Updated: Committing Genericide: My Take on the Scheitholt Name
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Dulcimore Playing Spiders?
David Bennett <><
7/29/2026
James Still, a poet, novelist and folklorist, was known as the “dean of Appalachian literature.” He lived most of his adult life in a two-story log house along the Dead Mare Branch of Little Carr Creek, Knott County, Kentucky given to him for life by dulcimer maker Jethro Amburgey who was born there. James Still wrote that this old log house was built in 1827, although the state historical association claims it was built in 1840.
While doing some research online today, I came across a quint James Still quotation in the Spring 2014 issue of Kentucky Humanities in an article by Frederick Smock titled, “James Still, Born in a Cotton Patch, He Said He Was: An Appreciation.”
In the section describing the old log house where Still lived Smock wrote:
“This particular cabin, on Wolfpen Creek, had once belonged to the dulcimer-maker Jethro Amburgey, and it retained some fine music — “One night,” Still recalled, “a dulcimer hanging from a nail began to play, however faintly, but a struck match revealed a granddaddy spider walking the strings.”
A small point of natural history… strictly speaking, a “granddaddy spider” is technically not a spider. Although a spider is an arachnid, not all arachnids are spiders. The granddaddy long leg is a particular type of arachnid known as a harvestman. Though both do have eight legs, harvestmen have two eyes instead of eight as spiders do, they don’t build webs as spiders do, and their bodies are one section unlike the two sections spiders have.
Spider or harvestman, one can picture the spindly creature walking across the strings of the old dulcimer and hear the instrument faintly humming in the quiet dimness of that old Appalachian log house.
In case you’re wondering… I did ask the all-knowing AI, “can a granddaddy long leg on a dulcimer fretboard cause any kind of sound?” According to ChatGPT, “yes, it is possible, but usually only a very subtle sound. If a harvestman is walking on fretboard, it might cause a very faint ticking, tapping or even a tiny plink.””
“The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings’ palaces.” — Proverbs 30:28 (NKJV)
This Bible verse is part of a longer list of creatures, ants, rock badgers, locusts, and spiders that demonstrate wisdom despite being small or seemingly insignificant:
—————–
Appalachian America 250
David Bennett <><
6/6/2026
Here is a graphic I made, all without AI except for the bronze looking medallion which I did use Google AI. I would have liked to include many more images but then they would have been way too small to view. Since I had to limit the number of people I could include all the people in this graphic were born pre-1883. They lived within 100 years or less of the end of the American Revolution, a couple were born less than 100 years after the start of the American Revolution. The reason why I chose this time frame is that while these folks were not around at the time of the American Revolution, some people who were alive at the time of the Revolution were around at the same time as these folks were born. So that’s how I tied the two (the Revolution and dulcimores) together…
“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.” Psalm 143:5
“Then the Levites stood with the instruments of David…” 2 Chronicles 29:26
“Praise Him with the lute and harp!” Psalm 150:3
“Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.” 1 Corinthians 11:2
Dulcimores celebrating America250
Image
Dulcimore Doppelgängers
Playing around with ChatGPT and Grok. Here’s me and a couple of my pickin’ pals
A Regional Curiosity
I like the following passage on page 1 of Ralph Lee Smith’s book, The Story of the Dulcimer:
‘Where the fretted dulcimer was known, it often had difficulty achieving respectability. In the late 1940s, the well-known regional author Rebecca Caudill was writing a children’s book, in which one child possessed a dulcimer. She checked with the reference librarian of a major library who could provide her with no information on dulcimers. The librarian wrote to the editor of The Dictionary of Musical Terms, asking why the Kentucky dulcimer was not listed in the Dictionary. He replied, “The Kentucky mountain dulcimer is not a musical instrument. It is a regional curiosity.“‘
Elizabeth Howard (1891-1968)
June 12, 1891 Rebecca Elizabeth “Lizzie” Snyder Howard was born and she died June 7, 1968 in Johnson County, Tennessee. Johnson County is very near the Virginia and North Carolina state lines.She was known to sing old time ballads while accompanying herself on the Appalachian dulcimer.
