MI:. MO m ur -111 j. o. DAL YELL. x ix 



Giraldus says they had three, o*U*)rg, tympana, ft f Aorta. Several of the or- 

 i npoa Melrose Abbey are figure* of musicians. Upon the south or oath-watt wmll 

 it a figure playing upon an instrument, the lower pert only of which remain* : it inoi to 

 be a flute or hautbois, with six bole* at rao*t. Near thi* U a bagpipe blown with the mouth. 

 It ha* but one drone : the whole U much defaeed. There U another instrument, evidently 

 the riolin, with four (tring* : the Monding-holea are above the bridge : the hand is broken 

 away, and the ret* ranch defaced. Beaide thi* U a female figure playing upon a six -stringed 

 instrument, the (taring* disposed in pain. I luppoee thi* i* what Mr Harrington ha* taken 

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

 and quite different from the drawing he give*) of a crwth. The historian of the Irish Bard* 

 think* he ha* mistaken a French viol for the crwth. If I were to hazard a conjecture, I 

 should say it i* a kind of lute. I can find it in none of the many author* upon music and 

 musical instrument* I have consulted. In Mirtrnne and Kirther there is one bearing some 

 reiMnhlsnnfi Upon the west tide of the Abbey, there is a similar instrument, much larger, 

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

 late* the word chorut, cnetk. There are several other musical instrument*, both within 

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

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

 without musicians, which are statue*, or in basso or alto relievo. We are ignorant at what 

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

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

 tain, a* 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, aeems 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 coin*, vases, and other monuments of antiquity. It was not uncommon in the sister king- 

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

 meant Queen Elizabeth, who teem* 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 Spallanzani's " Tract* on 

 the Nature of Animal* and Vegetables," which was published by Constable 

 in 1799. Spallanzani was an Italian Professor, and his experiment* and 

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



