of its former owners, the Robertsons of Lude in Perthshire, but
in passing through several mediums it has become unreliable. It
was long believed to have been Mary Stuart's, and, according to
the Lude tradition, it had golden and jewelled ornaments attached
to the right upper circle of the bow including her portrait and
the Royal Arms of Scotland, which were stolen about 1745. The
historical inquiry containing the information respecting this Harp
is by John Gunn, F.S.A.E., and was published in 1807, under the
auspices of the Highland Society. A paper read before the Society
of Antiquaries of Scotland by Mr. Charles D. Bell, F.S.A. Scot.,
and published in their _Proceedings_ for 1880-81, from which I have
made extracts, thoroughly sifts the facts that can be deduced from
it, and which may be thus accepted:--Queen Mary of Lorraine, the
mother of Mary Queen of Scots, gave this harp to Beatrix Gardyn of
Banchory, Aberdeenshire. Beatrix Gardyn was married to Finla Mór,
and from this marriage the family of Farquharson of Invercauld, in
Braemar, is descended. Finla Mór was killed at the battle of Pinkie
in A.D. 1547. John Robertson, the eleventh in succession
to Lude, married Margaret Farquharson, the only daughter of the
then Laird of Invercauld. He was fifty-six years in possession of
Lude, and died in A.D. 1730. The last performer on this
ancient harp was his great-grandson, General Robertson, who lent
both the Lude harps for examination by the Highland Society in 1805.
It appears to have been General Robertson's belief that this harp
was acquired for Lude by the marriage of John, the eleventh Laird,
with a direct descendant of Beatrix Gardyn, but, following Burke's
genealogy of the family, it would appear that it came to Lude with
Beatrix Gardyn herself, on her marriage with John, seventh Laird.
The Robertsons of Lude are now, in the direct line, extinct, but the
family of Gardyn is represented by Francis Garden-Campbell, Esq., of
Troup and Glenlyon.
Queen Mary's and the Lamont Harps are on loan (1887) in the Museum
of the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh, and it may be
mentioned that when exhibited in the Music Loan Collection, South
Kensington, the former was insured for £1500 and the latter for
£1000.
[Illustration: III]
PLATE III.
THE LAMONT HARP.
The Highland Harp, known as the Clarsach Lumanach, or Lamont Harp,
belongs to the owner of the Queen Mary Harp, C. Durrant Steuart,
Esq., of Dalguise, Perthshire. Both harps were sent to Edinburgh in
1805 by General Robertson of Lude, who owned them at that time, at
the request of the Highland Society, and a book was published in 1807
under the patronage of the Society, entitled _An Historical Enquiry
respecting the Performance on the Harp in the Highlands of Scotland
from the earliest times until it was discontinued about the year
1734_, by John Gunn, F.A.S.E., in which they were described, and a
version of the family tradition of Lude given, compiled from letters
written by General Robertson, now unfortunately not forthcoming.
Although Mr. Gunn's story of the Queen Mary Harp is coloured in order
to attach the gift of it to Mary Queen of Scots, that of the Lamont
Harp appears to be according to the simple statement of the original
narrator, and may be thus epitomised from a paper published in the
_Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, 1880-81,
by Mr. C.D. Bell, F.S.A. Scot.: "The family tradition of Lude
alleges that for several centuries past the larger of these harps
has been known as the Clarsach Lumanach or Lamont Harp, and that it
was brought from Argyllshire by a daughter of the Lamont family on
her marriage with Robertson of Lude in 1464. It is said to be the
older of the two. If the probably quiet place in the house of Lude
be considered, and that it was likely to be valued and cared for
there, also that the repairs appear to be of very old date, then the
Clarsach Lumanach may have already, before 1464, been an old broken
and mended instrument with a pre-traditional story we can never hope
to hear." From Burke's _Landed Gentry_, "Lineage of the Robertsons of
Lude," we learn that Charles, fifth Laird of Lude, married Lilias,
daughter of Sir John Lamont of Lamont, chief of that clan, and
that "it was with this lady, Lilias Lamont, there came one of those
very curious old harps which have been in the family for several
centuries."
The drawing shows the harp as it is, and may have been for
centuries, but Mr. M'Intyre North, in his _Book of the Club of True
Highlanders_, London, 1880, proposes, by the substitution of a
longer bow or forearm, to bring this harp to the lines of the Queen
Mary Harp and that of Brian Boru. It is sufficient here to observe
that the present bow agrees in measurement with that of the Queen
Mary and Brian Boru Harps, and is certainly very old. Against its
originality is the fact that the Lamont Harp appears to have always
had thirty-two strings, and for the three extra treble strings a
longer bow ought to have been required.
