"The English that repined to be delayed so long,
All quickly at the hint, as with one free consent,
Strook up at once and sang each to the instrument;
(Of Sundry sorts there were, as the musician likes)
On which the practiced hand with perfect'st fingering strikes,
Whereby their right of skill might liveliest be expressed.
The trembling lute some touch, some strain the violl best,
In setts which there were seene, the music wondrous choice,
Some likewise there affect the Gamba with the voice,
To shew that England could varietie afforde
Some that delight to touch the sterner wyerie chord,
The Cithron, the Pandore, and the Theorbo strike;
The Gittern and the Kit the wandering fidlers like.
So there were some againe, in this their learned strife,
Loud instruments that loved, the Cornet and the Phife,
The Hoboy, Sagbut deepe, Recorder and the Flute,
Even from the shrillest Shawn unto the Cornemute,
Some blow the Bagpie up, that plaies the country 'round,
The Tabor and the Pipe, some take delight to sound."
As some of the above-mentioned instruments are probably unknown to the
majority of readers, I will select for explanation a few that seem least
likely to be familiar:--
_Cithron_--An instrument with wire strings, like
a German zither.
_Pandore_--A variety of the foregoing.
_Theorbo_--A large double-necked instrument of
the lute family. It somewhat resembles,
on a larger scale, the modern mandoline.
_Gittern_--Resembles the guitar. Chaucer refers
to it more than once.
_Kit_--Diminutive violin.
_Sagbut_--Akin to the slide trombone.
_Recorder_--A wind instrument of the clarinet
family.
_Tabor_--A small drum. In olden times used as
an accompaniment to the pipe.
We have alluded to the possible effect on music of the return of numbers
of men from the wars of the Crusades. We pass now to the probable effect
on the morals of the people, with special reference to the musicians of
the period. One of the first results would be to swell the numbers of
itinerant musicians and players who were already a source of trouble not
only to the custodians of the law, but to the average law-abiding
citizen.
It is not to be supposed that the restless spirit of these wanderers
through Europe and the East, with all the concomitant experiences, would
permit them to again settle down to the life of quietude and practical
isolation of the tiller of the soil, from which, no doubt, many of them
had sprung.
No, the roving life of the itinerant "minstrel" or the riotous life of
the city roysterer would be more likely to attract them.
Certain it is, from the diseases they acquired in the East and
disseminated in Europe, one may justifiably argue that their presence
was not likely to raise the moral tone of any company they might be
pleased to join.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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