An oboe constructed of green willow bark twisted into a conical shape and fastened with hawthorn spines (see illustration). It has a double reed made of the ‘inside willow’ as described by William Kimber. It is widely used in Europe, mainly by herdsmen for signalling; in England it was used in the Savernake Forest, Wiltshire during the Whit Monday hunt and by Morris dancers in Headington, Oxfordshire, to announce May morning. It is also used as a children’s toy and by itinerant vendors and tradesmen. It produces one loud sound which may be caused to fluctuate in pitch by a variation of breath pressure. For further information see H. Balfour: ‘A Primitive Musical Instrument (the Whit-Horn)’, Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist, ii (1896), 221–4.
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