I hope the following will not be superflous or repetitive. I made a 'loose' copy of the Edinburgh Gibson for Rob on 2000/1. (Photos in 'Gitarre und Zister, Michaelsteiner Konferenzberichte 66', recently published by Stiftung Kloster Michaelstein). String length was 53.1cm, for a third lower tuning than usual. The [EMAIL PROTECTED] instrument is a similar size. There are at least 8 instruments by Gibson in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin (letter from Paul Doyle, Assistant Keeper, Art and Industrial Division, in 1998). Paul wrote a short article for FoMRHI Quarterly (comm. 152, October 1978), giving some details of some of these instruments, and their barring, which I used for my copy. Some equally well-made instruments were for children. I know of none extant, but one is clearly shown in a painting of 1768, "The Three Miss Walpoles as Children" by George James, illustrated in 'Music and Image', Richard Leppert, CUP 1988. I find mysterious those instruments with an intermediate string length eg: J.C.Elschleger, 45.5cm, Royal College of Music, and others slightly longer.
About the 17thc. gitterne: Praetorius is the first to mention a guitar tuning on a cittern. Later, presumably because the four course guitar had disappeared in England, the name became available for this instrument. Sir Peter Leycester in 1656 writes: "Gitterne Like unto this [the cittern/psithryne] is the Instrument we now usually call a Gitterne, which indeed is onely a Treble Psithryne, being somewhat less than the other, yeildinge a more Treble Sweet Sound, havinge the same number & the same order of Wyre=stringes & played uppon with a Quill after the same order as the Psithyrne; onely some variation in the Tuninge which may be baryed [borrowed?] in the Psithyrne at pleasure:" (Ms DLT/B33, Cheshire Record Office). The biggest problem with the Gibson copy was finding machines. I had to modify a guitar set. If anyone knows of a possible source we would be grateful. Peter To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
