OK, I’m excited, but not certain if it’s justified; please all you experts, let me know! The old Clarke arrived this morning, and the first thing I noticed was that it was definitely in D. As expected it’s in old style slightly sharper D. The next thing I noticed was that the fipple is retained with only two punch marks either side. The fipple is highly gunged with years of sticky lips pressing on it, and is located so that it is forward of the cut-out by about a sixteenth of an inch. Whether or not that’s it’s original position is of course impossible to say. On attempting to play it I was able to get a nicely clear and beautifully toned first octave, but above D6 was impossible. This may be rectifiable by adjusting the blade and/or windway, but I would think it more likely the fipple position is at fault ? Pictures of the solder line along the joint show a very crude hand done seam seal (although this is obviously purely cosmetic). I imagine this would have been done with one of the very heavy solid copper irons that were common at that time. On further examination I noted that visually at least, the fipple plug angle on the interior appears to the same as the exterior, which would of course simplify manufacture. I’m not able at the moment to give accurate measurement of the whistle, as being temporarily disabled I can’t get to my workshop and tools. Hole position and cut-out details will follow as and when. Have a good look at the pics (I’ve left the seller’s original two in) and ask any questions they don’t answer.
I look forward to all replies on this interesting beasty.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u1rn2o92k32puok/AADCVYnnGwNutAiikdEm1DfXa?dl=0
This may be rectifiable by adjusting the blade and/or windway, but I would think it more likely the fipple position is at fault ?
Try checking for leaks. There seems to be a lot of space around the (lower end of the) wooden plug. If there’s space/air leaking fill with a bit of beeswax and see what happens. Also check the seam. If that doesn’t fix things you’ll have to look at the alignment of the windway and the blade.
Hi Mr Gumby,
Yes, you’re right, there is a lot of space under the fipple, but the seam is tight. As soon as I can get my lady to find some blu-tac I’ll fill it and try again. Watch this space!
I am intrigued though that you make no mention of the whistle itself. Is it as uncommon as I think (I still haven’t received the Clarke book) or am I getting excited over nothing?
Max
I think it’s pretty cool and would be excited myself. Mr. Gumby’s idea to look for leaks first is sage advice…once you start moving/cutting stuff, there is no going back!
Nice find. May I ask what it cost?
Eric
Beautiful old whistle you’ve got there! Clearly not anything made after the early 20th century! Usually what you find under “vintage” penny whistles are new in the box Clarkes rather than anything truly vintage. I’m glad the bottom octave at least plays well – I think Mr Gumby’s suggestions are sound, re checking for leaks in the seam and around the bottom and sides of the block. I’m not familiar with blu-tac, but beeswax would certainly work and wouldn’t be as obvious as a wad of blue at the end of your antique whistle!
The rust, of course, is of concern. That might have to be addressed eventually – as I think sooner or later the rust will keep eating away at the metal until nothing is left. Also, I wouldn’t mess around with the block unless it’s just rotted away or broken or is determined to be in the wrong position after following Mr G’s other recommendations first.
Hi Jayhawk and Whistlecollector,
Well as I couldn’t find my Blu-tac, I decided a temporary solution would be to wrap some microporous tape around the end, which sealed it but didn’t solve the problem. So next I looked closely at the the geometry of the blade and windway, and saw that the blade was too high in relation to the windway. With small adjustments, and then checking, I gradually got it to blow the second octave. It’s not right yet, but I need time alone to do this, as blowing iffy scales doesn’t go down too well with her indoors! I feel confident I can improve it further without having to alter anything other than the top of the windway and the blade. I don’t think I could justify making any intrusive modifications. I suspect that this was never intended to be anything remarkable, but who knows? Until somebody convinces me otherwise, I’m going to treat this as a rare whistle.
I’m at hospital most of tomorrow, so won’t be doing anything else to it until Tuesday at the earliest. Oh, and to answer J’s question, it cost me £9.50 including postage.
Cheers
Max
That’s a good deal. Looking at the pics, I wondered if someone smashed the windway since it wasn’t arched like most Clarkes. Maybe they messed with the windway, too, and didn’t get it right. Personally tweaking Clarkes, I know this can occur.
