OLD ENGLISH INSTRUMENTS OF MUSIC MUSIC LIBRARY Qr3 University of GaiiforniB , B«rk«toy /' LIBRARIAN'S FUft'O Printed in Great Britain TO THE MASTER WARDENS, COURT OF ASSISTANTS AND LIVERY OF THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF MUSICIANS Floruit—Floret—Florebit 214917 PREFACE WHEN the General Editor asked me to contribute a volume on Musical Instruments to the series of The Antiquary's Books I found myself confronted by two great difficulties : there was, first of all, the vast extent of the subject, of which mere portions have already called forth large and important works ; and then there was the question whether it would be possible to put in a popular form material which should also satisfy the in- quiries of the student and archaeologist. The latter re- quirement will explain the admission of much which might otherwise be thought unnecessary ; for instance, to the ordinary reader it may seem a needless task to describe the compass, pitch and tunings of these old- world instruments, and yet there are no details about which I have been so frequently asked, especially by those who happen to possess musical relics and desire to hear once more the voices of the past. Having a pro- found sympathy with such desire, I hope they will find that, although the introduction of the Staff Notation into the text has been avoided, these interesting particulars can be easily ascertained by comparing the signs used with the key given in the Appendix. In order to deal at all adequately with so extensive a subject, it has been considered advisable to restrict it to a description of the instruments used in England and in other parts of the United Kingdom so far as they have viii OLD ENGLISH INSTRUMENTS OF MUSIC shared our old English life ; and it was thought that the end of the eighteenth century, or shortly after, would form a suitable point at which to close their history. The increasing popularity of the Pianoforte and the im- provements made in the Wind Instruments rendered the last century much more modern than its immediate pre- decessor. For the origin of the Musical Instruments used by our forefathers I have not hesitated to go to times most re- mote and to trace their wanderings westward through countries far removed from our island. But for literary and pictorial illustration I have confined myself almost entirely to English authors and English artists, and most of the mediaeval miniatures here reproduced are presented in this connection for the first time, as I have endeavoured to avoid the oft-repeated continental examples and to obtain photographs of musical subjects not already pub- lished. This determination added greatly to the work of pre- paration, but it achieved another interesting result ; for by the careful collation of a large number of illuminated manuscripts of undoubted English workmanship, to- gether with English ecclesiastical carvings of various periods, it has been possible to obtain some idea of the order in which the different forms of instruments ap- peared among us and of the approximate date at which they first came into use. Such details, indeed, are more than mere points in musical history : they assist the identification of the source of the manuscripts them- selves ; for example, I conclude that any work which, previous to the close of the fifteenth century, shows an illustration of the Transverse or Concert Flute cannot be considered as a genuine English production, because this PREFACE ix instrument, now so well known to us, was not introduced into this country till the reign of Henry VII or his suc- cessor, though in Germany, Italy, France, and subse- quently in Flanders, it had been in popular use from the thirteenth century. Another instrument which may assist in a similar way is the small Lute or Mandore, which did not appear in England till the close of the fourteenth century, although it had long been employed on the Continent. Illustrations which will enable such typical forms to be identified are here given. The study of Musical Instruments now no longer with us is therefore necessary, not only for the musician and composer, but for the man of letters, the artist and the chronicler of our national life ; for many allusions to customs of bygone times cannot otherwise be understood, and we should be spared such a trying ordeal as we were recently subjected to by one of our leading illustrated papers, which introduced into a thirteenth-century scene a twentieth-century Mandoline with up-to-date mechanism. To the ethnologist also such a study is invaluable, but to none does it yield so great a pleasure as to the col- lector. From the red-letter day when I secured my first " Serpent" and carried the evil beast home to awaken the echoes of Trinity Great Court, at one time the acquisi- tion and now, I am thankful to say, the more economical appreciation of all kinds of musical instruments, have given zest to holidays and recreation to leisure hours. To an Englishman, however, such a pursuit is at present a cause of much humiliation ; for as we stand among the carefully arranged collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Brussels Conservatoire of Music or of the Hochschule at Berlin, we are compelled to acknowledore that England has no such national collec- X OLD ENGLISH INSTRUMENTS OF MUSIC tion, no galleries where the lover of music can trace the evolution of his favourite instrument through the long ages of the past by a graded series of typical specimens clearly explained by labels, charts and handbooks. Have not the Board of Education one room to spare in their new and unrivalled building at South Kensington, where something more than a few selected instruments with costly decoration may greet the musician's eye and make him turn away with the thought that he evidently stands outside the Arts? The lines on which such a systematic collection might be simply and effectively arranged are set out in the Appendix. Before concluding this long-drawn prelude I must ac- knowledge the thanks which I owe to those who have assisted me in the present work. They are, indeed, so many, that if they are omitted by name, it is not because my appreciation of their kindly help is less sincere. I am, however, especially beholden to Mr. R. B. Arm- strong, of Edinburgh, for his valuable information on the Irish Harp, and his labour and ingenuity in making the first correct reconstruction of the oldest instrument of the kind known to us ; to the authorities of the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the London Society of Antiquaries, Lambeth Palace Library, the Bodleian Library, the Cambridge University Library, the Glasgow University Library, the Advocates' Library at Edinburgh, the National Museum at Dublin, All Souls College at Oxford, Trinity College, S. John's College, Corpus Christi College, Peterhouse and the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, for the willing way in which they facilitated my work of inspecting and photographing the manuscripts and works of art in their keeping ; to Miss Weld, for permission to examine the famous Loutrell PREFACE xi Psalter, now at Lulworth Castle, Dorset ; to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster (through the Rev. Canon Duckworth) for leave to photograph the Litlington Missal ; to Sir Frederick Bridge, to whose interest in the old English instruments all owe a debt of thanks ; to Dr. T. L. Southgate, Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians ; to Mr. A. H. Littleton, Herr C. Claudius, of Copenhagen, and the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, for illustrations of English instruments in their posses- to Salvin, sion ; Miss V. Dr. H. Watson, Dr. J. C. Cox, Mr. W. Barclay Squire, Mr. F. Bond, Mr. S. C. Cockerell, Mr. C. Goulding, to my son, Mr. C. J. Galpin, and others ; and not least, to my wife, one of the few lutenists left, for her practical interest in the production of these pages and the labour of preparing them for the press. I trust that the source from which each illustration has been taken will be found to be duly acknowledged ; if it is not mentioned, it is to be understood that the instru- ment is in my own collection. Some of my statements may be challenged by musical antiquaries, but I hope they will believe that they are given as the result of due investigation, and that the objectionable system of elaborate footnotes would have been required to trace the steps by which each conclusion was reached. If my deductions are wrong, I am willing to bear correction. That further research will reveal new facts is certain, and no one will more gladly welcome all contributions toward a better knowledge and appreciation of the old English instruments of music than the writer himself. FRANCIS W. GALPIN Hatfield Regis Vicarage Harlow BOOKS OF REFERENCE THE subjoined list is in no wise a bibliography of the subject, and is only intended to suggest works which will be found helpful for the study of Musical Instru- ments, and especiall}' of those formerly in use in our own country. Standard authorities of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, such as Virdung, Agricola, Prjetorius, Cerone, Mersenne and included good reprints, however, of the first Kircher, are not ; three can now be obtained. Articles in Grove's Dictionary of Music and in the Eyicyclopcedia Britannica will be found useful. - GENERAL HISTORY Prehistoric Art, by T. Wilson. Washington, 1898. T/ie World's Earliest Music, by Hermann Smith London, 1904. The Music of the Most Ancient Nations, by C. Engel.