HURDLE RACING

hurdle racing, running races over short distances, at intervals in which a number of hurdles, or fence-like obstacles, must be jumped. this has always been a favourite branch of track athletics, the usual distances being 120 yds., 220 yds. and 440 yds. the 120 yds. hurdle race is run over ten hurdles 3 ft. 6 in. high and 10 yds. apart, with a space of 15 yds. from the start to the first hurdle and a like distance from the last hurdle to the finish. in great britain the hurdles are fixed and the race is run on grass; in america the hurdles, although of the same height, are not fixed, and the races are run on the cinder track. the "low hurdle race" of 220 yds. is run over ten hurdles 2 ft. 6. in. high and 20 yds. apart, with like distances between the start and the first hurdle and between the last hurdle and the finish. the record time for the 120 yds. race on grass is 15(3/5) secs., and on cinders 15(1/5) secs., both of which were performed by a. c. kraenzlein, who also holds the record for the 220 yds. low hurdle race, 23(3/5) secs. for 440 yds. over hurdles the record time is 57(4/5) secs., by t. m. donovan, and by j. b. densham at kennington oval in 1907. hurdy-gurdy (fr. _vielle a manivelle_, _symphonie_ or _chyfonie a roue_; ger. _bauernleier_, _deutscheleier_, _bettlerleier_, _radleier_; ital. _lira tedesca_, _lira rustica_, _lira pagana_), now loosely used as a synonym for any grinding organ, but strictly a medieval drone instrument with strings set in vibration by the friction. of a wheel, being a development of the _organistrum_ (q.v.) reduced in size so that it could be conveniently played by one person instead of two. it consisted of a box or soundchest, sometimes rectangular, but more generally having the outline of the guitar; inside it had a wheel, covered with leather and rosined, and worked by means of a crank at the tail end of the instrument. on the fingerboard were placed movable frets or keys, which, on being depressed, stopped the strings, at points corresponding to the diatonic intervals of the scale. at first there were 4 strings, later 6. in the organistrum three strings, acted on simultaneously by the keys, produced the rude harmony known as _organum_. when this passed out of favour, superseded by the first beginnings of polyphony over a pedal bass, the organistrum gave place to the hurdy-gurdy. instead of acting on all the strings, the keys now affected the first string only, or "chanterelle," though in some cases certain keys, made longer, also reached the third string or "trompette"; the result was that a diatonic melody could be played on the chanterelles. the other open strings always sounded simultaneously as long as the wheel was turned, like drones on the bag-pipe. the hurdy-gurdy originated in france at the time when the paris school or old french school was laying the foundations of counterpoint and polyphony. during the 13th and 14th centuries it was known by the name of _symphonia or chyfonie_, and in germany _lira_ or _leyer_. its popularity remained undiminished in france until late in the 18th century. although the hurdy-gurdy never obtained recognition among serious musicians in germany, the idea embodied in the mechanism stimulated ingenuity, the result being such musical curiosities as the _geigenwerk_ or _geigen-clavicymbel_ of hans hayden of nuremberg (c. 1600), a harpsichord in which the strings, instead of being plucked by quills, were set in vibration by friction of one of the little steel wheels, covered with parchment and well rosined, which were kept rotating by means of a large wheel and a series of cylinders worked by treadles. other instruments of similar type were the _bogenclavier_ invented by joh. hohlfeld of berlin in 1751 and the bogenflugel by c. a. meyer of gorlitz in 1794. in adam walker's _celestina_ (1772) the friction was provided by a running band instead of a bow. (k. s.)