Chiff & Fipple: History of the Low Whistle

PHIL BROWN ON BERNARD OVERTON AND

THE HISTORY OF THE LOW WHISTLE

Phil Brown, the Lancashire-based whistler who has recorded two whistle albums, including Pendle Moon, recently reviewed in chiff & fipple, was kind enough to respond to my request that he write an article about Bernard Overton and the Low Whistle. My thanks to Phil, who also sent me a tape of the BBC feature that he refers to. Below is his fine article.

-Dale Wisely

Individuals who have talent and personality in abundance often make our passage through life more bearable. One such person is Bernard Overton - a man known to me for 27 years and personally for the last five.

Whilst in the process of making a recent one-hour special for BBC Radio Lancashire, based upon my whistle music, I had the perfect reason to call upon Bernard, in Brinklow nr. Rugby, Warwickshire. The setting of Bernard's resident village is typically English - rural, peaceful and leafy an ideal location to feature the Overton legend.

Armed with my BBC Mini Disc recorder I spent a whole day with Bernard and his wife Margaret. Such a visit upon my part is always a privilege - I am treated with respect. Hospitality flows in abundance - but such is the hallmark of Overton whose sincerity is matched only by the size of his whistles.

In the late sixties Eddie & Finbar Furey were one of the biggest draws in the U.K. folk scene. A highlight of this remarkable act was Finbar's composition 'The Lonesome Boatman'. Finbar played this originally on an Indian Bamboo Ab flute. Eventually after years of wear and tear, Finbar became worried at the rapid demise of this ethic alto instrument. The ageing flute was roughly forty-one centimetres in length.

The only substance to it at the end of its busy days was the tape and chewing gum that held it together. When one night Finbar sat on it at a party - it was time for Bernard to act fast. Request and necessity gave Bernard the opportunity to make a prototype whistle in 'G' for Finbar. Finbar was so impressed by this he asked Bernard to make him another in 'D'. At around sixty centimetres in length this was much bigger than anyone might anticipate a whistle to be. Birth had been given to the Overton dynasty.

Such was Finbar's popularity, when he featured the instrument folks always asked "who made the whistle - where can I get one?" Orders began to flow in for Bernard's special whistles. This meant that Bernard could give up his day job to cope with the demand for his whistles.

Bernard is now often referred to as 'The Low Whistle Man'. The 'Overton' is still constructed in the same traditional method as that of thirty years ago. Over twenty different types are manufactured. They range from Sopranos/Mezzo Sopranos/Altos/Tenors/Baritones and Bass Baritones. Probably his most popular model is the Tenor 'D'. Often referred to as The Low D.

As the years have passed many makers have tried to mimic the Overton. To my mind, as a staunch Overton fan - they don't match up. There is an honesty and sincerity that runs through the full length of an Overton whistle - as wholesome as the great man himself.

Little was Bernard (now in his late sixties) to know what he was starting all those years ago. All you Overton aficionados out there (who include Davy Spillane, Troy Donakley and James McNally) must surely agree that playing an Overton almost becomes a vocation. I currently own about thirteen of these beautiful instruments. I intend to obtain some more, made and crafted by the master himself.

My favourite model is without doubt my Baritone 'C' - which I used extensively on my new album 'Pendle Moon'. This CD is all about the Low Whistle and on which I played upon Bernard's instruments exclusively. I feel enriched by the experience I have had with the man and his instruments throughout the project. Musicians often become involved in their projects - this pressure was made into a pleasure by being able to play on an 'Overton'.