Originally meant to be published in 2019, after the journal ran into financial problems was instead accepted by West Highland Notes and Queries where split into two parts it appears in Series 5 number 6 and number 7. Based on research from some years ago a fresh look at the often quoted 1692 letter from Prof James Garden of Aberdeen University to the English antiquarian John Aubrey replying to his request for information on the 'bards'. Matching the actual picture derived from contemporary accounts with the letter raises some questions about how the musicians, especially the harpers fitted in. It also illustrates how one laird with a foot on either side of the cultural divide between Gaelic and lowland Scotland could have provided the bridge between the two cultures and first introduced the viol across the highland line which in turn then displaced the clarsach.
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