In 1911 Lizzie married George Washington Howard, who also sang old time ballads. He was born May 9, 1883 and died July 18, 1964. He was born and died in Johnson County, Tennessee.
Together Lizzie and George had four children. The youngest, William Clinton Howard, aka Clint, was born October 30, 1930, near Mountain City, Johnson County, Tennessee and died October 16, 2011 at home in Johnson County, Tennessee.
Clint worked as a welder at Maymead, a stone quarry business located in Mountain City, Tennessee, where he retired in 1990. He also worked as a school bus driver. At the same time Clint worked his own farm, deep back in the woods a few miles off the main road where he raised tobacco, corn, beans and cattle.
Clint remembered his mother singing lullabies to him as a small child and singing old time ballads with his mother growing up. His obituary says in part, “He often shared that he learned from his beloved mother how to sing and vary his pitch and tone; this was a key to creating the power and range of his voice. “It didn’t make any difference what time of the night that was,” he once told an interviewer. “Me and her would just go to singing songs out of the song book or gospel songs, or just whatever. Me and her’d sing sometimes till one or two o’clock in the morning.”” Though he was certainly influenced by his parents, particularly his mother whom he recalled singing old time ballads while accompanying herself on the dulcimer it is not known if Clint played the dulcimore. He did say there were no other instruments in the house until his father bought him a guitar when Clint was eleven.
As an adult Clint was well-known for his old-time mountain music singing, and playing guitar. He was a member of a group that included Doc Watson (1923-2012), Clarence “Tom” Ashley (1895-1967), and fiddler Fred Price (1915-1987). In the 1960s they performed at Carnegie Hall, the Smithsonian and the Newport Folk Festival. In 1961 the four were featured on the Folkways Records album “Old Time Music At Clarence Ashley’s” and in 1963 on the follow-up album, “OLD TIME MUSIC AT CLARENCE ASHLEY’S- Volume 2.” In 1967 Doc, Clint, and Fred released the album, “Old Timey Concert.”
Clint performed in 1982 with Doc Watson and Fred Price at the World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. Then in 1988 and 1989 Clint played and sang with Doc Watson and others at the first two Merlefest events in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
As musical and old timey as Clint’s family was, I assume Clint “could” play his mother’s dulcimore, but that doesn’t mean that he did, apparently not publicly at any rate. I wonder what became of his mother’s dulcimore?
Today In Mountain Dulcimer History
“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing!” Psalm 100:1-2
“Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” Ephesians 5:19
“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!” Psalm 150:6
Dulcimore Numismatics
April 15, 2026
Playing around with both Grok and ChatGPS. Both have their limitations and you don’t always get exactly what you want. But for free and being a novice using it these aren’t too bad I think.
The following two images are of Loraine Wyman (1885–1937) from the famous 1917 Vogue magazine photo. The image on the 2nd one may technically be better but I think the first one looks more like a real coin
The next two are both of Jean Ritchie.
The last image is Lillie McGhee Ward (1882-1972), Kendra Ward’s grandmother.
Grok wouldn’t fix the proportion of her dulcimore or hand. The ChatGPS version that I didn’t keep was pretty cheesy.
Today In Mountain Dulcimer History
“According to their ability they gave to the treasury for the work 61,000 gold drachmas and 5,000 silver minas and 100 priestly garments.” Ezra 2:69
“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” Matthew 10:29
“And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a quadrans” Mark 12:42
“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:19
“Make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing.” Psalm 98:5
John Huron (1948-2026)
John Joseph Huron was born March 21, 1948 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He passed on March 6, 2026 in Bristol, Tennessee. Ken Longfield wrote 3/12/2026 on The Traditional Appalachian Dulcimore (TTAD) site of John, “He was a part of current mountain dulcimer history.”
In 1968 during the Vietnam conflict he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was discharged in 1971.
