There has been some discussion between me and others about mandos, citterns, bouzoukis etc recently. I have mentioned Rob MacKillop and his 18th century Scottish guittar (the closest ancestor of the modern folk cittern, mandola and in many ways of the Irish bouzouki). We just spent a weekend at Kilconquhar Castle in Fife, and to my delight discovered two undocumented 17th century carvings of cherubs playing well defined, properly carved citterns. I have subsequently shown this to Rob and he agrees. He says that the only instruments to have the wires cross the bridge and go to a tailpiece at this dates were wire-strung citterns - and these little guys are playing just like you and me at any decent session (except, of course, we dress up a bit more). One cittern has distinct f-holes, the other has no discernible sound hole but the playing hand would cover a central o-hole. Both are distinctly carved to show five courses of strings (they would have been double-coursed, but the carver naturally shows just five lines). This is the same instrument that I call a cittern, and which most Scottish luthiers still call a cittern - scale length between mandolin and mandola, but usually the latter, five double courses. Here's my photograph of both the two carvings over the fireplace: http://www.maxwellplace.demon.co.uk/pandemonium/kilconquharguittars.jpg The provenance of the panelling is not known to me - the castle was burned down some ago and refitted, but they state the panelling is original 17th century. We now have to find where it came from, if not the original. It looks rustic and probably Scottish and it's hard to see how the banqueting hall could easily have been fitted out from any other source - I would assume this part of the building was not in the fire. So, all you celtic mando family players out there, you are not just 20th century inventions. You are really part of a long tradition and here is your instrument's ancestor from over 300 years ago. David Kilpatrick Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
