De Lira. cap. 145.
Lira hath that name for diuersitye of sounde:* 1.1 for Lira giueth diuers sou••••s, as Isid. saith. And some people suppose, that Mercurius first found out this in∣strument Lira in this wise. The riuer Nilus was flowen & arisen, & afterward was auailed and withdrawen againe into his proper chanell, and lefte in the field many diuers beasts, & also a snayle, and when the snaile was rosted, the sin∣newes l••••t•• and were strained in the snailes house, and Mercurius smote the sinewes, and of them came a sound: and Mercurius made a Lira to ye likenesse of the Snailes house, & gaue ye same Lyra to one yt was named Orpheus, which was most buste about such things. And so it was sayd, yt by ye same craft not on∣ly wilde beasts drew to song & melody, but moreouer stones & also woodes. As fables do mean, this foresaid instrument Lyra is set among stars, for loue of stu∣dy, and praising of song, as Isi. saith.