Crwth

Crwth pl. crythau (Kym.), bowed lyre of ancient Wales that survived the Middle Ages and did not quite disappear until the early 19th c.; called “crouth” in 14th-c. England and later “crowd.” In the Middle Ages it was also known by the Lat. name of chorus. An Engl. 11th-c. ms. describes the chorus as a wooden instr. with 4 strings; Aimeri de Peyrac in the 14th c. tells us that it had 2 pairs of strings tuned a 4th apart. Up to this point it lacked a fingerboard and was plucked. Ca. 1300 it was…