Just for the amusement, and i hope John Downing would not mind:
CATGUT: COMM. 1567 REVISITED A basic assumption today is that all lute strings of the 16th and 17th C were made from ‘gut’- invariably taken to mean the intestines of a lamb or sheep. Yet, historical references to lute string materials are rare and, when they do occur, include materials other than the intestinal fibre of sheep. Robert Dowland (1610) and Mace – the two most often quoted historical sources concerning lute strings – make no mention at all about the materials used for fabricating strings. Margaret Board (1660 – 1672) does. She says that lute strings were made from “Sheepes and Catts gutte”. Board is clearly making a distinction between sheep’s gut and a material called catgut.(1) So what was catgut? Samuel Pepys was an angler of sorts. An entry in his diary for January 1659/1660 records that “This day Mr Caesar told me a pretty experiment of his, of angling with a minikin, a gut string varnished over which keeps it from swelling and is beyond any hair for strength and smallness. The secret I like mightily!” (Comm. 1567). Pepys was using angling terminology. Early records confirm that anglers made their fishing lines from horsehair (2). The final connection between line and hook had to be a fine, strong, transparent line, invisible to a fish. This short length of line, known as a ‘cast’ or ‘leader’ was usually made from white horsehair - referred to by anglers, simply, as ‘hair.’ Horsehair used in commerce today – taken from the tail of the animal – measures from 0.003 to 0.011 inches in diameter. Its diameter and strength depend upon the breed of horse and its diet. We know, from the writings of Thomas Mace (1676), that strings called ‘minikins’ were used for lute 1st, 2nd, and 3rd courses as well as for small octave strings (particularly the 6th octave). Pepsy’s minikin string was “ beyond any hair for strength and smallness”, so either lute treble strings in the 17th C were a lot smaller in diameter than we imagine today or horsehair available to anglers of the period was quite a bit larger in diameter (and stronger) than is generally obtainable today. I believe the latter proposition to be the case. During the first quarter of the 18th C, an innovative material for freshwater fishermen came on to the market. The new material, that was to eventually replace horsehair for leaders - as best quality horsehair became increasingly difficult to obtain - was a transparent, monofilament line of silk known as ‘silkworm gut’- or just ‘gut’ to fishermen. According to Herd (3), silkworm gut was first advertised for sale to anglers in 1722 and the first angling book to describe the manufacture and use of silkworm gut for leaders was “The Compleat Fisherman” by James Saunders published in 1724. In his book, Saunders makes direct comparison between silkworm gut (used for angling) and catgut (used for viols and violins). He also confirms that these strings ‘resembled a single hair’ (4). SILK FILAMENT AND SILKWORM GUT Silk filament, used for making silk fabric, is produced by the caterpillar of the ‘Bombyx Mori’ moth domesticated for this purpose by the Chinese – way back in the mists of antiquity. The caterpillar spins a cocoon, prior to pupation, containing a continuous double filament of silk around 3000 to 4000 yards (2800 to 3700 metres) in length - each filament being about 0.001 inch (0.025 mm) in diameter. This strong, fine filament, after treatment and twisting into thread, was used, not only for weaving into silk fabric, but also for making articles such as bow strings and musical instrument strings used in Middle and Far Eastern cultures (5). The technology required for silk production was introduced to the Middle East before 600 A.D. By the 11th C, the Arabs had established the industry in North Africa, Spain and Sicily. Italy was to follow in the 12th C. By the 16th C, France had become a major centre for silk production. Silkworm gut – known to the Chinese centuries before it became generally available in Europe – is a by-product of the silk industry. At maturity, the caterpillar of the silkworm moth measures about 3 inches long by about 0.375 inches in diameter. The silk is produced in two sacs - weighing about 25% of total body weight Silkworm gut - prepared for use as angling leaders - is made by soaking the mature caterpillar in vinegar to kill it and to condition the contents of the sac. The caterpillar is then split open and each sac is stretched and set on a frame to dry – the more each sac is stretched, the smaller is the diameter of the strand produced. After cleaning, the strands are graded according to quality and diameter. A further refinement is to pass the strands through sizing dies in order to produce precise and consistent diameters. These are known as ‘drawn’ gut strands. *************************** By the 19th C, the manufacture of gut leaders for angling was big business – the finest quality product being manufactured in Spain. Leaders were made in lengths ranging from 10 inches to 20 inches and diameters from 0.22 inches to 0.007 inches. However, it was possible to make longer strands in the smaller diameters but these were more expensive to produce and not generally required by anglers. Silkworm gut continued to be produced in quantity until