The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #122999   Message #2707103
Posted By: Jack Blandiver
24-Aug-09 - 04:49 AM
Thread Name: 1008 ukuleles at the Albert Hall
Subject: RE: 1008 ukuleles at the Albert Hall
The general feeling is that Shakespeare wasn't meaning an organ as such, rather using the term simply to mean musical instrument. There is a modern English text HERE that says little instrument, and other notes (HERE) would support this. Maybe the confusion is brought about by Hamlet referring to the recorder holes as both ventages and stops, which serves to underline the metaphorical nature of the text, which doesn't lend itself to any sort of literal clarity as Hamlet is using the recorder to make a point which isn't in the least bit musical.