The extreme length of the Lamont Harp is 38 inches, and the extreme
width 18-1/2 inches. The sound chest, as with other ancient harps,
is hollowed out of one piece of wood, but the back has been in this
instrument renewed, although probably a long time ago. The sound
chest is 30 inches long, 4 inches in breadth at the top, and 17 at
the bottom. The comb projects 15-1/2 inches. The broken parts of the
bow are held together by iron clamps.
As to the musical effect of a Gaelic or Irish harp when well played,
the impression of such a performance recorded by Evelyn in his Diary
is worth quoting. He says: "Came to see me my old acquaintance and
the most incomparable player on the Irish harp, Mr. Clarke, after
his travells. He was an excellent musitian, a discreete gentleman,
borne in Devonshire (as I remember). Such musiq before or since did
I never heare, that instrument being neglected for its extraordinary
difficulty; but in my judgment it is far superior to the Lute
itselfe, or whatever speakes with strings." Elsewhere he speaks of a
Mr. Clark (probably the same performer) as being from Northumberland,
and says of the instrument, "Pity 'tis that it is not more in use;
but indeede to play well takes up the whole man, as Mr. Clark has
assur'd me, who, tho' a gent of quality and parts, was yet brought up
to that instrument from 5 yeares old, as I remember he told me."
[Illustration: IV]
PLATE IV.
CORNEMUSE, CALABRIAN BAGPIPE, MUSETTE.
The Bagpipe (Cornemuse and Musette) and the hurdy-gurdy (Vielle)
were, after the thirteenth century, banished to the lower orders, to
the blind and to the wandering mendicant class. But polite society
in France resumed these instruments again in the modern Arcadia of
Louis XIV. and XV.--not the Cornemuse, it is true, for that has ever
remained a rustic instrument, as may be observed in the glowing pages
of George Sand's _Les Maîtres Sonneurs_. The Cornemuse, as formerly
used in France and the Netherlands, is derived from the Roman _tibia
utricularis_, and is provided with a bag, inflated by the mouth of
the player, while a double reed is attached to the melody pipe or
chanter. In recent times it is furnished with two drones--le grand,
et le petit bourdon, which are made to sound also by reeds, and
an octave apart. The Musette, which has practically displaced the
Cornemuse in use, is a softer, sweeter instrument, with a double reed
to a very narrow cylindrical pipe, the effect of which is to make it
sound like a stopped pipe, an octave lower. This accounts for the
short appearance of the instrument. The drones, as it will be seen,
are on a more artificial principle than those of the Cornemuse.
Another difference is that the bag is always inflated by a small pair
of bellows worked by the player's left arm. The Northumbrian and
modern Irish bagpipes are also inflated by means of bellows, and have
taken the place in northern England and Ireland of the large bagpipe
inflated with the mouth which is now regarded as distinctly Highland
Scotch. The Musette in the drawing is made of ebony and ivory with
keys of silver, and has a bag adorned with needlework. The small
bellows are made of walnut inlaid with marqueterie. The melody pipe
(le grand chalumeau) is bored with eight finger-holes, and fitted
with seven keys for the chromatic notes. To the left of the melody
pipe or chanter there is a small flask-shaped pipe furnished with six
keys (le petit chalumeau) containing the additional compass upwards.
There are four drones contrived in a barrel pierced with thirteen
bores in juxtaposition, of from 5 to 35 inches in length. The barrel
is furnished with five stops sliding in grooves and regulating the
length of the apertures for tuning the drones. Bach's musettes, the
alternatives to his gavottes, always imply a drone bass.
It will be observed the Cornemuse here drawn has a chanter and drone
fixed parallel in one stock. The former has eight finger-holes, and,
like that of the Scotch bagpipe, has a vent-hole not fingered. The
bag covered with crimson plush is furnished with a short mouthpiece
near the neck for the purpose of inflation.
The Calabrian Bagpipe or Zampogna is a rudely carved instrument of
the eighteenth century. It has four drones attached to one stock,
hanging downwards from the end of the bag: two of them are furnished
with finger-holes. The reeds are double like those of the oboe and
bassoon. The bag is large; it is inflated by the mouth and pressed
by the left arm against the chest of the performer. The Zampogna is
chiefly used as an accompaniment to a small reed melody pipe called
by the same name, and played by another performer. The quality of
the tone produced is not unpleasing. It has five holes only, and
consequently the seventh of the scale is absent, but this can be
easily got by octaving the open note of the pipe and covering part of
the lower opening of the chanter with the little finger.
