Here's what my Tasmanian correspondent Ngiare Elliott -- a speech pathologist and cat lover -- had to say when I asked how she'd discovered the vielle:

"I came to the vielle by discovering a medieval band called Harlequin, who were playing at the Hobart docks a few years ago. I could hear their enchanting music from a block away, and I was drawn to it (much to my husband's horror -- I'm afraid he doesn't share my love of medieval music). I'm sure I must have been in a trance as I walked toward it -- and there it was -- a vielle, being playing beautifully by its maker (and my teacher now), Harry Wass. I saved for three years so that Harry could make me one, and he carved it magnificently too -- I just love it! I still sound atrocious, but I'm getting there, I think, and I practise every day. My little boy tells me to go to my room to play, because the music fills up his ears too much, or so he says!"