Huron had many eclectic interests to include, in part, bicycle racing, radio-control car racing, and he opened an indoor establishment for slot cars and radio-controlled electric cars. During this time he was working full time at Naval Avionics Facility Indianapolis (NAFI).
In 1983 he began participating in Civil War reenacting with a particular interest in period camp music.
Eventually John moved to Bristol, Tennessee when he took a job at Raytheon. When John was laid off from Raytheon he began to make musical instruments. His obituary says,
“…John had always wanted to build musical instruments, and the Lord also provided the means for that new vocation. Through a colleague, he met Ellis Wolfe who made fretless mountain banjos, and Bob Mize who built Appalachian dulcimers. With those two men to guide him he began his third business, Noteworthy Instruments. The business of building instruments expanded to include what he called “infotainment.” He performed with several different kinds of his instruments while explaining how they came into this country and developed over the years…”
John enjoyed teaching children about the Bible and Jesus using music and his musical instruments.
Noteworthy Instruments was the name of Huron’s shop, where he made traditional early American folk instruments to include Appalachian dulcimers, fretless mountain banjos and gourd banjos, limberjacks/jig dolls, rhythm bones, and mouth bows. His instruments can be found in The Birthplace of Country Music in Bristol TN/VA, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the state museums of Tennessee and North Carolina, as well as Colonial Williamsburg.
Specifically related to mountain dulcimers, Huron was known for restoring Appalachian dulcimers made by Uncle Ed (James Edward) Thomas. Using measurements and patterns from original Thomas instruments he made accurate reproductions of Thomas style dulcimers intended for traditional “noter/drone” playing.
John taught students to build Thomas style dulcimers in his workshops at events like Dulcimerville in North Carolina and Western Carolina University.
Here’s a few videos featuring John:
Project Family: Local TV piece done 11/04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUO0qrKqXoc
Appalachian Dancing Doll https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny16p6jHS68
Valentine’s Day: Collage of John and Sandy Huron photos, 1969-2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w1H15HhIDk
Campbellin – Make It and Play It August 16-21, 2019: John Huron: “Just a quick video overview of the instrument building class I taught along with Jim Miller down at the John C. Campbell Folk School last week. It was my last big time teaching adventure and despite some major back problems the Lord kept me upright just long enough to get eight new Campbellins polished and strung up and with Jim’s expert musical instruction the class gave a recital on their newly created instruments much to the delight of the other ninety students Friday afternoon.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_VoYZL7JQI
Celebrating Freedom Ministries (CFM) John Huron: Recorded in his dulcimer shop. Has nothing to do with dulcimers, but his freedom from addiction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR6WoNFSivU
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” Colossians 3:27
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
Committing Genericide: My Take on the Scheitholt Name
By David Bennett <><
January 2026 — Updated August 2026
[NOTE: This is something I started a few years ago and from time to time update as I find new information.]
Genericide is the process by which a trademarked name becomes generic through common usage, losing its association with the original specific brand. For example: aspirin, escalator, xerox, lite beer, soft soap, and cola just to name a few. Though it is not a trademarked word, for this discussion I would add “scheitholt” as well as it has been commonly used generically for over a century.
It’s a given that it’s not likely that anyone in Pennsylvania, or anywhere in Appalachia, in the 1800s or early 1900s used the term scheitholt to describe the fretted zithers that they made or played. That being said I am making the case that there is nothing wrong if we use the term “scheitholt” to describe the instruments they built and played. I am pushing back on the notion that scheitholt should be stricken from the fretted zither lexicon and never, ever, used. If you disagree, just bear with me for a bit as I make my case that scheitholt became a legitimate descriptive term for a certain class of fretted zithers during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
A historical instrument does not have to bear the same name used by its original makers for a later descriptive term to be legitimate— scheitholt has a documented history of being used generically for certain fretted zithers well before the twentieth-century Appalachian dulcimer revival.
