CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON THE INSTRUMENT KNOWN BY THE NAME OF THE HARP LUTE, WHICH I DENOMINATE THE 'BRITISH LUTE HARP;
Year: 1816

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
LIGHT, of Foley Place, in the Parish of Saint Mary-le-bone, in the County
of Middlesex, Professor of Musick, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland; bearing date at Westminster, the Eighteenth day of June,
in the fifty-sixth year of our reign, give and grant unto me, the said Edward
Light, my exors, admors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Edward Light, my exors, adññors, and
assigns, should and lawfully might, during the term of years therein mentioned,
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON THE
INSTRUMENT KNOWN BY THE NAME OF THE HARP LUTE, WHICH I DENOMINATE THE
'BRITISH LUTE HARP;"" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso
that if I, the said Edward Light, shall not particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the
same to be inrolled in our High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then
the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby
granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the
same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said

page_text: Edward Light, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described in
manner following, that is to say:-
To the harp lute at present in use I apply certain pieces of mechanism,
which I call ditals or thumb keys, each of which when pressed upon by the
thumb or fingers will produce the depression of a stop ring or eye, which
draws the string of the harp lute down upon a fret, and retains the string
with a gentle pressure upon the fret, so as to shorten the effective length of
the string, or that part thereof which vibrates, and thus to sharpen or render
The British lute harp, con-
the sound produced by the string more acute.
structed according to my improvements, is capable of modulation for performing
any piece of music in different keys, with more ease and correctness than in
the common instrument. The British lute harp is usually made of the form
represented in the Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, in which
R, R, R, represent the belly or sound board of the instrument. S, S, the
bridge to which the ends of the strings F, G, A, B, C, are attached, by tying
them, or by pegs in manner of harp strings. T, T, is the column of pillar
which sustains the upper part or head V, V, of the instrument, through
which part the pins r, r, are fitted to receive the upper ends of the strings, and
to wind them up occasionally to regulate the tension of each of the strings,
and consequently accord or tune each to the sound or note that is intended
to be produced by it; every string (except four of the lowest or bass strings)
is conducted through a hole in a small ivory stud or peg t, t, fixed in the
upper part of the instrument; this perforated stud is for the purpose of keeping
the string to its place. m, m, are the bridges or edges, over which cach
string bears, and the distance from m to the bridge S, S, determines the
effective or vibrating length of each string when it is intended to produce the
natural note or sound. p, p, p, are the rings or eyes, or the ditals or stops,
through the perforation of each of which a string is conducted; each ring
or eye is capable of being depressed or drawn down independantly of the
others by pressing the finger upon it, or by means of corresponding dital
or thumb key at the back of the instrument, as will be herein-after explained.
This pressure draws the string down in contact with the edge of a second
bridge or fret n, n, n. When the ditals or thumb keys are all released, the
effective or vibrating length of each string is equal to m, S, and each wil
produce the sound which is proper to the natural scale or keys of the
instrument; but when the ditals at the back of the instrument are pressed, so
as to draw down and press the strings upon the frets or second bridges n, n
the vibrating length of each of the strings will be diminished to the distance
or lengths S, n, for each string respectively, which diminution or shortening

page_text: is such as to sharpen the sound of the string or render it more acute
by the quantity or interval, which is commonly known to musicians by
the name of a semitone or half note.
The three upper or treble strings
of the British lute harp are made to produce all the sounds which are
required in the gammut or scale of the instrument above the sounds, which
will be produced by those three strings when vibrating in their full length
from S to m, and for this purpose the finger board is provided with frets or
stops y, y, and the strings are to be pressed down upon the frets in the same
manner as the lute or guitar by the immediate contact of the fingers upon
the strings.
The manner of performing any piece of music on this instrument is no
part of my Invention, and therefore need not be farther described in this my
Specification, the more as the order or succession in which the ditals are to
be employed to produce the half notes or semitones, when the same occur
in the music, is nearly the same as is well known and commonly practised in
performing music upon the common or French harp, except that in the
British lute harp the action of shortening the strings to produce semitones is
effected by the pressure of the thumb upon the ditals or thumb keys, situated
at the back of the instrument instead of pressing the foot upon pedals at the
lower part of the instrument, as in the said French harp.
Now I wish it to be clearly understood that what I have hitherto described
by way of explanation, to enable artist to apply or add by improvements to
the harp lute, and construct the British lute harp; but I confine my claim to
the construction of the herein-after described movements or mechanism of
the ditals or thumb keys, by which the pressure of the thumb is made to
draw or press the strings down upon the frets n, n, and which mechanism has
the property of holding the string fast in such possition as long as may be
required after the pressure of the finger or thumb is removed; or the pressure
can be relieved in an instant by a touch of the thumb on the same button or
key, according as the piece of music requires that the semitones shall be
constantly used during the whole performance of the piece, or that they shall
be introduced casually. Four different actions or movements for this
purpose are represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed, at Figs. 2 and 3,
Figs. 4 and 5, Fig. 6, and Figs. 7 and 8.
Fig. 2, L, L, represents a plate of metal adapted to the internal part of
the instrument shewn in Fig. 1. On the back part of this plate several small
levers P, k, Q, are applied, as shewn in the edge view Fig. 3, each of these
levers has at one end a wire or pin jointed to it terminated with an eye p, p,
through which the string is to pass, and at the opposite end of each lever

