Haven't been to the EMS in years - not since one very snowy day in early 2005 when I needed some odds ands for my newly acquired citera. It was still in Bradford back then. Still, my darling mother-in-law is forever pushing for a family jaunt to Saltaire so maybe soon, eh? Thing is, I've reached a stage in life (get this) where I'm actually happy with my instruments and am actually looking to simplifying things on account of having too many! What's happened, in fact, is that since getting into playing Normal Violin (in a Normal Tuning, though occasisionall I'll use a cross-A) (very cross) I seldom bother with anything else right now other than the Kemence (Black Sea Fiddle) and my sqare crwth. Indeed, on one of my recent recordings someone pointed out that my violin playing is more crwth-like than my crwth, and vice versa! I still hanker for an electric 5-string, just so I can record Weird Stuff without hacking off the neighbours, but I doubt the EMS can help me there. Still - no harm in looking is there?

As for the Worcester Crwth, I reckon that position looks okay; all depends on the ergomonics of the beast itself really, and it's not a million miles away both from modern revival styles of playing and the ways you see these things depicted in medieval iconography. Another piece of Steamfolk Trivia (but not as good as the John Cale one) is that the CRWTH or CROWD (in which one might so easily lose oneself) is the first instrument we see in Medieval Iconography being played with a BOW. In fact, one theory is that the bow developed from increasingly long Lyre Plectra which (as with the Korean Kayagum which is occaisionaly played with a resined stick akin to con sordino* techniques of the modern violin) could be used to rub the strings, or bow them. Just a theory, but when you look at the length of plectra anciently depicted on the Semitic Lyre from the tomb of Khnumhotep III (which is very square & crwth-like!) it doesn't seem too far fetched.

One question remains though - a Nykelharpa without a keyboard is what exactly?

* Con Sordino these days seems to mean simply to play with the mute; maybe I've got the wrong term, but I recall chatting with a very dazzling posh young girl from Central High on the train once when I was 15 (and she was 14) who old me Con Sordino meant to play the strings with the wood of the bow which gives a weird muted sound but quite different to a mute. A google search proves fruitless. Anyone know? As for the girl, I met her again five years or so later when she was fairly embarked on her Physics degree having kicked the fiddle altogether. I remember having lots of fun with her beside a huge convex mirror in the physics building of Newcastle University and roaming around the old Museum of Antiquities but we never saw each other again. In fact, when I told her I was married she slapped my face and that was that, even though there wasn't a hint of romance in any of it. Sad really, but whever I play with the back of my bow I think of dear Melissa - or was it Clarissa?