LITERATURE OF THE ARABS. 117 



the principles of the art, the harmony of natural and 

 artificial sounds, and the various kinds of musical 

 composition, besides containing the notes or gamut 

 of the Arabs, and upwards of thirty figures of their 

 musical instruments. Another work on the same 

 subject is the Kitab Al Agani, or Great Collection of 

 Songs, by the celebrated composer and poet Abul- 

 faraji. Of two volumes, the first only is extant, which 

 contains 150 ariettas, the lives of fourteen distin- 

 guished musicians, and four eminent female singers. 

 There is a striking similitude between the Arabian 

 and the Italian gamut ; and it is highly probable 

 that the terms, sol, fa, ut, &c. used in the old mode 

 of teaching music, were borrowed from the Moors 

 of Spain. To the Saracens we are indebted for the 

 invention of the lute, which they accounted the most 

 beautiful of all instruments. They had likewise 

 the organ, flute, harp, tabor, and the mandoline, 

 with which they serenaded their mistresses. On 

 these occasions, not only the words and air of their 

 songs, but even the colour of their dress, indicated 

 the triumph of the fortunate, or the despair of the 

 rejected lover. Black and yellow denoted grief; 

 green was expressive of hope ; blue, of jealousy ; 

 and the violet or flame-colour, of impassioned love. 

 In addition to the musical instruments just men- 

 tioned, a recent traveller alleges that the bagpipe, 

 which has so long been considered national among 

 the Scottish Highlanders, was unquestionably of 

 Arabic origin.* Without pretending to decide whe- 

 ther it be a native of Asia or Europe, we may remark 

 that, in the two countries, there is a wonderful simi- 

 larity both in the shape of the instrument and in the 

 mode of playing it. The tube is perforated in the 



* Colonel Johnson's Overland Journey. 