The Musette, Zampogna, and Cornemuse here shown are from specimens
belonging to Messrs. J. & R. Glen, Edinburgh.
[Illustration: V]
PLATE V.
BAGPIPES.
In continuation of the Bagpipes, this Plate shows, in the instrument
with a crimson bag, the modern Northumbrian Bagpipe. The four drones,
proceeding from one stock, are mounted with brass and ivory. The
chanter, or melody pipe, has seven finger-holes in front and one
behind; also, seven brass keys. As there is only one hole open at a
time when the instrument is played, this manner of playing is called
close fingering. The chanter and drones are furnished with stops at
the ends. The instrument with a blue bag is the ancient Northumbrian
bagpipe. It has three drones, mounted with silver and ivory, of
different sizes; the longest being tuned an octave and the middle one
a fourth lower than the shortest. The chanter is of ivory, with seven
holes in front and one behind. The large bagpipe with a green bag is
the Lowland Scotch. It is of boxwood, with three drones placed in one
stock. The two shorter drones sound in unison, the long one an octave
lower, the same as in the Highland Bagpipe. They are mounted with
carved horn. The chanter has seven finger-holes and a vent-hole, also
the same as in the Highland Bagpipe, with which the Lowland agrees
in fingering and other particulars, except that it is inflated by
bellows attached to the bag by a short blow-pipe, a peculiarity that
it has in common with the other Bagpipes in this Plate. The bellows
of the modern Northumbrian Bagpipe are also drawn.
The Bagpipe is, as Mr. Henri Lavoix has justly said in his _La
Musique au Siècle de Saint Louis_, the organ reduced to its most
simple expression. It is of great antiquity, and in the Middle Ages
was generally popular in Europe. It was as well known in England as
in Scotland, in France as in Italy and Germany. Shakspeare makes out
Falstaff in Part I. of Henry IV. to be as melancholy as a lover's
lute or the drone of a Lincolnshire Bagpipe. If we may judge by the
peculiar scale of the Scotch Bagpipe, it would appear almost certain
that the instrument, in its modern forms, has come from the East, and
was most likely brought by the Crusaders. This would not of course
apply to the ancient principle of a pipe and air reservoir, which is
traced back to the Romans, but to the boring of the finger-holes of
the chanter, the reed pipe by which the melody is played. By their
position and size the intervals are so regulated that the thirds are
neither major nor minor, but give a neutral or mean interval that
is neither the one nor the other. This mean third, of a tone and
three-quarters, has not been elsewhere observed in Europe, but in
the East, in Syria and Egypt, and in other parts, it is of common
occurrence, and gives a peculiar character to the music, not to be
explained, but felt. An historical origin of the mean third is to be
found in Mr. A.J. Ellis's paper "On the Musical Scales of Various
Nations" (p. 498), published in the _Journal of the Society of Arts_,
London, March, 1885. Modern Bagpipes that have keys are, of course,
different.
As to the antiquity of existing Bagpipes, Messrs. Glen of Edinburgh
own one, carved with the initials R. Mc.D., and the Hebridean
galley, that bears the date of 1409. But this is not considered to be
the oldest existing, as the M'Intyre pipe, belonging to N. Robertson
M'Donald, Esq., of Kinlochmoidart, is reputed to have been played
at Bannockburn. Possessing one drone only, it has the peculiarity
of two vent-holes, instead of one, on each side of the chanter to
accommodate a right or left handed player; in either case one hole is
temporarily stopped. Messrs. Glen's pipe has two drones set in one
stock. The name M'Intyre, by which Mr. Robertson M'Donald's pipe is
distinguished, is derived from the hereditary pipers of the Chiefs
of Menzies and Clanranald. Both these ancient Bagpipes are figured
in Mr. M'Intyre North's _Book of the Club of True Highlanders_. The
Bagpipes here drawn are from specimens belonging to Messrs. J. & R.
Glen, Edinburgh.
[Illustration: VI]
PLATE VI.
CLAVICYTHERIUM OR UPRIGHT SPINET.
This singularly interesting and rare key-board instrument, now the
property of Mr. Donaldson, belonged to the collection of Count Correr
of Venice. There is no maker's name or any date upon the instrument,
which is of the kind named Clavicytherium by the earliest writer on
musical instruments, Virdung (_Musica getutscht und auszgezogen_,
Basle, 1511), who gives a drawing of one. It is in fact a spinet,
set upright. The internal decoration, as old as the instrument
itself, may be North Italian or South German, authorities differ,
but a piece of paper pasted over a split in the inside of the wooden
back, possibly by the maker, proves to be a fragment of a lease
or agreement contracted at Ulm, which is in favour of the Swabian
origin. The instrument can hardly be of later date than the first
years of the sixteenth century, and is probably the oldest spinet or
key-board stringed instrument existing. The earliest date that can be
given for the introduction of the Spinet must be within the second
half of the fifteenth century.
