Mountain Dulcimer
"Anna Thea"

An original design based on the J. E. Thomas dulcimer in the Smithsonian collection, Washington, D.C.

The top, back and sides of Anna Thea are made from cherry wood that I recycled from another artist's carving exercise. He gave his piece to me to resaw for instruments. The head and tailpiece are new cherry, and the fingerboard is redwood with a black walnut laminate for the frets. The tuning pegs are hand-carved maple.

Anna Thea is the name of the tragic heroine in an old English or Celtic folk song who tried to save her brother from hanging by giving herself to a black-hearted judge. While she was in bed with the judge, she heard the "gallows moaning."