My argument is threefold:
- Generally speaking today when most people use the word scheitholt they are not talking specifically about the particular instrument Praetorius described in 1619. They are describing an instrument that is similar in shape and build: a diatonic instrument with a long, narrow, rectangular body, that does not have a raised fretboard.
- That “scheitholt” had already entered the vocabulary of European and American musical writing by the 19th century, and its subsequent use as a general term for this class of fretted zither is valid.
- What the original makers and players called an instrument and what later writers use as a descriptive term for that type of instrument do not have to be necessarily the same thing.
Roddy Moore and Vaughan Webb wrote, “The earliest known description of the “scheitholt” (see item 8 in plate XXI) in print is from the book published in 1619 by Michael Praetorius (1571–1621), Syntagma Musicum II. By all accounts this is the first published use of the term scheitholt to describe the instrument that possibly preceded the mountain dulcimer.” 1 In Praetorius’ book he noted that the scheitholt had been a part of folk culture for centuries.
Ralph Lee Smith gives the following translation to the part of Praetorius’ book regarding the scheitholt, “…Although this instrument should rightly be listed among the low-class instruments: So I have nevertheless / since it is known to few / wanted to describe it here… And it is not quite like a log [Scheit] / or piece of wood…”2
Ralph Lee Smith points out that scheitholts are diatonically fretted and that the fret patterns of many American scheitholts are identical to those of many old-time dulcimers. As he explains, both can produce the major scale through their diatonic fret patterns. 3
These similarities help explain why the term scheitholt eventually became associated with instruments that resemble the ancestors or relatives of the Appalachian dulcimer.
It is sometimes suggested that scheitholt was revived by a museum curator merely because Praetorius happened to use the word in 1619 in a book they had which described a similar instrument. But that doesn’t fit the documentary evidence I have found.
I have located newspaper and scholarly references to scheitholts from 1857, 1864, 1883, 1894, 1897, 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1916 and 1918. This is important because it demonstrates that the word was not simply sitting unused for several hundred years before suddenly being resurrected during the twentieth-century dulcimer revival.
a. 1857: From a German language clipping dated June 27, 1857: [though this advertisement is not about musical instruments I include it because I have had people tell me that Germans wouldn’t have used any version of “scheitholt” to refer to any kind of firewood. Apparently, they did]
No. 3846. On Wednesday, July 1, at 9 o’clock in the morning, approximately the following will be sold to the highest bidder, for cash payment, in the estate forest at Neuland, not far from the so-called Buschschänke [forest tavern]:
50 Klaftern of soft split firewood (Scheitholz)
70 pieces of soft logs/blocks
180 Schock of soft brushwood
and a quantity of small/weak pine poles.
Neuland, June 22, 1857.
signed, Plathner
b. 1864: GESCHICHTE DER MUSIK VON AUGUST REISSMANN. MIT ZAHLREICHEN, IN DEN TEXT EINGESTREUTEN NOTENBEISPIELEN UND ERLÄUTERUNGEN SOWIE 59 VOLLSTÄNDIGEN TONSÄTZEN, MÜNCHEN, FRIEDRICH BRUCKMANN’S VERLAG 1864
HISTORY OF MUSIC
by August Reissmann
With numerous musical examples and explanations printed in the text,
as well as 59 complete musical compositions.
“…But note that the so-called Scheitholt and the Trummscheit also belong to the mechanism of the clavichord. The Scheitholt was, according to Praetorius, ‘among the humble instruments,’ and its construction was not suitable for any artistic use; nevertheless, we give a description and illustration, because we cannot fail to recognize in it the development of the clavichord, or at least the way in which its mechanism is represented.
“In any case, the Scheitholt is one of the early stringed instruments. Here is Praetorius’s description: ‘a Scheit or piece of wood, not much compared with a [something], on which three or four thin strings are stretched close together, along with a small [something]…’”
c. 1883 Karl August Bierdimpfl, Die Sammlung der Musikinstrumente des baierischen Nationalmuseums. München: Akademische Buchdruckerei von F. Straub, 1883
The outline on page 5 lists figure 125 as a scheitholt with the following description on pages 47-48 (all this was in German). Notice they are describing an actual instrument in their possession and not describing someone else’s description:
125. Scheitholt with 3 tuning pegs and 2 strings on the fingerboard, which is divided by 15 wire frets; the strings are missing. The bottom is open for resonance over one-third of its length. Length 54 cm, width 5 cm.
