Carnyx

It was a type of trumpet made of bronze with an elongated S shape, held so that the long straight central portion was vertical and the short mouthpiece end section and the much wider bell were horizontal in opposed directions.

[3] In Iron Age Britain, animal symbolism deliberately conveys aggression and ferocity, with examples including a boar on the Witham Shield, the snouted Deskford carnyx in Scotland and the dragon pair sword scabbard from the River Thames.

[4] There is evidence to suggest that the carnyx would be held by a chieftain, as shown by a potential Gaulish king Bituitos figure.

[10] Based in part on the metallurgy, the Museum of Scotland give a date of 80—250 CE for its construction, noting that it was a locally-produced piece, "a specifically Scottish variant" distinct in design from known continental carnyces and that its "decoration is typical of metalwork in north-east Scotland at the time, where there was a flourishing tradition of fine bronze-working.

[15] The name is known from textual sources, carnyces are reported from the Celtic attack on the Delphi in 279 BCE, as well as from Julius Caesar's campaign in Gaul and the Claudian invasion of Britannia in 43 CE by Aulus Plautius.

[19] In 1993 Kenny became the first person to play the carnyx in 2,000 years, and has since lectured and performed on the instrument internationally, in the concert hall, on radio, television, and film.

[20] On 15 June 2017 "The Music of the Forest", a specially commissioned work by Lakeland composer, Christopher Gibbs, featuring a reconstructed carnyx, received its world premiere at Slaidburn Village Hall.

The four-part song cycle evoked the landscape and history of the Forest of Bowland and was performed by the Renaissance Singers of Blackburn Cathedral under the direction of Samuel Hudson.