page_text: a wire H, K, is jointed, which terminates with a knob or button H, to which
the thumb is to be applied, and by pressing it towards k, the lever Q, P, will
draw the eye of the wire p, p, towards the plate L, and draw or press the
string, which passes through the said eye or opening p, down upon the bridge
or fret n, Fig. 1; the fulcrum or center of motion of each lever is attached
to the plate L, as shewn at k, Fig. 3, and beneath each lever a small steel
spring is applied to throw the knob H off away from the plate L, L, and
counteract the pressure of the finger upon the button H, and make the ring
or eye of the wire p rise up from the plate, and releave the string from the
bridge n, Fig. 1, the instant the pressure of the finger is removed, unless it
is required to continue the pressure upon the string; as, for instance, when
the semitones will be constantly required through the whole performance of
a piece of music; in which case, by pressing or moving the button H sideways,
as shewn at H 1, the end K 1, will hook or catch over a stop placed within-
side the plate L, so that it cannot return until the thumb is again applied to
the button to press it sideways and releave it from the hook catch; the spring
will then cause its instant return. To effect this, each of the wires H, K, is
jointed to the end of the lever, about the middle of its length. The button
H is screwed on at the outer end, and the opposite end has a hook formed
in it, by filing a notch into one side near the end K; the same end K of
the wire passes through a hole in the plate L, L, and on the back of the
plate, close to the side of the hole through which the wire passes, a small
piece of steel is fixed, and upon this the notch of the end K of the wire will
hook in the manner shewn at H, i, Fig. 3, if the button H, i, is pressed
sideways, in a direction away from the center k, at the same time that it is
pressed as far as it can go towards the plate L, L.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6 explain another of my improvements, which may be
substituted for or applied in place of the levers or. keys, shewn in Figs. 2
and 3, and it will produce the same effect; but instead of applying the finger
to a button, it is to be pressed on the end or tail of a key, and to hook or
detain it the key is to be pressed sideways after it is pressed down; keys of
this nature may be each fitted to a separate piece of brass, as represented in
the Figure, which is to be screwed to the back of the instrument, or they
may be all fixed upon one common plate, as L, L, Figs. 2 and 3; in Fig. 5,
P, Q, is the key; k is the fulcrum or center of motion; p is the wire, which
is jointed to the end P of the lever, and passing through a hole in the plate, as
a ring or eye screwed upon it in the same manner, as in Fig. 3.
To detain or
catch this key, a small pin x is fixed in the plate, and when the key is
released as in Fig. 6, this pin will be at the side of the end P. of the lever;

page_text: but when the end Q of the lever is depressed by the thumb, if it is moved
sideways into the position of Fig. 4, the end P of the lever will be mounted'
upon the pin x as in Fig. 5, and retained in that position. The length of the
pina is regulated to hold the string with a proper pressure upon the bridge;
the joint at the end of the wire p, which unites it with the end P of the lever
is made with considerable shake or play sideways, in order that the wire may
not be effected by the side motion of the lever P. Note, the rings or eyes p;
both in Figs. 2, and 3, and in 4, 5, and 6, through which the strings pass,
are attached to the wires by screwing, so that by turning them round they
can be adjusted to render the pressure upon the strings greater or less as
occasion may require. The top or end of the button or ring or eye p, is to
be made of such a form as will be most convenient to receive the pressure of
the end of the finger applied in front of the instrument, because in some
pieces of music where semitones occur accidently, the performer may find
it more convenient to produce the effect by pressing the finger upon the
top of the eye p, instead of applying the thumb to the dital at the back of the
instrument.
Fig. 7 represents another of my improvements"; it is for shortening or pro-
ducing the semitones upon the long or base strings, which being far removed
from the finger board would not be convenient if the dital or button was
immediately behind each. L, L, as in the former instances, represents the
plate, which is to be screwed to the back of the instrument; p, the wire
with the eye at the end, through which the string is to pass. P, Q, is a
small bent lever, and k its centre of motion, it is provided with a small spring to
throw it back. g is a wire jointed to the end Q of the lever, this wire descends
behind the instrument rather obliquely, as shewn in Figure 1, at q, and at
the lower end has a knob or projecting piece e, which slides in a groove at
the back of the instrument, and projects sufficiently to apply the thumb upon
it to draw down the wire q, and draw the string upon the stop, to make the
half note in the same manner as for the other strings; to hold the knob e down
and retain it in its depressed situation, a deeper place or notch is made in the
groove in which the knob slides, and the back part of the knob being pressed
into this notch will be held fast, as long as is requisite, but can at any time
be released by a touch of the thumb, to draw the knob out of the notch of
the groove. It inay be observed, that the instrument in Figure 1 is only pro-
vided with the movement represented in Figuré 7 for one of the brass strings, viz*,
the fourth from the lowest or longest, and the semitones are produced in
the three lowest strings in the same manner as in the common harp lute.
This is for economy in the construction, but the British lute harp will be more

page_text: complete if my said improvement Figure 7 is applied to all the four bass
strings, the manner of doing which is evident from the description here
given.
Figures 8 and 9 is another of my improvements, which operates upon the
string to increase its vibrating length sufficient to flatten it a semitone when
the button or dital at the back of the instrument is pressed by the thumb,
being in its operation the reverse of the improvements I have hitherto described,
because the pressure on the button will flatten the note a semitone instead
of sharpening it. L is the piece of brass plate to be screwed to the wood,
at the back of the instrument. H is the button for the thumb, jointed to
the end of the lever P, Q, k, which has a wire v jointed to it, and passing
through the plate; the end of this wire presses upwards beneath the string,
so as to bear it upwards, as shewn in Figure 9, and lift it off from the stop or
bridge w, upon which the string will press when the button is left at liberty,
as by moving the button sideways towards the centre of the lever k, the wire
will be hooked fast as is represented in Figure 9, and in this case the vibrating
length of the string will be increased by a quantity equal to the distance
from the bridge w, to the wire v, P. In the British lute harp, shewn in
Figure 1, this action is only represented as applied to one string, viz, the
highest or upper string but one.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Light, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, in the
the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixteen.