Born Montague Rhodes James
1 August 1862
Goodnestone, Kent, England
Died 12 June 1936 (aged 73)
Eton, Buckinghamshire, England

One of my favorite stories by M.R. James is a ghost  story called,  ‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’

In the story a Cambridge professor named Parkins discovers and uses a bronze whistle that summons up a malevolent spirit  and let’s just say that the ghost is not exactly happy with Parkins.

In various adaptations Jame’s whistle takes the shape of a Wedding Ring in the ” Father Brown Mysteries ”  the whistle is made of bone- that one is my favorite.

My takeaway from this story is this, if you find a whistle made of bone or you find a bronze whistle hidden in ancient ruins that are probably cursed I think it’s best not to try it out. Call me overly cautious and I will admit I’ve read a few too many stories about resurrectionist but I don’t think anything good can come of it.

Illustration by James McBryde for M. R. James’s story “Oh, Whistle, And I’ll Come To You, My Lad”, first published “All Hallows Eve 1904”.

Jame’s story came out in 1904.

In 1995 in a cave in Northwestern Slovenia archeologists discovered the world oldest musical instrument. Some call it a bone flute, others may call it a whistle,  someone claims they learned to play it in a dream and others say they’re not convinced it was intended to play music but what everyone agrees on is one thing-

it’s made of bone.

Divje Babe flute (alleged Late Pleistocene flute) National Museum of Slovenia.