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Military Serpent

Military Serpent by Thomas Key

This serpent was made by the wind instrument maker Thomas Key.  Key worked at various addresses around central London, including Pall Mall and Charing Cross Road, from 1807 until 1855 when the company was taken over by Rudall, Rose, Carte and Co.  He was most famous for making brass instruments such as bugles and Sax-valve horns but his portfolio included other instruments such as flutes, bass horns and military serpents.  In fact, in 1809 he was listed as musical instrument maker “to their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, Dukes of York, Kent, Cumberland and Cambridge.”

The serpent (Bate Collection number 505) is fairly typical of an English style military serpent.  It is of sectioned wooden construction in the classic “S” bend arrangement with all parts stapled together and then bound in linen and painted with black pitch.  There are six open tone holes and seven brass keys mounted on saddles.  The brass crook fits into a brass socket ferrule which bears the engraving:  “KEY / 20 CHARING CROSS / LONDON ; LGL5 from 1813”.  The bends are supported in plane by brass struts and the bell is angled forwards at about 40 degrees.  It is complete with an ivory mouthpiece and is in mostly playable condition.

What is particularly interesting about this instrument is that the brass bell mount also bears an engraving:  “RICHARD BENTINCK / -DRUMMER- / 23RD REGIMENT OF FOOT / - R•W•F - / WELLINGTON - WATERLOO / JUNE 18TH 1815”.

That is a pretty exciting piece of evidence and would tend to give us a fairly unshakeable provenance of the instrument from the time it was made.  The instrument was donated to the Bate Collection by William Morley-Pegge in memory of his father, the noted horn player and organologist Reginald Morley-Pegge.  Unfortunately there is no indication on file or in the archives as to where or when he acquired the instrument.

It has had a few brushes with fame in recent years and featured in a concert in the late 1970’s.  More recently, it was played by Douglas Yeo, principal bass trombone player of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, when he visited on a study tour in 2009.  

Sound Sample