For your information:

The English guitar (or guittar) was a small cittern that was fashionable between 1750 and 1790, most notably in the British Isles, closely related to other citterns that were being made in western Europe at the time (such as the instrument the French called the guitarre allemande) but with several particular specifications introduced by the English luthiers. The English cittern was brought by the English to Portugal, possibly circa 1750, through the trading activity held between the two countries at the time. This fact is observed by António da Silva Leite in 1786, who remarks in his method for the instrument the following: "The guitar, of which they say has its origins in Great-Britain..."; "Of the guitars from England, Mr. Simpson is the best maker.". The local luthiers then proceed to imitate and copy the foreign instruments. Eventually, the instrument was subject to modifications and improvements through the years and it remained popular in Portugal long after the fad died in the remaining European countries. By as early as 1820 the English already referred to it as the "Portuguese guitar".

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Don Firth