Have you any rats, mice, polecats, or weasels?

... so goes one of the songs we learned from Shulamit Kleinerman, founder of Seattle Historical Arts for Kids, who visited us Friday to share music, songs and dances from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

We had a great time learning about some different instruments used in those days - the vielle and the viola da gamba. Shula showed us the differences between the vielle and the modern violin - namely the straight back, the "C" holes and the straighter, less curvy body. We learned about the "gut" strings made from intestine, bows made of horse-tail hair, and glue made from hooves used to make these instruments.

We learned a fun dance to a hopping fiddle tune that demonstrated that the "dark ages" were not entirely gloomy and unhappy times, and we learned songs that the town rat catcher and chimney sweep would have sung to advertise their services.

We especially admired the dedication and skill of Shula's two student apprentices, Nick and Tess, two very accomplished young musicians. They were all in town for their weekend performance of the Christmas Revels - I hope some of you got to see the show, because our little preview was wonderful to experience!