This instrument received its Low German name (Holzscheit, “wooden billet” or “wooden log”) from its shape, which closely resembles a piece of wood that has been squared off (a Riegel). It consists of four thin, narrow boards and contains at the upper end only enough solid wood to allow 3 or 4 tuning pegs and tuning pins to be driven into it for an equal number of brass strings.
Of these strings, only one gives the melody; the others continually sound beneath it and in the same pitch, while the right thumb, below the bridge, “strums” (schrumpet) across all four strings, while the left hand, on the playing side, performs the melody with a small, flat stick.
Praetorius wants it to be classified among the “Lumpen-Instrumenta” (“ragged” or “common/poor instruments”).
d. 1894 From a German language publication: Führer durch das Königliche Bayerische Nationalmuseum in München.
Official edition, ninth revised edition.
Munich: Akademische Buchdruckerei von F. Straub, 1894.
Page 96 index entry
“6. The simplest zither (so-called Scheitholz); the hand- or lap [zither] …, the oldest form of the harp.”
Page 250 — the detailed description
“…with three or four tuning pegs, fitted with three or four brass strings; of these, three are tuned in unison, but one of them, beneath these, is pressed down in the middle with a little hook, so that it must resonate a fifth higher. If desired, a fourth string can be added an octave higher.
“All these strings are stopped at the bridge with a smooth little stick held in the left hand, on the front [fingerboard], over the frets which are made by inserting brass wire, producing the [notes]…”
e. 1897: A Popular Account of Ancient Musical Instruments and Their Development, as Illustrated by Typical Examples in the Galpin Collection, by William Lynd. Published in London, England:
“Fig. 4 is the Scheitholt, a rustic sonnet played with a quill held between the fingers, and parent of the zither.”
This description associates the Scheitholt with the quill-playing technique and places it within a broader family of zithers.
f. 1902 The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Handbook No. 13—Catalogue of the Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments of All Nations, published in New York in 1902, contains four instruments identified as SCHEITHOLT.
For example, item 995 is described as:
“SCHEITHOLT. Narrow, oblong case. Sound-board pierced with 2 heart-shaped holes, the head terminating in a scroll and having 5 iron pins inserted in front, bearing one melody string, passing over 15 metal frets and 4 accompaniment strings. Germany. 18th Century.”
The same catalogue also identifies several French instruments as Scheitholt, including instruments described as Epinette des Vosges. Clearly this catalogue was not merely describing Praetorius’s one historical instrument. The catalogue was using Scheitholt as a generic classification for related fretted zithers from different places and periods.
g. 1904: A Special Loan Exhibition of Musical Instruments, Manuscripts, Books, Portraits, And other Mementoes of Music and Musicians, Opened by Their Royal Highnesses THE PRINCE OF WALES AND PRINCESS OF WALES on Monday June 27, 1904.
Stringed Instruments.
Plucked Strings
1176. Scheitholt, 18th century, Lent by Rev. F.W. Galpin
h. 1906: HISTORISCHES MUSEUM BASEL
KATALOG No. IV, MUSIKINSTRUMENTE. 1906
145 Scheitholt. 6 strings, 10 steel frets. Resonance box made of polished wood, open underneath, without varnish. A star-shaped sound hole. Strings, apparently, fastened with wooden pegs. Frets. In the top of the soundboard there is a cutout through which the strings are passed. These end on a steel rod in the upper part of the interior and are attached to tuning pins. The string spacing is narrow, but the frets are widely spaced. (Orig. 173.)
