Tunes played on the fife to regulate military activities. When the fife was reintroduced into the British army in 1746 fife calls, to the drum’s accompaniment, became the rule. They were possibly founded on 17th-century calls such as those that existed in France. Ex.1 shows the ‘Drummers’ Call’ from Potter’s treatise. Fife calls were used in Britain until the 1890s, the last official version being ‘Drum and Flute [i.e. Fife] Duty’, issued 1 October 1887, although fife and drum signals were still included in US army regulations as late as 1904.
For bibliography see Fife.
See also Military music and Signal.
H.G. FARMER/R