> My personal opinion ( which isn't worth much ), is that the Spanish luthiers > may > have added a 7th course to enable musicians to play the lute repertoire on the > vihuela de mano, but eventually, the (legendary?) prejudice against the lute ( > "It's Moorish - Yuck!" ) dissipated and more Spaniards began playing the lute > in > its 8+ course variants. Legendary indeed. No more than that. Long/medium-necked lutes were common in Eastern Mediterranean since at least Roman times. They are still around, as Quitras. RT -- http://polyhymnion.org/torban
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