num. 



Ohfervations &c. 26'p 



tiquity ; as is alfo the Gafpah, which is only a common Reed, t'-'' Gafpah, 

 open at each End, having the Side of It bored, with three or 

 more Holes, according to the Ability of the Perfon who is to 

 touch It : though the Compafs of their Tunes rarely or ever 

 exceeds an 06ta've. Yet fometimes, even in this Simplicity 

 of Harmony , they obferve fomething of Method and Cere- 

 mony. For in their Hiftorical Cantata^ " efpecially, they have 

 their Preludes and Symphonies ; each Stanza being introduced 

 with a Flourifli from the y^rahehbah, while the Narration It- 

 felf is accompanied with the fofteft Touches, they are able 

 to make, upon the Gafpah. The Tarr, another of their InT^^.Tan, 

 llruments, is made like a Sive, confifting (as Ifidore ' defcrib- 

 eth the Tympanum) of a thin Rim or Hoop of Wood, with 

 a Skin of Parchment ftretched over the Top of It. This 

 ferves for the Bafs in all their Conforts , which they accord- 

 ingly touch very artfully with their Fingers, and the Knuckles 

 or Palms ' of their Hands, as the Time and Meafure require, 

 or as Force and Softnefs are to be communicated to the fe- 

 veral Parts of the Performance. The Tarr is undoubtedly or xympa- 

 the Tympanum of the Antients, which appears, as well from' 

 the general Ufe of It all over ^^r^^r;', Egypt 2lvA the Le'vant, 

 as from the Method of playing upon It , and the Figure of 

 the Inftrument Itfelf, being exadlly of the fame Fafhion with 

 what we find in the Hands of Cyhele and the Bacchanals a- 

 mong the BaJJo Relie'vo's and Statues of the Antients. 



But the Mufick of the Moors is more artful and melodious. ^^^^Mooruh 



. 1 • I Mnjick and 



For moft of their Tunes are lively and pleafant ; and if the M^wncnts. 

 Account be true, (which I have often heard ferioufly affirmed, 

 but could never fee a Proof of) that the Flowers * of Mullein 

 and Mothwort, will fall from their Stalks, at the playing of 

 their Mizmoune^ they have fomething to boaft of, which our 

 modern Mufick doth not pretend to. They have alfo a much 

 greater Variety of Inftruments than the Arahs ; for befides 



I The StroUittg Bedovveens (like the antlent AOIAOI or Rhapfodifts) are chiefly converfant in 

 this fort of Mufull, who after they have got together a Crowd and placed them in a Circle, begin to 

 chant over the memorable Aliions of their Prophet &c. or elf e laying before them the Plans c/Mecca, 

 Medina &c. flourijlj over, in Hks manner, their feveral Defcriptions. 2 Tympanum elV 

 pellis vel coriutn lignoex una paste extenfum. Eft enim pars media Symphoni^e in fimiliru-' 

 dinem cribri. Tympanum aatem didum, quod medium eft. Ifid. Oiig. 1. 5. cap. 21. 

 3 Tympana tenfa tenant Palmis & Cymbala circum 



Concava. Lticret. 1. 2. 1. diS. 



4 Something like this is mentioned by Ovid. 



Ilicibus glandes, cantacaque vitibus uva 



Decidic. Ovid. I 3. Amor. El. 7. I. 33. 



Y y y feveral 



