Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891 › scan 249
Scan 249
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891
4 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 229. See the scan on archive.org.
1and it is applied generally to kettledrums. Whether kettledrums were meant by Froissart, or not, is a point of great interest; for, unless this is so, the use of the kettledrum in England would not appear to have been adopted until a very much later date, about 1606. Kettledrums, however, were in use in Germany at a period more remote, and Prætorius (Syntagma, 1618), gives an illustration of a pair of kettledrums, tuned by means of screws, and which differ little in appearance from those of modern times. In Nicholls' well-known Progression of James 1st mention is made of the entertainment of Christian IV. of Denmark, and H. Roberts, quoted by Nicholls, describes particularly the kettledrums then used. As this is apparently the first mention of the use of the instrument in England, it is better to quote the passage; he says, "the King of Denmark's drume, riding upon a horse, with two drumes, one on each side of the horse's necke, whereon hee strooke two little mallets of wood, a thing verie admirable to the common sorte, and much admired."
3The side-drums of two centuries ago, and earlier periods, were of much larger size than the small modern instruments. It has sometimes been said that the popularity of the drum dates from the time of Richard I., who had become accustomed to their use during the Crusades, and it is certain that from that period the drum became recognised in this country as an essentially military instrument. It was frequently carried upon the back of a man, who walked immediately in front of the drummer, and this practice was continued till the latter half of the last century. There are many old prints still to be met with that show this. A method somewhat similar was applied to kettledrums, and many of the works upon pageantry, which contain illustrations, show kettledrums carried in this manner. The side-drums, up till the reign of Queen Elizabeth, were, as has been said, of very large size. They were carried almost horizontally at the left side of the player, and were of course beaten upon one head only. In point of size they were rather larger than the tenor drum of the present day, and which is occasionally used in military bands. Thoinot Arbeau (Orchesographie, 1589) gives an illustration of the side drummer of that date, and from contemporary works it seems that this method of using the instrument was universal. Prætorius and Père Mersenne, too, describe the use of the drum; and it is interesting to note that the
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