Eric
Hi Eric,
Looking at the windway and blade closely, I don’t get the impression they’ve been messed with. There are certainly indications that the blade has had a knock at some time in it’s history, but there’s no residual indications that it was ever ‘punched’ as the later ones were/are. This may indicate a different manufacturing process in these earlier models?
Max
Most older whistles I’ve seen have more or less flat windways, rather than arched. It could be that Clarke started arching them some time ago (one fewer step in manufacturing & finishing, I suppose!). If it was originally arched, then someone did a pretty good job of flattening it without pushing out the sides and also squaring up the corners!
Have to say, that block looks a microbiology experiment gone haywire! I can’t even see any actual wood – it just looks like a thick layer of biofilm. 
The sides look pretty tight anyway; but you might consider looking down through the length of the whistle to see if any light comes in around the sides of the bock, especially at the bottom, which looks like it’s about as open as the windway itself! That could do with filling with wax or blu-tac, even if you don’t do anything else to the whistle.
The window itself looks móstly unmessed with – there do appear to be a couple raised areas on either side of midline, which could indicate a flattening of the M-style blade, and otherwise seems more-or-less as made. Clearly before the M-style blade came along, if it hasn’t been messed with!
I have a painted R Clarke with dimpled M-style blade but flat, unarched windway. All the newer Clarkes I have are very arched in the windway.
All in all, very cool find! And all this for ten quid / fifteen piastres! 
Hi there!
You intentionally or otherwise ended up there with a fantastically appropriate pun. My old memory couldn’t remember what a piastre was, so I looked it up on Wiki, and lo and behold it originally meant ‘thin metal plate’!
You’re certainly right about the ‘biofilm’; it’s years of lip gum and Guinness, and may well be highly contagious to an Englishman! However, as yet no part has touched my lips, due to making sure it’s been covered before I blow.
I’m fairly confident that this never had an arched windway, because as you say, it would have been unnecessarily difficult to flatten it without leaving some kind of evidence. I’m also reasonably certain that the blade was never punched down in the centre to create the M shape of the later models.
It’s a relief to know that the general opinion is that I didn’t pay too much for this!
Are there any present day Clarke staff watching this thread, who may have any extra info?
Max
Hi all,
Just a quick update on this whistle. I contacted Clarke’s asking if Norman was still around, and if so, saying I’d be interested in his comments on the whistle, and giving a link to the pics. This is a copy of the reply I received, and suggests to me that unfortunately there isn’t a huge amount of interest in their history any longer. Shame.
Norman retired some years ago now!
I am not sure how if it’s any help, it is obvious that it is
a an old Clarke and probably pre World War 2 production.
Exactly how old is impossible to tell, I am sorry I cannot
help you further.
Best,
Jim Weedon
I replied to him as this copy.
Many thanks for your reply Jim,
I suspect it’s actually pre 1900, and of interest because it’s in D. However, I’ll pass your comments on to Chiff and Fipple
Regards
Max
Yeah, I would hazard the guess that the Weedons just don’t have the same deep connection to the whistle that the Clarkes did. Happens sometimes when a family run business, and especially one where the family has been at it a while, sells off to outsiders.
Unfortunately, the next best source, that book “History of the Tinwhistle”, doesn’t seem to be a whole lot more informative. An interesting story, but was really quite disappointing on several counts, one main one being the lack of pictures or information about old whistles!
But kudos at least to Mr Weedon for responding to your question, even if it was less informative than you might have hoped! It may simply be that he does not have the experience or foundation with the older Clarke whistles to make a judgment other than “yeah, it’s old”!
It’s a shame that the photos have mostly gone from these older posts. Here’s an R. Clarke D that I acquired recently that may be similar. Despite being well battered and a bit bent, it plays quite well if a bit quietly (low windway at the moment) at a pitch a bit sharp of A 450.
It’s a lot narrower than a contemporary D (about 2mm narrower all the way down), a bit shorter and is pinched flat over a much lower block than modern ones (photo 4).
After a lot of reading around about clues concerning the unavailability of old Clarke Ds, I’m guessing it’s probably pre-1920s.
R. Clarke top. Modern D natural and painted below.
An old D that Frank Claudy posted in 2017 in C&F’s Facebook group where he said it played well sharp of A440: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1994874124124440&set=gm.10155480674315590
