Hi all
I’m having a bit of a clear out after falling in love with a Sindt…
Hi Free Feet,
I believed yew wood toxic. Does the wood had a treatment ?
the whistle is very beautiful, does it sound like the other Bleazeys ?
regards
Olivier
The bark, leaves and seeds (but not the flesh of the fruit) are all toxic, not the wood itself.
I doubt Phil Bleazey would have gotten away all these years selling toxic whistles. And also, i have a friend who makes yew wood didgeridoos and has been doing so for about 15 years without killing anyone.
The saw dust of yew is actually listed as an irritant to woodworkers, but i’ve been in my friend’s workshop lots of times while he’s actually working in there and never had any problems from it, and neither has anyone i know.
As to the whistle in question. I ordered three whistles from Phil, a blackwood, olive and the yew with the agreement that i could send two back. The yew was by far the nicest of the bunch, and when i handed all three whistles to another whistle player he picked the yew out straight away as his choice as well.
active parts: Leaves, branches and seeds.
Toxicity: Extreme. The mortal dose for adult is fixed in drinking the resulting liquid of cooking of 50 - 100 gr. of leaves in water. Some few leaves can be mortal in a child. The seeds, although very toxic, are very protected so that is very difficult to ingest them. The fruits (arils) are not toxic. The toxicity of the plant is bigger in winter than in summer. Traditionally their toxicity has been exploited to manufacture arrows to poison enemies.
And no where in that does it say that the wood itself is poisonous.
Exactly.
But the yew-toxic connection didn’t come entirely out of thin air either.
Martin Doyle make flute in yew too.(http://www.martindoyleflutes.com/music.html)
Played by Desi Wilkinson who’s still alive!
Olivier
I agree.
From this… http://ysturners.org/toxicity.htm
As far back as 60 A.D., the Roman historian and naturalist Pliny the Elder described a case where four soldiers actually died after drinking wine from hip flasks made of yew.
Now considering the Roman trait of poisoning each other, plus the extreme joy that their slaves and oppressed people’s would gain out of slipping some poison into a Roman’s flask, one has to seriously question Pliny’s verdict that it was actually the wood the flasks were made from - it’s not like he had a modern forensic lab to test things with.
It does mention on that page that the saw dust from yew is classed as an irritant and can cause problems with people sensitive to it, but i’ve never witnessed this occurring with people working with yew. Also, bearing in mind, a finished whistle isn’t going to pouring fine wood dust everywhere.
Checking with Wikipedia in German, it states the toxins are in the wood, bark, leaves, seeds in different amounts and also the English version says, most parts except the fruit flesh. You normally have to injest it but I personally would not want to take the risk as the lips/mouth are part of the digesting system and via mucous membranes you can take in all kind of toxines, medication etc…
Last we met Phil Bleazey he was not able to physically be in contact with the woods that he makes his instruments from as he was so allergic to them which is quite a pain for a maker. Of course cocobolo is one of the worst for making people sensitive to all kinds of wood allergies.
well… no time, have to pack… of to Tonder Festical, Denmark tomorrow.
Brigitte
Brigitte, i could list a huge list of toxic things that nearly all of us ingest everyday, let alone put our lips too without adverse effects.
Beer, for instance, is highly toxic, and will kill you quite quickly if you drink enough of it. Taken in moderation it can be a harmless and very enjoyable experience.
Potatoes contain toxins.
Tomatoes contain toxins.
etc..
Your right with Tomatoes or Potatoes, depending which bits of the plant or how it is prepared it can be toxic, hence I cut the green trunks inside a tomatoe out and I usually only eat “cooked” potatoes… I am not sure about the English beer and what all is added to it but German beer, the “only” toxin in it should be alcohol, the rest of it is actually quite healthy I believe… 
Brigitte