Dear all,

some days ago I received my Alba Q1 aluminium whistle. It's wonderful and it has an engraving in what I think is Irish Language.

Of course, being Italian and already struggling with my english, I've neither a pale idea of what does it mean

Could anybody help me to understand my Irish whistle?

The engraving is running around the whistle's bore so I'm not sure where it begins and where it ends. It says:

Na' fash. Leal Cantg[*]"n" Downie.

[*](or maybe "Canty", characters are no easy to read)

Thanks in advance to anybody that will help me

Cheers!

Ciao

Adriano

Leal Canty and Downie could be the name of the company that made it. "n" is often the abbreviation for and in English. Unless the whistle came from Ireland or Scotland,it would be quite unusual to have Gaelic inscribed on it.

Dear Beagle,

the company name is Alba Whistles, and the whistle is handmade in Scotland.

Thanks for your reply!
Ciao

Adriano

Alba is in Scotland, so I doubt any inscription would be in Irish. If it's Gaelic at all, it will be Scottish Gaelic.

Your best bet might be to contact Alba directly with your question. If it's a custom engraving (and I suspect it is, as normally all they have engraved on their whistles is the company name), they will probably remember it.

http://www.albawhistles.com/index.php

Did you buy the whistle directly from Alba or from a previous owner?

Redwolf

I bought it from bigwhistle.co.uk. It is new (or at least it should be...)

thanks Redwolf, I'll write to them asking for the engraving meaning!
Ciao

Adriano

Should be a lovely instrument. Alba has an excellent reputation.

Redwolf

It is! Just a bit difficult to play for a beginner like me, since it has a lot of back pressure. But the sound is something unique!

I think you'll come to like the back pressure as you progress, especially with faster tunes.

Redwolf

Yes, this is what I a read too, but I don't understand (yet) how could back pressure be useful, you have to blow stronger, is more tiring. Do you know why when one becomes more expert will appreciate it?