What is a sheidholt?

Subject: What is a scheidholt?
From: GUEST,Jen
Date: 22 Jan 00 - 06:38 PM

Hey, everyone! Long time no type.

Have an interesting question here, went through the web, and figured someone here might know what this instrument is... it's called a scheidholt. I haven't been able to find out anything about it at all. Can anyone help? Thanks a bunch!

Jen (who won't stay away so long this time.)

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Chet W.
Date: 22 Jan 00 - 06:44 PM

Isn't it a zither-like thing, sort of like a hammer dulcimer? or maybe like a regular dulcimer.

Chet

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Jen
Date: 22 Jan 00 - 06:47 PM

I have no idea, someone wants to trade me one for my little harp. But that would be nice! I wish I could find a picture of one before I say yea or nay, you know?

Jen

(that has to be the quickest reply I've ever gotten!!)

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Grey Wolf
Date: 22 Jan 00 - 06:59 PM

I just had a quick look through all of the best search engines I know of, and the only thing I found was a post on an Early Music mailing list, which said that it was a predecessor of the moutain dulcimer.

Mind you, I'd never heard of a melody flute either

Wolf

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: GUEST,T in Oklahoma (Okeimockbird)
Date: 22 Jan 00 - 06:59 PM

A scheithold is a narrow, 3-string Tyrolean fretted zither, a cousin of the Dutch "hummel", the French "epinette des Vosges" (sp ?) and the American Appalachian dulcimer. Michael Prateorius showed a picture of one in his book on musical instruments (circa 1619).

T.

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 Jan 00 - 07:25 PM

Exactly T....Many believe the Mountain/Appalachian dulcimer came from the French epinette you mention and trace the first example to a French settlement on the Ohio River.

Spaw

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 22 Jan 00 - 09:44 PM

Lotsa good stuff about sheitholdts in Jean Ritchie's book "Dulcimer People" including a great picture "Otto Malmburg and his sheitholdt". Just love that sentence.

Rick

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: john c
Date: 23 Jan 00 - 05:38 AM

Quite right about it being a tirolian version of the dulcimer.(I know cos I live there!) Here we call it a Scheidholz or Hexenscheidt and its basically dulcimer with three melody strings tuned in quints and up to 5 sympathetic strings which arent played but vibrate in much the same way as the strings on a sitar. It seems to have fallen a bit out of fashion in the tirolian folkmusic, but was once very widespread throughout middle-europe and known as the Trummscheidt in the middleages. Grüße, John.

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: GUEST,Okiemockbird
Date: 23 Jan 00 - 10:05 AM

Wasn't the Trummscheidt a string drum, a set of unstopped strings beaten with a stick ? T.

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Margmac
Date: 23 Jan 00 - 04:55 PM

Rather than the figure 8 shape of most Appalachian dulcimers, the sheitholt is slab sided, narrower at the peg end, wider at the lower end. Very likely the predecessor of the dulcimer, according to Ralph Lee Smith, check out his books, as Pennsylvania Dutch settlers were not too far away from the mountaineers who developed the Appalachian dulcimer as we know it.Their British ancestors had no similar instrument, but they did have fiddles, also narrow waisted instruments Smith has found intermediate instruments to uphold his theory

margmac

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Jen
Date: 24 Jan 00 - 08:45 PM

Okay, now that sounds a lot like the mysteriou, unnamed instrument I saw on ebay a while back--almost bid on it, too. THanks for the info, everyone!

Jen

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Bugsy
Date: 24 Jan 00 - 08:57 PM

Nein, yoo arr aul wrang. It is ein little houl in ze graund ver you Sheidt.

CHeers

Bugsy

whoisfeelingespeciallysillythismorning.

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: catspaw49
Date: 24 Jan 00 - 09:21 PM

Actually Bugsy, you throw a scheidhlot (and its cousins) into the hole BEFORE you defecate.........oh, sorry Bugsy, forgot it was you...that'd be shit not defecate. You and I shit....Joe Offer defecates.

Spaw

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Amos
Date: 24 Jan 00 - 09:26 PM

I'd a thunk it was a dummie, of the female persuasion -- kinda like a she-boar only she-boars can be smart, but schiedholt can't usually be innerstin'.

Amos

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Bugsy
Date: 24 Jan 00 - 09:33 PM

ENOUGH OF THIS ALREADY!

My apologies to GUEST Jen for dragging this thread down into the mud(cat). I'm sure though that you would have been happy to have your question answered by your question was answered by GUEST,Okiemockbird.

Cheers

Bugsy

ps.

Now let's put an end to all this sillyness and dump it in the Sheidholt where it belongs!

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Jen
Date: 26 Jan 00 - 09:20 PM

Actually, I'm not a guest! But forgot to sign in first. Oh well! Thanks for the info anyway. :-)

Jen

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Wolfgang
Date: 27 Jan 00 - 04:26 AM

picture of a Scheitholz.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Bert
Date: 27 Jan 00 - 10:37 AM

picture of Bugsy

Bert.

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Jen
Date: 27 Jan 00 - 06:12 PM

Hey, thanks, Wolfgang! At least now my curiousity is sated.

Jen

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Bugsy
Date: 27 Jan 00 - 09:37 PM

Very close Bert. Who'd have thought that I looked so much like your father!

Cheers

bugsy

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: paddymac
Date: 28 Jan 00 - 08:01 PM

The very recent Mel Bay Publications "Songs & Tunes of the Wilderness Road" by Ralph Lee Smith & Madeline MacNeil, includes a piece on the evolution of the mountain dulcimer from the sheidholt, which relates the process to the history of the waves of immigrants along the way. Interesting reading, and not so deep as to drive off all but the purists. Also includes several photos.

Subject: RE: What is a sheidholt?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 28 Jan 00 - 11:01 PM

Rick,

You beat me to it. The book by Jean Ritchie is a great fount of info on these instruments that were possibly the forerunners of the Appalachian mountain dulcimer. Many had straight sides instead of the totally Freudian shape we usually see assigned to the mountain dulcimer. Still, there is nothing like an acoustic guitar for an almost Piccassoesque rendering of the classic and lovely female form.

I've heard that in Germany, "sheidt" are lambs. Thus the song "MASTER OF THE SCHEIDTHOLT" --- which we know as "MASTER OF THE SHEEPFOLD". ;-)

Art Thieme