L. 0.83, B. 0.09, H. 0.09. XVIII. Germany.
146 Scheitholt (Epinette des Vosges). Fingerboard with 14 steel frets, the following series of notes being marked: c, d, e, f, g, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, a, b, c, with 3 equally long accompanying strings. Two sound holes, one heart-shaped and the other with an oblong opening arranged across it. Rectangular soundboard. Varnished resonating body underneath… The Epinette des Vosges was still in use until quite recently in the region of D’Aljo in the Gebirge. (Orig. 192.)
L. 0.61, B. 0.07, H. 0.03. XIX. France.
i. 1908- THE AMERICAN HISTORY AND ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC : MUSICAL DICTIONARY published by Irving Squire in Toledo, Ohio. Copyright 1908. Page 456:
Scheitholt (shit-holt) Ger. n.
An instrument having a narrow oblong resonance box upon which are stretched one or two melody strings which are plucked with the fingers.
The instrument is also furnished with a few accompaniment strings which are capable of giving but one tone each.
The 1906 reference above is an American musical reference using scheitholt as an established musical-instrument term.
j. 1916: Musical America July 1, 1916
page 18
ORIGIN OF SCANDINAVIAN INSTRUMENTS IS TRACED
“Langleik” and “Langspel”
…It is a development of the monochord and similar to the “Scheitholt,” described already in “Praetorius Organographia” (1619), but of much more ancient origin. Edm. van der Straeten of Brussels published a monographie of this instrument, at Ypres, in 1868.
It consists of a shallow and very narrow oblong wooden box, the sides of which have a slight outward curvature. The bridge stands close to the lower end of the instrument which has sound-holes of various shape. A Langleik in the Musee instrumentale of the Brussels Conservatoire has two angular sound holes placed-and a small heart-shaped sound-hole in the lower part. Langleik and Scheitholt were the prototype of the zither, and, like this, mounted with metal strings varying in number from three to eight (according to specimens in the Brussels Museum).
k. 1918 The first edition of Albert A. Stanley’s Catalogue of the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments, published by the University of Michigan
SCHEITHOLT. (Fr. Buche)………………………Germany
Slightly tapering body. One melody, and three accompaniment strings. A primitive zither type. This specimen is very old.
Length, 78 cm. Width, 2.5 to 12.3 cm.
BUCHE, or EPINETTE DES VOGUES………France
A small type. Length, 59.5 cm. Width, 3.5 to 8 cm. Depth, 2.8 cm.
The Scheitholt was the immediate ancestor of the Zither (Gk. Kithara; Lat. Cithara; Ital. Chitarra; Span. Guitarra; Ang.-Sax. Cytere; Old Eng. Cittern; Ger. Zitter). We know the Zither as the instrument used by the peasants of the Styrian and Bavarian Alps. Its salient features are a shallow, flat, resonance box, over which run a variable number of strings. Some of these– the accompaniment strings– are “open,” vibrating their entire length, while others are stopped by pressing the string against a “fret,” allowing only a fractional part of the string to vibrate…”
As you can see, by the early twentieth century Scheitholt as a generic descriptive term for a broader category of fretted zithers for a considerable period of time and that scheitholt was not a term lying dormant from Praetorius’s 1619 description until the twentieth-century dulcimer revival.
But there was—and remains— legitimate objections to this terminology. In 1958 Charles Seeger argued against the use of Scheitholt and its variants in an article in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 71. Seeger wrote, “How the dulcimer got its name is perhaps the most baffling, though certainly not the most important, question that can be asked about it.” He then argued that Scheitholt or Scheidholz could not appropriately be used by an English-speaking community and that zither might have passed into American English from the German zitter.
Then Seeger makes an interesting observation in the same reference: “For the word ‘zither’ probably did not exist in the limited and archaic vocabulary of eighteenth and nineteenth century Highland speech.” Hmmm… o-kaaaay… what does that mean?
Seeger has a right to his opinion but he is not the final arbiter on what others may legitimately call them. Also keep in mind Seeger didn’t have the resources we have in the Internet age.
