Books › Notice of Anthony Stradivari, the celebrated violin-maker, known by the name of Stradivarius:, 1864 › scan 40
Scan 40
Notice of Anthony Stradivari, the celebrated violin-maker, known by the name of Stradivarius:, 1864
26 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 18. See the scan on archive.org.
1harmony.* The admirable construction of the crouth with six strings, which the same author and Daines Barrington have described, shows that the art of manufacturing stringed instruments had greatly advanced among the Welsh at the period when crouths were made. These instruments have the form of an elongated trapezoid, the length of which, from top to bottom, is 57 centimètres [22.441 in.]; the greatest width, near the tail-piece, is 27 centimètres [10.63 in.], and the least, at the top of the trapezium, is 23 centimètres [9.055 in.]. The thickness of the sonorous chest, composed of a back and a belly of sycamore, united by sides, is 5 centimètres [1.968 in.], and the length of the finger-board
3A thalaith ar waith olwyn,
4A’r bwa ar draws byr ei drwyn,
5Ac o’i ganol mae dolen,
6A gwâr hwn megis gwr hên;
8Ac ar ei vrest gywair vrig,
9O’r Masarn vo geir Miwsig.
11Chwe yspigod o’s codwn,
12A dynna holl dannau hwn;
13Chwe’thant a gaed o vantais,
14Ac yn y llaw yn gan llais;
16Tant i bôb bys ysbys oedd,
17A dau-dant i’r vawd ydoedd.
19it has a frontlet formed like a wheel, with the short-nosed bow across; and from its centre it winds in a ring, and the bulging of its back is somewhat like an old man; and on its breast harmony reigns, from the sycamore music will be obtained.
21Six pegs, if we screw them, will tighten all its chords; six strings advantageously are found, which in the hand produce a hundred sounds; a string for every finger is distinctly seen, and also two strings for the thumb.
23From this description, we learn that the back of the crouth bulged; a detail which is not shown in the drawings of Daines Barrington and Jones.
25* "The performers, or Minstrels of this instrument were not held in the same estimation and respect as the Bards of the Harp and Crûth; because the three-stringed Crûth did not admit of equal skill and harmony," &c.—See A Dissertation on the Musical Instruments of the Welsh, p. 116.
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