If Dan chases a kitty for gut, he does so sheepishly. ed
At 08:51 AM 12/27/2010, Roman Turovsky wrote: >That's tasty food for thought to catgut integralists on this list, >and a bite out >of their ideal of authenticity. >I already imagine Dan Larson chasing a suitable kitty, because >Anthony Hind has just ordered a set. >RT > > > > >----- Original Message ----- From: "Jaroslaw Lipski" <[email protected]> >To: <[email protected]> >Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 9:34 AM >Subject: [LUTE] catgut > > >>Although this subject was discussed couple of month ago, quite >>unexpectedly I found an interesting information in a book on cats >>which casts some new light on this term. In "Cat watching" Desmond >>Morris asks why sheep gut should be perversely referred to as >>catgut, and suggests that the clue lies in the earliest use of the >>term. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, one author wrote >>of fiddlers "tickling the dryed gutts of a mewing cat". Later we >>hear of a man upset "at every twang of the cat-gut, as if he heard >>at the moment the wailing of the helpless animal that had been >>sacrificed to harmony". These references come from a period when >>domestic cats were all too often the victims of persecution and >>torture, and the sound of squealing cats was not unfamiliar to >>human ears. In addition, there was the noise of the caterwauling at >>times when feral tomcats were arguing over females in heat. >>Together, these characteristic feline sounds provided the obvious >>basis for a comparison with the din created by inexpert musicians >>scraping at their stringed instruments. In the imaginations of the >>tormented listeners, the inappropriate sheep gut became transformed >>into the appropriate catgut - a vivid fiction to replace a dull >>fact (as he suggests). >>Hmm.......quite interesting...though he didn't enclose any >>bibliography (pity!). >> >>Best wishes for the coming New Year! >> >>Jaroslaw Lipski >> >> >> >>To get on or off this list see list information at >>http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: [email protected] voice: (218) 728-1202 http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1660298871&ref=name http://www.myspace.com/edslute
