Does anybody know anything about this whistle that I saw on eBay?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=927295815
John
Uh, I take it that you mean besides the big description of it on ebay? 
You blow into the little tube coming out of it and it’s fingered the same way.
Hey, I never thought to read the description!
What I am getting to, Ross, is that I am unfamiliar with a whistle structured like this and I was wondering if anyone had any information on the origin.
John
It’s not a whistle, it’s a flageolet. You blow through the little tube at the top, and there’s a chamber between that and the windway. It’s fingered the same as a whistle.
The chamber and extra beak have some effect on the playing. It offers more backpressure than a whistle with the same air flow requirements. Sort of along the same line, there’s less feedback between the backpressure and the playing (octave, volume, etc.).
I have two flageolets, one French from probably the early 1900’s that neither plays nor sounds like a whistle, but is horribly out of tune; and an Alba that doesn’t play like a whistle, but sounds like one and is in tune. They’re both beautiful in their own ways.
The fipple on thie eBay brass pump does look like a French system bicycle valve. It seems you even have a Schrader valve converter, screwed on the side.
Anyway should give you some back pressure ! 
You could attach it to an uilleann pipes bag and make a uilleann whistle. 
It is NOT a flageolet - at least not in the traditional sense with separate moisture chamber and thumb hole(s). Think of it as a side-blown pennywhistle in key of C. I bought one more or less identical to it on eBay last year. Thomas Hastay identified it for me as a “Dummy’s Flute”, probably 19th century German. The closest modern equivalent to it is the “Melody Flute”, which is actually a six-hole fife with a welded-on fixed mouthpiece to direct the airflow across the blowhole. This one is a little different in that the air blown into the side is directed to an airway and blade more or less identical to that of a pennywhistle. It’s played identically to a C pennywhistle, if you were holding the whistle like a fife.
The one I have is of little value except as an antique/curiosity. It requires enormous air, is breathy as hell, and has very low volume. In tune, FWIW and admittedly quiet, but otherwise not much fun to play.
Just for the record, his asking price is 6-7 times what I paid and way beyond what the thing is worth - either as instrument or antique.
For the record, if you REALLY want one - not that I can see why - I’d happily trade mine for any of a large number of mid-range or better whistles.
[ This Message was edited by: Chuck_Clark on 2002-12-08 18:36 ]