The New Murrey and Blue blog

I have an odd question. Well, odd in that it concerns medieval minstrels/musicians and what they are called according to the instrument they played. For instance, those who played trumpets were (still are) called trumpeters and those who played fiddles were fiddlers and pipes are played by pipers, all of which seem recognisable enough to us. Those who ring bells are still called bellringers and were back then too. Lutes are played by luteplayers, and flutes by flutists/flautists.

There were instruments the names of which lend themselves naturally to the addition of er/ist.  According to page 603 of Clair C. Olsen’s paper The Minstrels at the Court of Edward III) you also had clarioners, taborers, nakerers and citolers. There are others too, of course, but I found that (admittedly limited) list.

And so we come to shawms. Were they played by shawmers, or shawmerers? Shawmists? Just plain shawm-players? None of these seems quite right. What is the correct term for someone who plays the shawm?