The key-board is of narrow compass--three octaves and a minor
third--from the second E below, to the second G above, middle C,
this note being the ledger-line C between the bass and treble clefs
[Music]--an extent about the compass of the human voice, which long
ruled that of key-board instruments. In Virdung's time their compass
was being extended. It is, however, more than likely that the lowest
E key was here tuned down to the still lower C, according to the
so-called "short octave" arrangement, which altered the lowest E,
F[sharp], and G[sharp], to make fourths below F, G, and A, instead
of semitones, and thus get deep dominant basses for cadences.
Examination of the plectra or "jacks" of this instrument shows
they were furnished with little tongues of wire, and not quills or
leather, as in later spinet instruments. It is in a painted pine
case, the inside being also painted. An unusual feature of the
interior is the Calvary below the narrow sound-board, in which the
sound holes, judging by the ornament that remains in one, have been
Flamboyant windows. There must also have originally been figures,
perhaps the Transfiguration or the Crucifixion, but there is no trace
of them left. The treatment of the landscape, without other evidence,
nearly determines the epoch when the instrument was made.
The stand and the paintings on the door, one of which represents a
figure holding a mirror and a serpent, are of later date.
The dimensions of this truly remarkable spinet are--height of
instrument, 4 feet 10-1/2 inches, and extreme width, 2 feet 3
inches--the key-board being 2 feet wide. The depth of the case at
base, 11 inches, diminishes in ascending to 5-5/8 inches. The table
upon which it stands is 2 feet high and 2 feet 11 inches wide.
[Illustration: VII]
PLATE VII.
OLIPHANT.
An ivory Hunting Horn belonging to Earl Spencer, called Oliphant
because it is of ivory, and bearing in the ornament the arms and
badges of Ferdinand and Isabella of Portugal, may be regarded as
belonging to the first half of the sixteenth century, the strap and
buckle being evidently an addition of later date. The beautiful
carving, so conspicuous in this horn, is supposed to have been
executed by negroes of the West Coast of Africa, who carved ivory
for the Portuguese; the arms of Portugal, with the supporters, two
angels, holding the shield upside down, often appearing on their work.
Philip II. of Spain married Mary, daughter of the King of Portugal,
in 1543. She died in 1545. The carving of the Horn was probably
completed within that interval, and when Philip came to England to
marry Mary Tudor, he may have brought the horn with him.
Besides the uses named under Burgmote Horns (Plate I.) horns were
blown to give alarm in circumstances of danger, to announce the
arrival of visitors of distinction, and, as Mr. M'Intyre North
informs us respecting the horn in Drummond Castle, for summoning the
household and guests to dinner. But horns were not restricted to
winding, there were also drinking and powder horns, often beautifully
adorned.
The extreme length of this Horn, measuring along the outside of the
curve and including the mouthpiece, is 28-1/4 inches. The greatest
circumference is 11-1/2 and the least 2-3/4 inches.
[Illustration: VIII]
PLATE VIII.
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S VIRGINAL.
This beautiful Spinet is, in the drawing, placed upon a stand, which
served for its support in the Tudor Historical Room appertaining to
the Music Loan Collection of 1885. I believe this instrument to be
Italian, not Flemish or English, and Italian spinets had no stands or
legs, but when required for use were withdrawn from an outer case, as
this one would be, and placed upon a table, or some other convenient
position. They were even taken in Gondolas, as Evelyn records, for
pleasure and the performance of serenades.
We may assume 1570 to be approximately the date of this instrument.
The green and gold decoration, including a border of gold two and
a half inches broad round the inside of the top, is of later date,
perhaps by nearly one hundred years. An indistinct number on the back
of the case, inside, appears to be 1660. The Royal Arms of Elizabeth
are emblazoned on one end to the left of the key-board; to the right
a dove is seen rising crowned. The dove holds in its right foot a
sceptre; beneath it is an oak tree. This decoration, whether original
in 1660 or the copy of a former one, goes far to support the claim
for this Spinet having been Queen Elizabeth's. Her musical taste,
inherited from Elizabeth of York, and skill as a performer upon the
spinet, need no more than a passing reference.
