Tinguian Patoc pabilbil bullroarer

pabilbil

Source term: bull roarer

pabilbil (Tinguian/Itneg) — the whirled bullroarer, not to be confused with bilbil/bungkaka, the struck bamboo buzzer of Cordillera women.

At Patoc, boys swung the pabilbil overhead for the pleasure of its roar—and to send stray horses running. Fay-Cooper Cole collected this complete bamboo rig in 1907–08: a thin blade suspended by red cord from a long handle.

pabilbil, bull roarer, used to drive or frighten horses; bamboo pole has thin strip of bamboo attached by red cord; usually a boy's plaything

E. Arsenio Manuel, 'Toward an Inventory of Philippine Musical Instruments,' Asian Studies 14, no. 1 (1976): 10 (Field Museum of Natural History Tinguian inventory, Sp. No. 109123).

Particulars

Object

Thin bamboo blade tied by a red cord to a long bamboo handle; Field Museum 109123. A Philippine rig of the same build is in the Penn Museum, Philadelphia: object 22287, a flat bamboo blade only 15.7 centimetres long, pointed at one end and notched at the other for its string, with a separate tapered bamboo handle.

Function

A boys’ plaything swung overhead to make a pleasing roar and drive stray horses.