In the days of Windjammers and Cutters the sailors were trained to respond to a whistle, like sheepdogs, rather than shouted commands.

The reason for that is that during a storm shouted commands were impossible to hear, but the whistle cut through to tell the sailors what to do.

The whistle used is called a Boatswain’s Call.

The Boatswain is the officer in charge of the rigging, sails and sailing equipment.

This whistle has been used on English ships since the thirteenth century and something similar is known to have been used on Roman Galleys.

While this tool isn’t used to issue orders any more, the navy still uses it to pipe the captain or special guests on board.

You will probably heard this used in some movies with a nautical theme.

Why am I telling you this?

Because today I was given one, and I like to find out as much as I can about interesting artefacts.

It came in a wooden box, appears to have been made of brass, and it came with instructions on how to use it.

So, I’ll learn how to use it and some of the calls, then it’ll go on the shelf as a curio.

Probably alongside the 18th century opera glasses.

I’m not going to attempt some cheesy reference to marketing now, it just wouldn’t fit well.

Regards,
Brent.

P.S. I might, however, write a blog post on the subject for one of my websites as a reference for writers, or I could use this free tool to do it for me. https://codeium.com/windsurf.

I know it builds great pages with very little input, in fact I think I’ll set it going now.