I characterize the instrument as a spinet because a true virginal is
a parallelogram, not a trapeze-shaped instrument. The attribution
of virginal is, however, not incorrect as a generic term; for all
key-board stringed instruments with jacks were known in England as
virginals from the Tudor epoch to that of the Commonwealth.
There are in this instrument fifty quilled jacks (plectra). The
natural keys, thirty in number, are of ebony with gold arcaded
fronts, and the compass is of four octaves and apparently a semitone,
from B to C. But the lowest natural key was tuned G when the
instrument was in use. The semitone keys, twenty in number, begin
apparently as C[sharp], but this was tuned A to continue the "short
octave" arrangement. They are very elaborate, being inlaid with
silver, ivory, and different woods, each consisting, it is said,
of about two hundred and fifty pieces. The painting of the case of
the instrument is done upon gold with carmine and ultramarine, the
metal ornaments being minutely engraved. The outer case is of cedar,
covered with crimson Genoa velvet, and lined inside with yellow tabby
silk. There are three gilt locks, finely engraved. The entire case
is five feet long, sixteen inches wide, and seven inches deep. Queen
Elizabeth's Virginal was bought, at Lord Spencer Chichester's sale at
Fisherwick in 1803, by Mr. Jonas Child, a painter at Dudley. The Rev.
J.M. Gresley acquired it in 1840. It has since (1887) been obtained
from the Rev. Nigel Gresley, for South Kensington Museum.
[Illustration: IX]
PLATE IX.
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S LUTE.
Stringed instruments with a finger-board, touched with the fingers
or a plectrum, may be divided, as stated in the Introduction, into
two principal types: the lute and the guitar, the former with a
rounded back, the latter with a flat back. Both are derived from
the East. According to this division, the beautiful instrument
called Queen Elizabeth's Lute must resign the name of lute and be
considered a Guitar. As a wire-strung instrument it belongs to that
species of guitar known as Cither, and from the incurvations of the
ribs, but that the bridge is not set obliquely, I should be disposed
to specialize the instrument as a Pandore or Penorcon. Praetorius
regarded the Pandore and its varieties, the Orpheoreon and Penorcon,
as of English invention. This instrument, the property of Lord
Tollemache, was made in London by John Rose, as the label bears
witness:--
Johannes Rosa, Londini fecit,
In Bridwell, the 27th of July, 1580.
It is infinitely more graceful than any Pandore, and is perhaps best
described by the maker's designation, "Cymbalum Decachordum," carved
on the ribs. It had, as this name indicates, ten strings, which were
of wire, to be tuned in five pairs of unisons, and played with a
plectrum.
The carving is surpassingly lovely, and bears comparison with
contemporary Italian work. The jewelled centre of the rose in the
sound-hole is so beautiful that an enlarged drawing of it has
been made to show it to advantage. The shell at the back is a
characteristic feature deserving attention.
The extreme length of this instrument is 2 feet 11 inches. The length
of the body is 1 foot 4 inches. The extreme breadth, beneath the rose
and near the string-holder, is 12 inches. The breadth, measuring
across the centre of the rose, is 10 inches. The depth of the ribs
varies from 1-1/2 to 3 inches, the greatest depth being near the
finger-board.
The traditions that attach themselves to instruments of this
character require to be carefully tested. Queen Mary's Harp, for
instance, could not have been the gift to Beatrix Gardyn from Mary
Stuart of Scots, although her portrait and coat of arms are said to
have, at one time, adorned it. The attribution to Queen Elizabeth
also of a spinet or virginal rests entirely upon such evidence as
can be gathered from the instrument itself. This so-called lute has
no doubt the support of a family tradition, and the story is thus
told in Burke's _Peerage_ ("Lineage of the Dysart Family," 1884):
"Sir Lionel Tollemache, of Helmingham, high sheriff of Norfolk and
Suffolk in 1567. In 1561 Queen Elizabeth honoured Helmingham with
her presence, and remained there from the 14th to the 18th of August
inclusive, being most hospitably and sumptuously entertained. During
Her Majesty's visit she stood sponsor to Sir Lionel's son, and
presented the child's mother with her lute, which is still preserved
at Helmingham Hall, county Suffolk, the seat of Lord Tollemache of
Helmingham." Unfortunately the dates do not fit. John Rose's Lute,
made in 1580, although it might possibly have belonged to Queen
Elizabeth, could not have been the lute given in 1561. It is the
tradition, however, that may have gone astray, and a fault in it does
not do away entirely with a plausible attribution.
[Illustration: X]
PLATE X.
THE RIZZIO GUITAR.