Pipe down

Some of our knitting group have recently moved house. Last week, we were talking about the trials and tribulations of moving and how we inevitably lose stuff in the process. I have moved house many times and have lost things that were dear to me. However, one thing seems to survive. And this is it:

It's a boatswain's pipe sometimes called a bosun's whistle or call. These pipes can be traced as far back as the Crusades and were used to pass commands to a ship's crew as they could be heard over the sound of the sea. Nowadays, they are generally used on ceremonial occasions.

I found this one almost 50 years ago on Eastbourne beach. Many of you will know how stony English beaches are so it is miraculous to find anything. This has stayed with me through house moves across four countries, three continents and two hemispheres. I haven't consciously treated it any differently to any other possesion but it is the one thing that has remained with me through all that time and the only remnant of my childhood.

It might seem fanciful but I wonder if this little artifact has had a deeper influence on my life. I was married for almost forty years to a master mariner and my present partner is ex-RAN. As the songs says - all the nice girls love a sailor!