..or "cat" as possibly derived from "kit", an antiquated folk reference to fiddles. ...or "cat" as an abbreviation of "cattle" in general reference to any ruminant (or specifically sheep) from which a large length of gut for string fabrication might come. Take your pick. I doubt this one will be conclusively resolved any time soon, and even if it is, I doubt it will substantially change my appreciation of the music or of playing it.
Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On > Behalf Of Ron Andrico > Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 12:51 PM > To: howardpos...@ca.rr.com; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > Subject: [LUTE] Re: catgut > > Then there is the reference to caterpillars that produce silk... > RA > > Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:29:34 -0800 > > To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > > From: howardpos...@ca.rr.com > > Subject: [LUTE] Re: catgut > > > > On Dec 27, 2010, at 6:51 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote: > > > > > That's tasty food for thought to catgut integralists on this list, > and a bite out > > > of their ideal of authenticity. > > > I already imagine Dan Larson chasing a suitable kitty, because > Anthony Hind has just ordered a set. > > > RT > > > > Morris' pseudo-etymological conjecture (hardly unique to him) may be > plausible for fiddlers, but any lutenist who could manage to make his > instrument sound like a cat of any kind would have my enduring respect. > > > > > > A thousand pardons if I've asked this before, but is string material > called "cat" gut in French, German, or Italian? > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jaroslaw Lipski" > <jaroslawlip...@wp.pl> > > > To: <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> > > > Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 9:34 AM > > > Subject: [LUTE] catgut > > > > > > > > >> Although this subject was discussed couple of month ago, quite > unexpectedly I found an interesting information in a book on cats which > casts some new light on this term. In "Cat watching" Desmond Morris > asks why sheep gut should be perversely referred to as catgut, and > suggests that the clue lies in the earliest use of the term. At the > beginning of the seventeenth century, one author wrote of fiddlers > "tickling the dryed gutts of a mewing cat". Later we hear of a man > upset "at every twang of the cat-gut, as if he heard at the moment the > wailing of the helpless animal that had been sacrificed to harmony". > These references come from a period when domestic cats were all too > often the victims of persecution and torture, and the sound of > squealing cats was not unfamiliar to human ears. In addition, there was > the noise of the caterwauling at times when feral tomcats were arguing > over females in heat. Together, these characteristic feline sounds > provided the obvious basis for a ! > > comparison with the din created by inexpert musicians scraping at > their stringed instruments. In the imaginations of the tormented > listeners, the inappropriate sheep gut became transformed into the > appropriate catgut - a vivid fiction to replace a dull fact (as he > suggests). > > >> Hmm.......quite interesting...though he didn't enclose any > bibliography (pity!). > > >> > > >> Best wishes for the coming New Year! > > >> > > >> Jaroslaw Lipski > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> To get on or off this list see list information at > > >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > --
