Article by: Emyr Davies, Conservator: Furniture, Musical Instruments
and Horology, St Fagans National History Museum and Emma Lile, Past Curator:
Music, Sports and Customs, St Fagans National History Museum.
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'Crwth y Foelas' from the Saint Fagans National Museum of Wales |
Amgueddfa Cymru is fortunate enough to
house one of only three surviving authentic Welsh crwths in Britain.
Does the discovery of a hidden aperture make the crwth unique amongst
bowed instruments by having two soundboxes?
An early stringed instrument first referred to in writing in the 12th
century Laws of Hywel Dda (Hywel the Good), the crwth was popular in
Wales throughout the Middle Ages, when it was enjoyed in aristocratic
circles. The Laws of Hywel Dda mention the crwth, along with the harp
and pipes, as instruments of status, played by noblemen and frequently
providing musical entertainment.
Crwth competitions were contested in the first recorded eisteddfod,
held by Lord Rhys at Cardigan Castle in 1176, while a cywydd poem by
Rhys Goch Eryri c.1436, delights in the magicians, acrobats and
musicians (crwth players included), who were welcomed into the
households of wealthy patrons.
The emergence of the fiddle
The social role of the crwth altered significantly from around 1600
onwards however, when it became more associated with the folk music
tradition. The emergence of the fiddle during the 18th century
effectively brought crwth playing and crwth making to an end in Wales,
closing over a thousand years of practice and development.
When an increase of interest in traditional music eventually took place
during the late 20th century, the once common art of constructing a
crwth, along with the most appropriate playing methods and performance
techniques, had all but become a mystery.
The last remaining crwths
The three remaining historical examples in existence in Britain are
six-stringed, oblong in shape and possessing a flat back, sides and
soundboard, with the body and soundbox, as well as the main frame,
being fashioned from a single piece of wood. A fingerboard divides a
rectangular opening at one end while two holes can be seen in the
soundboard.
The St Fagans crwth
The crwth in the Museum's collection is inscribed 1742 and was made by Richard Evans of Llanfihangel Bachellaeth, Caernarfonshire. It was originally loaned to the museum by Colonel J.C.Wynne Finch of Y Foelas, Caernarfonshire, in 1935 and the family retains ownership of the
instrument to this day. Although complete there is a line of blocked off tuning pin holes slightly offset from the current set.
The Aberystwyth crwth
The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, houses a second crwth, which
was donated on the library’s opening in 1907 by its principal founder
Sir John Williams. This instrument was possibly owned by the Reverend
John Jenkins (1770-1829) of Ceri, Montgomeryshire. Although it is
complete (with the exception of two missing drone strings), it has
undergone restoration/repair at some point to the main framework.
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The Warrington crwth
The final example is kept at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, and
although its date is unknown, it bears a likeness to an instrument
described and drawn in the 1775 edition of the journal Archaeologia
(volume III, plate vii). This crwth was bought in Wales in 1843 by Dr
James Kendrick, one of Warringtons first local historians and a noted
antiquarian. Kendrick donated the artefact to the town that same year
and it became one of the earliest exhibits at the local museum.
The Warrington crwth is less complete than the other two, with missing tailpiece, strings, fingerboard and nut.
Hidden aperture revealed
Conservation work on the St Fagans crwth uncovered a hidden aperture
beneath an overhanging fingerboard.
On further inspection this seemed
to travel up the full length of the neck. X-rays of the instrument
revealed a tapering, very purposeful cavity extending the full length
of the fingerboard.
The St Fagans crwth under x-ray.
The darkened area within the neck
clearly shows a tapering void and at its widest point is an aperture concealed
beneath the fingerboard. The effect of this void reduces the surface area available for the fingerboard to adhere to the neck. Consequently, it would
have been much more difficult to construct than had a solid, flat
surface been used - which would have better adhered to the neck upper
surface.
The x-ray of the National Library crwth displaying the same tapering
characteristics as the St Fagans example.
What would have been the reason for constructing such an aperture? An
increase in the tonal quality of the instrument? The aperture might
well have performed in much the same way as the soundbox of an
instrument or amplifier to provide a fuller sound to the vibration of
the strings.
Unique among bowed instruments?
This second soundbox could possibly make the crwth unique amongst bowed
instruments as such a design feature has no comparable legacy in the
violin family.
Inspection of the Aberystwyth crwth revealed a similar aperture in the
neck. As this surviving example contains different design features to
that housed at St Fagans, (and presumably constructed by a different
maker), it seems quite plausible that such a void might well have been
a consistent characteristic for all crwths.
The missing fingerboard on the Warrington crwth allows the tapering void
to be seen more clearly. This is visible on the photograph by the lighter bare
wood which is bordered by a darker glue-lined impression. Close study of an image from the crwth at
Warrington Museum revealed the tapering adhesive lines still visible on
each side of the neck, with the bare wood area in the middle, showing
the extent of the original aperture. Again, the variations in design
suggest a different maker.
Therefore, the inclusion of an aperture in the crwth must have been a
standard construction technique that crwth makers employed for the
manufacture of the instrument.
The difference this aperture makes to the sound of the instrument could
possibly be tested by recording the tonal scale of a replica crwth with
a solid fingerboard, and then hollowing out the same instrument and
recording the difference.
Ultraviolet discovery
Illumination with ultraviolet light has shown an ink design that appears on the top surface of the St Fagans crwth's fingerboard, which only became
apparent undert he ultraviolet light. As the crwth was commonly held against the torso, the player could see
down the instrument's neck and a design inked along the neck could
possibly have aided the positioning of the fingers along the
instrument's length. Interestingly, a vestige of this design also
appears on the soundboard of a small harp which is also housed at St
Fagans.
Article by: Emyr Davies, Conservator: Furniture, Musical Instruments
and Horology, St Fagans National History Museum and Emma Lile, Past Curator:
Music, Sports and Customs, St Fagans National History Museum
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