beginner as to where to stop the string; but it appears (Galpin, p. 46)
that they "add to its tone and resonance by keeping the string from
touching the finger-board too closely." The word "fret" is said to be
derived from the old French _ferrette_, _i.e._, banded with iron. {77a}

[Picture: PLATE II. Various stringed instruments]

In Mace's {77b} book above referred to he discourses with a child-like
enthusiasm on his favourite instrument. He does not follow the elder
lutenists, whom he describes as "extreme shie in revealing the _Occult_
and _Hidden Secrets_ of the Lute." He gives the following examples of
"_False and Ignorant Out-cries against the Lute_":--

(1) "That it is the _Hardest Instrument_ in the _World_.

(2) "That it will take up the Time of an _Apprenticeship_ to play
_well_ upon _It_.

(3) "That it makes _Young People_ grow _awry_.

(4) "That it is a very _Chargeable Instrument_ to keep; so that one had
as good keep a _Horse_ as a _Lute_ for _Cost_.

(5) "That it is a _Woman's Instrument_.

(6) "And lastly (which is the most _Childish_ of all the rest), It is
out of _Fashion_."

The following extracts from Mace will give some idea of his style and of
his method of treating the subject:--

"_First_, _know that an Old Lute is better than a New one_: _Then_, _The
Venice Lutes_ are commonly _Good_. There are diversities of _Mens Names_
in _Lutes_; but the _Chief Name_ we most esteem, is _Laux Maler_, ever
written with _Text Letters_: _Two_ of which _Lutes_ I have seen
(_Pittifull Old_, _Batter'd_, _Crack'd Things_) valued at 100 l. _a
piece_ (p. 48).

"When you perceive any _Peg_ to be troubled with the _slippery Disease_,
assure yourself he will never grow better of _Himself_, without some of
_Your Care_; therefore take _Him_ out, and _examine_ the _Cause_ (p. 51).

"And that you may know how to _shelter your Lute_, in the worst of _Ill
weathers_ (which is _moist_) you shall do well . . . to put _It into a
Bed_, _that is constantly used_, _between the Rug and the Blanket_; but
_never_ between the _sheets_, because they may be _moist_ with _Sweat_
(p. 62).

"Strings are of three sorts, _Minikins_, _Venice-Catlins_, _and Lyons_
(for _Basses_).

"I us'd to compare . . . _Tossing-Finger'd Players_ to _Blind-Horses_,
which always _lift up their Feet_, _higher than need is_; and so by that
means, _can never Run Fast_, or with a _Smooth Swiftness_" (p. 85).

H