ough he had
especially valued it. The true harp, which in its simplest form (Galpin,
p. 8) chiefly differs from the rote in shape, {73a} is characterised by
the picturesque triangular outline that is so familiar. It was of
Teutonic origin, and Mr Galpin tells an admirable story of a Saxon who
disguised himself as a Briton, by playing the rote instead of the harp,
which would have revealed his nationality. In spite of its Saxon
parentage the Irish adopted the harp, and a beautiful instrument of the
early thirteenth century is preserved at Trinity College, Dublin (Galpin,
p. 12). The Irish for _harp_ is _Clairsech_, {73b} a word that reminds
me of an Irish friend who used to quote--

"Old Tracy and old Darcy
Playing all weathers on the Clarsy."

Mr Galpin tells a pleasant story of St Ealdhelm, who was Bishop of
Sherborne in the year 705. When he was about to preach he found the
church empty; he therefore took his harp, and "standing on a bridge hard
by, soon attracted a considerable crowd by his playing. Then he
delivered his sermon."

Chapter ii, p. 20, is devoted to the gittern and citole. In the
first-named instrument we have the ancestor of the guitar, which it
resembled in its flat back, and in the curving inwards of the vertical
sides. {74a} It has generally been believed that the "waist" thus
produced was an adaptation to the use of the bow, but, as the author
points out, this form occurs long before the existence of bowed
instruments. {74b} At p. 22 (Galpin) is given an early fourteenth
century illustration of a gittern-player, holding in his right hand the
plectrum with which he sounds the strings. The most curious point,
however, is the depth of the neck of the instrument, which is pierced by
a large hole to admit the left thumb; without this curious device it
would apparently be impossible to stop the strings. On the same plate is
given an illustration of the precious gittern at Warwick Castle, believed
to date from about 1330, in which the thumb-hole is more clearly shown.
The guitar, which may be considered a descendant of the gittern, is said
to have completely eclipsed its ancestor in the seventeenth century. And
at the present time it, together with the mandoline and the banjo, are
the only representatives of the type in every-day use.

Mr Galpin places the citole in the same class as the gittern. He says
that this instrument has been much misunderstood, and since I do not
desire