Have checked with a friend who is a translator at our National Assembly and asked him to look in the uber-dictionary which no mere mortal in Wales can afford. He says it says that 'crwth' comes from the Middle Irish 'crott' which means 'harp' or 'crwmp'. It apparently comes from the same word as the Welsh word 'croth' (womb) from the Celtic 'krutta'.

Now what the heck a 'crwmp' is ... I dunno!

Right, so the crwth now becomes 'hot stuff' cuz it's 'really' Irish ...

But seriously, I have some recollection that the bards of Ireland and Wales used to have some pretty serious get-togethers in the dim and distant path and at one of them (it was Ireland's turn to have the boys round 'to theirs') they established the 24 (or is it 25?) official metres of our poetry, which the Welsh still hold to. Rather makes sense that one of the two official status instruments for court bards (the other being the harp) would reflect the collegiate approach of the time.

sian