MEMOIR OF SIR J. G. DALYELL. xix 



uncertain. Giraldus says they had three, cithara, ti/mpana, et chorus. Several of the or- 

 naments upon Meh'ose Abbey are figures of musicians. Upon the south or south-west wall 

 is a figure playing upon an instrument, the lower part only of which remains : it seems to 

 be a flute or hautbois, with six holes at most. Near this is a bag-pipe blown with the mouth. 

 It has but one drone : the whole is much defaced. There is another instrument, evidently 

 the violin, with four strings : the sounding-holes are above tlie bridge : the hand is broken 

 away, and the rest much defaced. Beside this is a female figure playing upon a six-stringed 

 instrument, the strings disposed in pairs. I suppose this is what Mr Barrington has taken 

 for the Welch Crwth. The form of the instrument is like the longitudinal section of a pear, 

 and quite different from the drawing he gives of a crwth. The historian of the Irish Bards 

 thinks he has mistaken a French viol for the crwth. If I were to hazard a conjecture, I 

 should say it is a kind of lute. I can find it in none of the many authors upon music and 

 musical instruments I have consulted. In Mirsenne and Kircher there is one bearing some 

 resemblance. Upon the west side of the Abbey, there is a similar instrument, much larger, 

 with the strings disposed singly. Both are very entire. Some author, I forget who, tran- 

 slates the word chorus, crwth. There are several other musical instruments, both within 

 and without the Abbey ; but I can pretend to describe no more. Some are so much eftaced, 

 that it is impossible to say what they have been. I have not observed any instruments 

 without musicians, which are statues, or in basso or alto relievo. We ai-e ignorant at what 

 time they were placed there. The stones upon which they are carved form part of the wall. 

 I cannot consider these instruments as deciding the custom of the country. Neither is it cer- 

 tain, as some authors think, that the architect of Melrose Abbey was a Frenchman. The 

 language of the inscription, upon which this opinion is founded, is of a period long after the 

 time of David I., if the whole structure was erected by that prince. Variety, with the most 

 wonderful execution, seems to have been the object of the sculptor; which is proved by the 

 amazing diversity of ornaments which still adorn this beautiful ruin. It is an error to 

 think the bagpipe peculiar to Scotland. It was a Grecian and a Roman instrument, known 

 by the name of tibia utricularia ; at least there was one similar, which we sometimes meet 

 on coins, vases, and other monuments of antiquity. It was not uncommon in the sister king- 

 dom. Among the minstrels of Edward III. are five pipers. I doubt if the bagpiper is 

 meant. Queen Elizabeth, who seems always to have had a tolerable band, annually gives 

 her bagpiper Lxii:xiii:iiij." 



Such is an imperfect outline of Sir John's first contribution to the 

 literature of his country. 



His next publication was a translation of Sjiallanzani's " Tracts on 

 the Nature of Animals and Vegetables/' which was pubhshed by Constable 

 in 1799. Spallanzani was an Italian Professor, and his experiments and 

 discoveries were much appreciated at the time. They accorded well with 



