In 1843 Robert Clarke invented the tinwhistle. The first
ones that he manufactured were called Megs.
Meg is the Victorian word for a halfpenny and that is precisely what Robert's
tinwhistle cost to buy. In making such an inexpensive real musical instrument,
Robert brought affordable music to the masses and, in no time, his instruments
were becoming available world-wide.
Now, in a way, the Clarke Company is making History repeat itself. We have
started manufacturing a new tinwhistle that we have called the Meg.
The introduction of the Meg is a result of combining, the design of our popular
UK manufactured Sweetone range, with
budget raw materials and modified productions process.
The Meg whistle plays great and is very similar
in tone and playability to the popular Clarke
Sweetone. It is one of the best whistles for a beginner - it is
played very easily in the entire two octave range, and is capable of all the
ornamentation that other whistles are.
The whistle is made of tin-plate; the mouthpiece is plastic. They can also be made
tunable; take a look in our Beginner's Section for more info on how
to do this.
All Meg whistles also include a fingering chart and songsheet.
If you are new to playing whistle, we recommend that you start with a
whistle in the key of D.
See our Beginner's
Section for more info on whistle keys.
(Don't forget to order a Whistle Pouch for your whistle!)