I just bought a wee flutey job off a junk stall. It’s a mere ten and a half inches long, so in F. It bears the name W S Riley and Son in both sections. Astonishingly it plays very sweetly and in tune with itself, and much easier than I expected.
Any info appreciated. 
Interesting, I have seen piccolos simmilar to that (often in Eb) on Ebay.
Never had the chance to play one though.
I would also look for information on “band flutes” for more information,
although those are usually lower in pitch than the D piccolo.
My understanding is that the line is a bit hazy. However, a piccolo will always have a conical bore, whereas most fifes will be cylindrical. I think it is “technically” a piccolo.
Very similar rings, headjoint turning, and crown to a B&S Dulcet Improved, London Bb flute/fife I got a few weeks ago. Then again, bandsmen like to ‘fit in’, so many band flutes look similar (my theory).
Yours is in much better shape, and I payed way more than junk-stall price. Good find!
I don’t think it had ever been played, no sign around the blow hole from moisture no mark at all on the finish from fingers. When I took it apart the threading looked as if it had just been wound but it crumbled to bits as soon as I touched it. I think it has to be piccolo rather than fife… the third octave would be scary and only of use to bats.
We have fifes, and we have piccolos. It reminds me of a group of gray birds (juncos) that used to be divided into several species back when I was spending more time birdwatching. I understand that the bird books are now listing them all as one species. I suggest “fifalo” for a merging of piccolo and fife into one species of instrument, however “fifecalo” is also a possibility, as is “piccofife”.
If you keep this up I’ll call your flutes
Tipple-ohs …
There are some of his flutes on this page:
http://www.oldflutes.com/american.htm
An English immigrant.. J.
Thanks but wrong Riley, though maybe a family member the initials are clearly W S Riley so a Willliam perhaps. I suspect the flute hails from the UK.
Rob
Snap! I have the twin of your instrument! Not in such nice condition, perhaps, but it’s all there. I vote ‘fife’ - partly because of the fingering, partly because of the sound, and partly because despite its reasonably attractive workmanship it’s hardly a precision instrument - which suggests a history in school/military fife and drum bands.
Double snap! A friend just gave me one of those to figure out. She got it at a junk shop and it’s been in a kitchen drawer or something since.
No name on mine, but identical configuration from what I can tell. It’s a hoot! I’ve been calling it a piccolo, but 
You’re getting hoots, I’m impressed I’ve only got squeaks out of mine so far! is yours in F too? I suppose it’s the equivalent of a sopranino in recorderland.
I have a similar gadget here with “Crowley Cork” carved into the body. I have never once managed to get a note out of it…
I’ll stick to whistles and strings
Slan,
D.
Actually, I got part of a tune out of it, but it’s so tiny, I can hardly get my fingers over the holes! I need to check, but I believe I decided it was, of all things, a Db.
I’ll look tonight.
Tiny it is, there is only just enough space for my fingers, But I can get a tune out of it no problem which really surprised me, because like Dubh I’ve tried similar ones and not been able to get a note out of them. I’ve found the best tone is with the blow hole nearly 90 degrees towards me so I’m blowing almost straight down into the hole.
That’s what I did, though Teflon tape and a hair elastic on the key were necessary for a real sound. It needs re-lapping in the worst way, and there’s actually a bit of a chip out of the body tenon as I recall. I’ve left it sit in the HumidiTote for a month or so in the hopes that it will ease back into playability …
Although I can’t do too much with it; my old cat howls whenever I play it.
Sheesh. Everybody’s a critic!
Cheap fifish thing for those handy with a sharp knife:
Had one of those things,Yamaha, interesting tenon, German recorder fingerings I think. I was very displeased, even at $8.
The debate about fife and flute may seem futile, and indeed I have probably sounded elite in many posts past (or downright un-intelligent), but I do have to wonder what the benefit of naming one fife or piccolo. For me it has seemed to show that Americans and others talk about fife and piccolo in different ways.
If you are looking to find information on the piccolo you have, search all three.
If you are looking to play with others, bring it with. Either it will fit in or not.
What I know of the fifes is this.
A fife is
Usually without keys
usually cylindrical (not the same in the UK and AZ)
usually without keys
usually inexpensive (compared to piccolo at the time)
usually Bb or above in key
designed to play in the second and third octave.
A piccolo is
usually tapered or brought into tune somehow (not true with a fife)
usually one octave above a normal flute.
usually designed to play like a flute.Note the enlargement of the rh2 hole. Now it plays like a D+ tinwhistle. I do hate the reform lipplate, and the cork was too close so I moved it with significant force. Now it’s a good $8 piccolo.
The Thane of Fife had a piccolo; where is she now?