The Music Industries Association (MIA) in the UK said that combined online and high street sales had doubled in Britain to about 250,000 a year over the past five years, while, in the US, the National Association of Music Merchants reported a 54 per cent jump in ukulele sales in 2013.

Pundits say that Mumford & Sons have popularised the instrument, though, weirdly, the folksters don’t actually use the uke.

“We’re seeing a global effect,” said Paul McManus, chief executive of the MIA. “There is the Mumford effect, but also a large number of schools are using it as an alternative to recorders as a very easy and cost-effective instrument to start learning.

“It’s been grasped as something that’s fun, perhaps in an ironic way, for some musicians. We have seen sales grow exponentially over the past few years.”

You can learn the ukulele in real life or online with Danny Wootton at the Idler Academy.