ABSTRACT
The extensive early seventeenth-century correspondence of the Wynn family of Gwydir deals with several musical matters, ranging from the tuition of the younger members of the family to the acquisition of instruments, while a letter of 1583 to Sir Edward Stradling of Glamorgan reveals that the family's old-style cerdd dant harper had recently achieved a degree of notoriety outside Wales on account of his unidentified instrument with 'wire strings'. The presence of instruments or books of music in Welsh households is attested in several places, most notably Carew castle in 1594. Payments to musicians, playing either singly or in groups, often occur among records of domestic expenditure. Occasional payments were made for ceremonial music or music by several families while travelling. The most complete references to musical instruments in Welsh households survive in two inventories associated with the Elizabethan politican and Lord Deputy of Ireland Sir John Perrot, whose principal residence was at Carew castle near Pembroke.
