Description
Held at a research center in New Orleans is a little fife that had been donated by someone that claims it was used at the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815. It certainly has the look of something that had “gone through the war”, and is believed to have been carried by the fifer from the region about Kentucky or Tennessee. A friend brought this to my attention and took measurements; from this, I base our “N’Orleans Model Fife”. It follows the original rather closely based upon photos and measurements, minus the crushing cracks and the brass bands placed along the length – there’s some question that this was done to hold the instrument together from cracking, but I’m inclined to think that it was an aesthetic much like some of the models later offered by Crosby, Cloos, and a few other makers. Here, I don’t bother with the bands mostly because at this point it is an unnecessary expense for an otherwise fully functional fife. The original was not of Boxwood but of a domestic fruitwood, and here I made this set in Apple wood. The model is in C – as was most common in the 18th and turn of the 19th century, based upon surviving examples – and is an excellent choice for your War of 1812 impression. The head ferrule is slightly tapered while the foot ferrule is the more common “barrel” cylindrical, both brass; just like the original.
