Viols and other lumber

Musical instruments were used outside London and court circles in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England, but which ones, and how common were they? A study of wills and probate inventories c 1570-1690 paints a surprising picture of which instruments were owned, by whom, and where. This is compared with a detailed study of inventories from Oxford in the same period, where there were some assemblages of instruments of considerable importance. These data include new identifications of at least one maker and one dealer in musical instruments, and cast a little light on the shadowy area of the supply and manufacture of musical instruments in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England. Another issue to be discussed will be the `chest' of viols; is this simply a collective noun, or does it refer to an item of furniture? The answer may help us to understand musical attitudes and practices