Regarding this controversy, I like how Ralph Lee Smith took the middles of the road approach in his book, Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions, in the section “…THE SCHEITHOLT/ZITTER IN AMERICA.” He writes regarding the Mercer Museum collection:
“The collection includes 14 musical instruments that Mercer called “Pennsylvania German zithers.” The instruments came from Mennonite owners and/or communities and were made in the second half of the 19th century. The owners and players called them “zitters.” Photos of these instruments can be seen in Smith’s Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers.
“In today’s dulcimer world, the instrument, in both the European and American versions, is referred to by its old European name, scheitholt, probably because of the tale about the instrument in the Metropolitan Museum of Art that Jean Ritchie published. But shouldn’t we call the American instrument by the name, zitter, which the people who made and played it always used?
“My reaction is that the advocates of using the term zitter are right, but the change would now be too difficult to make. Adding yet another name to this already name-rich scene might create as many problems as it solves. In this book, therefore, I will continue to refer to the instrument in both its American and European forms by the name scheitholt. (The exception will be in discussing a quoted text that refers to it as a zitter; in these cases, I will call it by the awkward but necessary name “scheitholt/zitter.” 4
Part of the problem with banishing the word scheitholt for zither is that the term zither is an extremely broad term whereas scheitholt is narrower in scope.
The fact is if you say, “Billy Bob has a new zither,” your audience has no idea what instrument Billy Bob has… it could be a hammered dulcimer, an autoharp, a concert zither, or something else. Even if you said Billy Bob has a “fretted zither” your audience still won’t know what instrument exactly is being referred to unless they saw the instrument.
On the other hand if you say “Billy Bob has a new scheitholt” your audience has a general idea of what Billy Bob has. Is it technically correct? Nope. But the correct idea is communicated, which in the end is really the important thing isn’t it?
The term “Appalachian dulcimer” or “mountain dulcimer” has similar problems too, but for some reason we don’t advocate exiling those terms though we know folk in the 1800s didn’t commonly use them. The reason we accept them is that today they communicate something that we understand in our minds eye.
In closing, if nothing else hopefully this all shows how “scheitholt” entered the dulcimore-world wordstock. Based on the above it is evident that we are on solid ground if we maintain that there is not a compelling reason to prohibit, or banish, the word “scheitholt” from modern generic use other than a personal preference.
Curt Bouterse summed this all up much better than me in this comment to the original version of my dulcimentary that he sent me January 28, 2026:
“As an 85-year-old organologist* and lifelong dulcimer player (both hammered and fretted), the discussion is near to my heart… Your observations are much more sensical.
“As a student of linguistics, it is an axiom that language is “in the mouths of the speakers,” not the writings of theorists. Scheitholt may, indeed, be an arcane and out of date term, and zitter may have been the common designation of an instrument among Pennsylvania Germans, but we are neither obsolete nor Deitschlenner**.
“Any word, old or new, scheitholt or shareware, is useful as long as it is understood by its users. If dulcimer/dulcimore/harmonium/dulcerine/scantlin players associate “scheitholt” with the Pennsylvania German/Dutch zither/zitter, then it still serves a purpose.”
* “Organology” is the science of musical instruments and their classifications. It embraces study of instruments’ history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how instruments produce sound, and musical instrument classification.
** “Deitschlenner” is associated particularly with Pennsylvania Dutch (Pennsylvania German) and related German dialects.
The end
Footnotes:
1. The Virginia Dulcimer, Roddy Moore and Vaughan Webb- July-August 2013 issue of The Magazine Antiques.
2. Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions (2nd ed) Ralph Lee Smith p 22.
3. The Appalachian Dulcimer’s History: On the Trail of the Mountains’ Secrets, Ralph Lee Smith http://archive.dulcimersessions.com/jul03/Appalachian.html
4. Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions (2nd ed) Ralph Lee Smith p 24-25.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” James 1:19
“Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Proverbs 27:6
North Alabama Heritage Dulcimer Association 