Why's it called JEW's HARP??
Dennis P. Havlena
There is no question that (at least in this country) the original
name for the instrument is Jew's Harp (Having been mentioned as such
countless times in old 18th century shipping invoices for example)
How did this name come to be?? I have heard that it might be due
to the instrument's resemblance to an old Jewish religious symbol,
akin to the Egyptian "Ankh" but this is far from verifiable.
Any leads appreciated. This inquiry is a bit beyond normal curiosity
as we are writing the liner notes for a small album of 18th and
early 19th century music & this info could prove interesting.
Much thanks
Dennis Havlena am...@freenet.carleton.ca
Paul M. Gifford
>From: am...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Dennis P. Havlena)
>Subject: Why's it called JEW's HARP??
>Date: Tue, 23 May 1995 11:14:16 GMT
>There is no question that (at least in this country) the original
>name for the instrument is Jew's Harp (Having been mentioned as such
>countless times in old 18th century shipping invoices for example)
>How did this name come to be?? I have heard that it might be due
>to the instrument's resemblance to an old Jewish religious symbol,
>akin to the Egyptian "Ankh" but this is far from verifiable.
If I recall from Francis Galpin's book on old English instruments, "Jew's" is
a corruption of an older term "juice," meaning jaws. Your story about the
Jewish religious symbol is an interesting example of "folk etymology,"
though. The term "jaw harp," as seen on display racks containing the
instruments in music stores, seems to be a modern attempt at cleansing the
term, perhaps to make it more marketable (most instruments now are made in
Austria).
The standard French term is guimbarde, but on at least one 78 I have from
Quebec the instrument is called bombarde, which in France is a word for
bagpipes.
Paul Gifford
Peter Shenkin
NY Jew in good standing,
-P.
--
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Scott C DeLancey
Dennis P. Havlena <am...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote:
>Hello
>
>There is no question that (at least in this country) the original
>name for the instrument is Jew's Harp (Having been mentioned as such
>countless times in old 18th century shipping invoices for example)
>
>How did this name come to be?? I have heard that it might be due
>to the instrument's resemblance to an old Jewish religious symbol,
>akin to the Egyptian "Ankh" but this is far from verifiable.
This seems pretty improbable. The story I've read (I can't
come up with a source offhand, sorry) is that, being cheap and
light, they were common items in a travelling peddler's stock.
I don't know how true it is that a lot of 18th-19th century
travelling peddlers were Jews, but apparently that was a stock
stereotype. So they were "Jew's harps" because that's where
you got them.
Scott DeLancey
Oldtime1
heard from Scott. German Jewish "pack" peddlers carried their wares to
the frontier for decades, beginning early in the 19th century. Many
turned to wagons as soon as they could and some of the first mercantile
fortunes in the South and interior west were built by men who began as
pack peddlers. Some followed the Armies during the Civil War, but they
seem to have disappeared near the end of the last century. Some objects
in their trade goods were constant. All seem to have carried pins and
other sewing supplies, ribbons, nutmeg and a few other spices and --
always -- Jew's harps. Joe Wilson
Bo Bradham
>
> If I recall from Francis Galpin's book on old English instruments, "Jew's" is
> a corruption of an older term "juice," meaning jaws. Your story about the
> Jewish religious symbol is an interesting example of "folk etymology,"
> though. The term "jaw harp," as seen on display racks containing the
> instruments in music stores, seems to be a modern attempt at cleansing the
> term, perhaps to make it more marketable (most instruments now are made in
> Austria).
>
It may not entirely be "folk etymology". Here's what the Oxford
English Dictionary sez:
Jews' harp. (Also sometimes with small j.) [A variant of JEWS' TRUMP,
q.v.]
[description of the instrument that is loved by millions] Called also
Jews' trump.
So you look up Jew's trump and find:
Jews' trump, Jew's-trump. Now rare. Also 6 Iues trounk, 9 dial. Jew-
trump. [An earlier name than the now usual Jews' harp, and formerly
equally common in England. In Scotland and N. of England the instrument
is still called simply TRUMP, agreeing with the Fr. name trompe
[Stuff about the "trump" part deleted...]
The first element was certainly Jews from the first;
conjectures that this was an alteration of jaws, or of Fr. jeu, are
baseless and inept. But the attribution of the instrument to the Jews
occurs, so far as is known, only in English, and there is no actual evidence
as to its origin.
[...]
As the instrument was neither a trump nor a harp, the ingenuity which
conferred upon it these names may well have distinguished it as the trump
or harp of the Jews. See also article by Rev. C. B. Mount in Notes &
Queries, 23 Oct. 1897, p. 322.]
The earliest citation in the OED for "Jew's trump" is 1545, for
"Jew's harp" it is 1595.
I looked in Webster's New World Dictionary of the American
Language and it said that it comes from Dutch : jeugd-tromp or
child's trumpet. This is at odds with the OED. I am inclined to
believe the OED because the earliest citation in the OED uses
the spelling "Iue" for Jew. It seems unlikely to me that it would go
from Dutch "jeugd" to "Iue" in English.
Bo Bradham
Bo Bradham
Kenz William
: Hello
: There is no question that (at least in this country) the original
: name for the instrument is Jew's Harp (Having been mentioned as such
: countless times in old 18th century shipping invoices for example)
====If you want, check vol. 9 of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, page 645-6. There is a nice article on the instrument. It
states that the instrument is indigenous to "much of the Eurasian land
mass as well as south and south-east Asia, Indonesia and Melanesia..."
The article also contains a substantial bibliography.
The article also states that the origin of the name remains obscure.
Bill Kenz
Let me know if you'd like a copy of the section.
--
William G. Kenz
Library - Documents Dept.
Moorhead State University
Moorhead, MN 56563
ke...@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu
Mike Parker
>
> The information that I've come across over the years supports what you
> heard from Scott. German Jewish "pack" peddlers carried their wares to
> other sewing supplies, ribbons, nutmeg and a few other spices and --
> always -- Jew's harps. Joe Wilson
Sorry Joe, the Netscape newsreader would let me leave all your original
text intact.
Detailed information for sure. Leads me to believe my understanding may be
incorrect. Anyways, I've heard it was derived from `Jaws Harp' due to the way
its played.
Mike
Raleigh NC