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Saxon Band of Minstrels

Saxon Band of Minstrels.jpg Saxon Horse SoldiersThumbnailsSaint Dominic and Saint FrancisSaxon Horse SoldiersThumbnailsSaint Dominic and Saint FrancisSaxon Horse SoldiersThumbnailsSaint Dominic and Saint FrancisSaxon Horse SoldiersThumbnailsSaint Dominic and Saint FrancisSaxon Horse SoldiersThumbnailsSaint Dominic and Saint Francis

In the accompanying woodcut from a Late Saxon MS. in the British Museum we have a curious evidence of the way in which custom blinded men to any incongruity there may be in the association of the harper and the juggler, for here we have David singing his Psalms and accompanying himself on the harp, the dove reminding us that he sang and harped under the influence of inspiration. He is accompanied by performers who must be Levites; and yet the Saxon illuminator was so used to see a mime form one of a minstrel band, that he has introduced one playing the common feat of tossing three knives and three balls.