thing!
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Presumably it did not summon anything? :exor:

What a massive privilege, to be the first person to breath life into it, for maybe 600+ years

Twenty generations, perhaps, since the last time this screamed for attention.
 
Ermintruder said:
Presumably it did not summon anything? :exor:

What a massive privilege, to be the first person to breath life into it, for maybe 600+ years

Twenty generations, perhaps, since the last time this screamed for attention.
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Absolutely! It's been in my possession for at least 30 years and couldn't help but feel in awe when I blew it, being the first person to do so since the previous owner who lost it hundreds of years ago. Hopefully I've not summoned anything untoward :)
 
Swifty said:
I've got a flashy camera and a couple of channels but I haven't put anything new on them for a while ..
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I wouldn't know where to start! Had thought maybe to create a metal detecting channel at some point though. My best camera died on me two days ago so I've had to order another, I'll test it out with a few photo's of 'finds' when it arrives.
 
Ermintruder said:
Presumably it did not summon anything? :exor:

What a massive privilege, to be the first person to breath life into it, for maybe 600+ years

Twenty generations, perhaps, since the last time this screamed for attention.
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The previous owner died of some ghastly lung plague!
 
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