Scan 70
Researches into the early history of the violin family, 1883
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 60. See the scan on archive.org.
1and supposed to designate the lyre, appears to have been a variety of the roet. The designation of pleie deserves attention; for, although the names of musical instruments have been and are still so frequently shifting, or carelessly employed, as easily to mislead superficial inquirers, they nevertheless may occasionally throw light upon obscure questions, especially if examined in connection with other evidences.
3A rotte which was disinterred at a place called Kravig, in Nummedalen, Norway, is entirely of wood, and closely resembles the ancient oriental lyre, to judge from the drawing which has been sent to me. There are unmistakable indications of its having had seven strings. Three tuning-peggs are still extant, and between them are four holes in a row, into which the missing tuning-peggs were evidently inserted. The back is lost: it is therefore impossible to ascertain whether the body was convex; however, to judge from the shape of the frame, the back must have been rather vaulted. The instrument measures two feet in length, eleven inches in width, and four inches in depth. The Scandinavian musical antiquaries call it straengeleg; it is, however, precisely the rotte of the middle ages.
5Another noteworthy indication of the wide-spread popularity of the rotte during the middle ages is to be found in a treatise on the music of the Moors in Spain, written by Ash-
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