The syrinx, which was, in fact, the Pandean pipe, was composed usually of seven tubes of unequal length, forming a straight line at the top for the mouth of the player. Trumpets were much in use among the English, and were employed in the chase and in the tourney, as well as in sounding the charge in battle. They were also used at feasts, public assemblies, and as signals by which one man could communicate with another at a distance beyond the reach of the voice. The lyre, which was the principal stringed instrument of the Greeks and the Romans, preserved its primitive form until the tenth century. The number of cords varied from three to eight. The lyre of the North--which was unquestionably the origin of the violin, and which already presented the shape of that instrument--had a bridge in the middle of the sound-board. [Illustration: ENGLISH GAME OF BOWLS. (_From Royal MS._, 20, _D_ 4.)] The _psalterium_, which must not be confounded with the _psalterion_ of the thirteenth century, was a little portable harp, played either with one or both hands. After the fifth century its shape varied, and was sometimes square or triangular, and sometimes round. In the tenth century the psalterium gave place to the cithara, a name by which various stringed instruments had at first been vaguely described. [Illustration: LADIES HUNTING. (_From Royal MS._, 2 _B._ 7.)] The English harp was at first only a triangular cithara, but that of the ninth century appears to have differed little from the modern instrument of that name, and the simplicity and elegance of its form had arrived nearly at perfection. The English gleemen usually sang to the harp, and this instrument was also in common use among persons who did not follow the profession of minstrels. Bede tells us that, as early as the seventh century, it was customary at convivial meetings to hand a harp from one person to another; and that every one present played upon it in turn, singing a song to the music. This may be presumed to have been the case when the professional harper, whose business it was to amuse the company, was not present. [Illustration: NORMAN COSTUMES OF THE ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES. 1. Bishops and Barons (11_th Century_). 2. Noble Ladies and Citizens (11_th Century_). 3. Prince, Princess, and Cross-Bowman (11_th Century_). 4. Artisans and Artificers (11_th Century_). 5. Military Costumes of the 12th Century. 6. Noble Ladies of Normandy (12_th Century_).] Games and exercises of strength and agility were common among the Anglo-Saxons. St. Cuthbert is stated by Bede to have excelled in running, wrestling, and other athletic sports. Feats of juggling were performed by the gleemen, who were the most important characters in the festivals and other popular gatherings. Some of the gleemen seem to have performed tricks, gambols, and feats of all kinds, while others were harpers, or bards, and ballad-singers.