You’re correct on both counts. Hurdy gurdys were popular in the 1500’s, perhaps earlier, as well. I’m pretty sure that Brueghel included hurdy gurdy players in some of his village scenes. If not in his work, there are definitely other painters from that same era who did.
As for those Swedish folk instruments, the nyckelharpa and the slightly more archaic silverharpa, the keyed mechanism that creates the notes is virtually identical to the one on hurdy gurdys. The main difference between them is that on the hurdy gurdy the strings are driven by a wheel, while on the nyckelharpa the strings are bowed.
whm
|