I play the bowed psaltry and I have found that some people do not like it I think it is the old "fingernails down the blackboard" sound.As to the history if you look around enough you will find an expert that will say that the Germans reinvented all musical instruments based on old carving/woodcuts/manuscripts/painting. I have seen a picture of a stone carving at santiago de compostella showing what appears to be a triangular instrument being held by a person holding a bow.