Bodhrán: Irish percussion instrument. The name is a compound borrowed from Old English, bod meaning "command" or "precept" and hrān meaning "whale". The word refers to the sound of the instrument, which is similar to the grunts made by the leader (usually the dominant male) of a whale pod.
Hahaha, actually not. But it would be cool, wouldn't it? Did I mention that I LOVE making up fake etymology for existing words? This is what linguistics is for. But this one is too easy to see through if you know the pronunciation. (And if you've ever heard any whale songs and bodhrán players before and are aware of that they sound as different as possible.)
Actually, bodhrán has nothing to do with medieval things, it started to grow popular only around the 18th or 19th century. The name, of course, is Irish Gaelic, and is said to be related to the word bodhor, meaning "drum", though the exact meaning is unclear. The instrument itself is a very basic frame drum, it looks similar to a tambourine, apart from the fact that the latter is normally struck with the bare hand, while a bodhrán is traditionally used with a tipper called cipín (Irish Gaelic, meaning "kindling"). (information source)
Why am I giving this boring presentation about a silly Irish yoke? Because I officially fell in love with Irish music and this drum is just aaaawesome. So I made a deal with myself to buy one and learn how to play on it once I have enough money for that.
Since I moved to Belfast, I literally find money on the street every day, 3 coins per day on average, which is just crazy, I mean, there's money on the pavement wherever I step and nobody seems to care but me. I've been here for 12 days, and I already have more than 1 pound in total. So I decided to buy the bodhrán using the money I find on the street. It's quite expensive, the cheap ones start from 50 pounds, so it will take a while, but I don't really need it right away, now I'm concentrating on monologues and other skills to get involved in acting as soon as possible.
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