Rattles

Here are some of the rattles I've made recently.  They are usually made from deer skin and most often contain either Dartmoor river stones or sea washed pebbles from nearby beaches.  I have also made rattles which contain stones pushed up by moles from underneath an Oak and rattles which contain semi-precious stones or stones that have been sent to me from different parts of the country.  I've made rattles with bone or antler handles and rattles from papier mache and from woven willow.  Let your imagination run riot.

As with the drums, you can have one of these (they all have names under them ease of communication) or you can ask me to journey for 'your' rattle, or you can send me a drawing of what you would like it to look like.

This page will be constantly updated as I make more.

Round and Straight rattle with tassels

Horse Hide and Horse Tail rattle

Oak Leaf and Horse Tail rattle
made by a participant on a rattle making workshop

ZigZag and red paint on a round and straight rattle.

Spotty
This beauty was made by a participant on one of my rattle making days.

The Pythia's Rattle with shed snake skin.
Sadly the snake skin was too fragile to leave like this but the length of the handle had snake skin glued to it. I do sometimes get gifted shed snakeskin so it is possible to re-create this rattle BUT the skin is very, very fragile and even glued to the handle is unlikely to last through extensive use of the rattle. 

round and straight with sanded handle and feather

Small antler rattle

variations on the theme of round and straight

Another Snaily and Spiral

Ancient Spear Rattles 

Goaty Rattle 

Another variation on round and straight. 

The Cobbler's Rattle 

Bid Ben Bid Bont Rattle

Round and Straight Rattle 

The Golden Bough Rattle 

Ant People Rattle 

Wriggly Snaily Rattle 

Earth Warrior Rattle 

Hazel Rune Rattle

Snake Rattle

Strange and Secret Little Foot 

Flyte 

Red Eyed Snake 

The Cobbler's Rattle from a different angle. 

Peeled Stick Rattle

Small Oak Leaf Rattle 

Hedgerow Rattle (Obviously the stick won't be identical, but I do my best)

Moon Song Rattle

Snaily Rattle 

Horsehair and Antler Round Head Rattle

Spiral Handled Rattle 

My round rattle, Angharad's Antlers Ratle. 

Skep Rattle

Stunning flame shaped rattle with carved Yew handle made by a workshop participant. He carved the handle at home, I don't think it would be possible to make a handle as beautifully crafted here in just one day - but this is hopefully food for thought - you could make your handle before you come.  Or you could carve it later at home.  

Woodpecker Sings to The Moon

Heart of Oak Rattle 

This rattle was made by a participant in a recent rattle workshop.  Deerskin and horsehair, recycled suede and a stick and stones found on a walk the day before.  Lovely.

Three rattles in progress during a rattle workshop.  Mine's the one in the middle, the bottom one became a beautiful 'feather' rattle but sadly I forgot to take a photo of the finished article.

Antler handled rattle 

Red Hot Rattle

Arrow Head and Crescent Moon  Rattle

Rain Forest Rattle

Blue Wave Rattle

Leaf Rattle

Flame Rattle

Leaf Flame

Cell Rattle

Round rattles and leaf rattle with rawhide binding.

Oak Leaf Rattle

If I've made you a rattle and there's no picture of it here then I would love it if you would send me one.  I've been making rattles for a decade and only recently started photographing them.  They're not really particularly photogenic as most of the beauty and magic is in the sound, but I hope you've enjoyed looking at them anyway.