The "ei" in scheitholt is pronounced as an "i" like in sight. The "ie" in German is pronounced as an "e" as in see. In Chcknj's post below "schiet" would be pronounced sheet.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well,well.I confess I've never heard the word "scheitholt" out loud although I play one...the apparent resemblance in the spelling to examples I cited of different versions of the "s" word led me to first choose to  say "hummel",then after learning  that that was probably a different instrument(still don't really know if it is) , to say "skeetholt".In Canada I could call it whatever I want,it would make no difference because no one has ever seen one and there's no historical documentation of the "zitter" like instruments I know of,although we have a substantial number of people with German ancestry going back to the Palatine Germans who first settled in the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys.

might be that there was a mix up between "scheit" and the northern dialect expression "schiet" ... >  https://www.platt-wb.de/platt-hoch/?term=schiet

I put "scheit" into three translation websites, Google Translate, Reverso, and DeepL. Google comes up with "fails" or "failure" and under noun it says "Log" and "piece of wood." Reverso and DeepL translate it as "log." I'm sorry but I just have not been able to find evidence to support the translating it to mean "sh*t." In two years of high school and two years of college German, I never encountered the word "scheit," but I was familiar with the word "scheiße."

BTW, the Nonsuch Dulcimer Club will contain the article in their summer newsletter.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

... and when you cross the french border the thing is called "épinette de voges" ... that's the funny thing with Europe and its different languages. ;-) and of course each and every region has its own style too to differentiate. ...

Yep-the Dutch word for "Shite".. Ireland and NL as well.I thought of calling it a Hummel but that seems to be a different beast.I was in Germany 10 years ago,went online to try and find a scheitholt,all I got were offers of firewood or wood stoves.So I call it a "Skeetholt" now...but in NL a skeet is a charming person who robs your pocket while buttering you up.So for me scheitholt remains,pronounced Skeetholt (no one plays one in NL and I've never heard the term outside of the island) until someone comes up with a different term..for the 100 scheitholt players in the world,laugh.

"As to the linguistic issue, scheiße is the German word for sh*t. Scheit in the 16th century was log or piece of wood. I think that is still the translation today according to my German friends."

I don't disagree with that, but ...

First, we are discussing early 20th Century interpretation of late 18th Century Pennsylvania German terminology, as much as academic 16th Century German German. 

Second, if you use Google Translate for the meaning of "scheit" it tells you the modern translation is "sh*t." 

Third, if you look down in a toilet, in polite Victorian terms, don't you see "logs"?

We also would have a bit of confusion if we ask Google what "dulcimer" means. I'm not sure if I would trust the Unabridged Oxford Dictionary to be clear on that.

Wally, thanks for your comments. I found no evidence of shops making musical instruments in Pennsylvania making zitters. There were some violin makers and of course by 1839 C.F. Martin was making guitars in Nazareth, PA. Of course, the absence of evidence doesn't mean it didn't happen, only that there was evidence that it did. Henry Mercer mentions one builder, but he made bowed zitters.

As to the linguistic issue, scheiße is the German word for sh*t. Scheit in the 16th century was log or piece of wood. I think that is still the translation today according to my German friends.

You are in good company in thinking scheitholt "has been established in dulcimer history too long to just kill off." That was Ralph Lee Smith's attitude as well. I argued with him that we should be precise and correct in identifying these instruments that are not scheitholts as what they were called "back in the day," namely zitters.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Ken Longfield and Ken Hulme said"
"These instruments were constructed by craftsmen on an individual basis probably in home workshops. There is no record of musical instrument shops in the new world building these Pennsylvania German instruments."

I have begun writing a bit of stuff for the Nonsuch Dulcimer newsletter in Britain about making and fixing Appalachian Dulcimers. In the first piece  have written:

"Historically, the LD is not a musical instrument created by skilled luthiers. It is a folk-craft item, like a quilt or a sweater. They were made by simple crafters working with locally available materials and simple tools. That practice is still alive in the USA, along with a handful of highly skilled, but mostly self-taught shops producing high priced instruments."

and

"My guess is that the 19th Century makers were also involved in making simple furniture and other household items, and that many of the instruments were made for family members and close friends."

Before 1900, making stuff for home use from wooden boxes and branches was commonplace in farm homes. I opine that is was about as common among men as needle craft was among women. The Boy Scouts taught this level of craftsmanship to townies when I was a boy. It was a common sort of magazine or newspaper story, just as boat-building was.

On the linguistic side, "scheit" in German translates as "shit" in English. I can imagine some of us saying "This piece of shit I made works pretty well for playing on the porch, although I wouldn't recommend it for public performance."

I agree that we should try to take scheitholt out of regular polite communication, but I think it has been established in dulcimer history too long to just kill off.

Interesting and persuasive stuff, Ken.  Thanks for sharing.

There will be no burning of mountain dulcimers here at my house!  

A comment I received via email suggested a better way of saying:  In German, scheit means log or piece of wood, while holt or holz means wood. I like the suggestion below and have replaced this sentence in the original with the two sentences below.

In German, scheit means log or piece of wood, while adding holt or holz means firewood. This is a way of something is garbage; i.e., something to be burned.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks, Ken L & Ken H for the research and your article!  One thing I realize is the story of the Appalachian dulcimer and its origins is still being written-- a good thing!  

Here is a bibliography for the article.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song." 

Bibliography - Scheitholt No More.pdf  •  60KB

I learned today that theme of February, 2026 issue of Dulcimer Players News will not be "tradition." I submitted an article in 2024 and was asked if it could be held until the December, 2025 issue originally scheduled to have the "tradition" theme. I agreed. It was postponed from November, 2025 until February, 2026 and now postponed again. I decided to wait no more and share this pdf of the article. I hope you enjoy it and it causes you think about the mountain dulcimers ancestors.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Scheitholtnomorev5.b.pdf  •  252KB