nylon monofilament became generally available in the 1950’s. “Making and Using the Dry Fly – With Valuable Notes on Leaders and Stream Tactics” was published in 1934. Author Paul H. Young, a noted flyfisherman of the time, refers in his book to the process of making silkworm gut for leaders. In his book he states that silkworm gut was also known as “catgut” meaning “caterpillar gut”. The question is - was this etymological connection noted by Young simply an assumption on his part, or was he making reference (as he implies) to terminology familiar to some anglers? Have fishermen known all along that ‘catgut’ was not made from the intestines of a sheep (or a feline!) but from the ‘gut’ of a silkworm? The seaweed CHORDA FILUM, which is common worldwide, is a type of kelp of economic importance as a food and for making medicines. This weed occurs as a long strand up to 6mm in diameter and 4 metres long, and is found in rock pools and shallow sheltered bays. Chorda Filum is commonly known as, sea lace, mermaid’s tresses, sea lamprey, young man’s net, lucky minnies lines, mermaid’s fishing line, dead man’s rope and sea bootlace. Scottish fishermen, after stripping away the fleshy outer coating of the weed, used it as a tough cord for making fishing lines, nets and ropes. Chorda Filum was also known as “CATGUT” – because it resembled in appearance and function the “gut” strands used by freshwater fishermen for their leaders(?). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origin of the word “caterpillar” comes from the Old French ‘Chatepelose’ meaning “hairy cat” which in turn became ‘ chate – piller’ meaning “pillaging cat” before the final corruption ‘caterpillar’ which was adopted by Johnson in his “Dictionary of the English Language” of 1755. The naming of hairy caterpillars as ‘cats’ also occurs in other European folk cultures. >From another perspective, the botanical word ‘CATKIN’ has nothing at all to do >with felines. Catkins are so called because they look like little hairy >caterpillars! In summary, it would seem from this evidence to be quite probable that musical instrument strings with names like “catgut” and “catline” were not made from the intestines of a feline animal (everyone knows that!) but were either twisted from silk filament or were an artificially produced silk monofilament strand – both being perceived as being a product of the ‘bowels’ of a silkworm caterpillar. In all likelihood, the ‘minikins’ of Mace and Pepys were monofilament silk. In Comm. 1442, I proposed that catlines might have been overspun strings made from sinew fibre – rather like the nylon overspun strings made for modern classical guitar third strings today. (6) Alexander Rakov (Comm. 1744) had a better idea. He has, recently, been making twisted and overspun strings of this type from silk filament (as well as alternative fibrous materials) for bowed and plucked instruments – and they do work! Earlier this year, Alexander contacted me and kindly sent some of his experimental strings for testing on one of my lutes (a Hieber copy, 60cm string length, strung with octave basses). These trials are not complete but the results, so far, are very encouraging. The observations in this Comm. were researched and developed from our original (and still ongoing) discussions concerning silk technology and instrument strings. NOTES (1) The first known reference to catgut as a musical instrument string is in 1599 according to Segerman (Comm. 15). (2) The earliest angling books in the English language are “A Treatyse of Fysshyngewith an Angle”, published in 1496 by Wynkyn de Worde (Caxton’s successor) and “The Arte of Angling” by William Samuel published in 1577. (3) Dr Andrew Herd, a family practitioner and flyfishing enthusiast and historian has just published his book “A History of Fly Fishing” and a republication of “The Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle” (Medlar Press, The Grange, Ellesmere, Shropshire, U.K.). Andrew has very kindly provided me with information from his book about silkworm gut manufacture and use, seen from an angler’s perspective. (4) It is likely that silkworm gut (for anglers) and catgut (for musical instruments) was the same material, (made from the silk sac of a silkworm caterpillar) but that each was prepared in a different manner. Catgut was silkworm gut preserved in oil to keep it flexible. Angling leaders, however, were oil free - prepared for use by soaking in water to make them flexible. (at least, this was more recent angling practice – not mentioned by Saunders, however). (5) Asian and Turkish bows were generally of the reflex type – short and very powerful. The bowstrings were made from untwisted silk filaments (for maximum tensile strength) bound together with cotton thread wrappings (6) For further information on alternative string materials, construction and other related topics, see Comms 1318, 1319, 1320, 1352, 1393, 1394, 1395 and 1441 (Downing) and Comms. 1288, 1350, 1351, 1417, and 1466 (Peruffo). On Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:50:41 +0000 Ron Andrico <praelu...@hotmail.com> wrote: > Then there is the reference to caterpillars that produce silk... > RA > > Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:29:34 -0800 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
