I have to say that I never noticed the stringing. The photos do show an unusual distribution, but it is impossible to say from a study of these photos whether the nut is original. It looks a wee bit like there is an extra groove on the first course, but...I shall have to go back to Amsterdam to check! Well, unfortunately that might not happen for some time. Anybody on this list live there? I met Lex Eisenhardt when I was there - what a thoughroughly nice man, indeed. But citterns ain't his bag, so to speak.
The normal distribution is four double treble courses and two single bass courses. However, Bremner and Geminiani (both published in Edinburgh by Bremner) show an instrument of three doubles and three singles. I can't recall hearing of a seven-course instrument, but that doesn't mean they never existed... Not sure about your comments on the brass rose, David. What is the difference between an Irish wooden flute and the German flute mentioned in countless publications of the period? What is Irish about it? Rob To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
