CITHERN
"Cithern" is one of several terms, i.e. cittern, citara and cithara,which denote an ancient lute or guitar (International Cyclopedea). This diversity of names probably results from the fact that when an older instrument was modified, the name was changed to mark the distinction.
The pipe, cithern, and viol are instruments typical of the period, (circa 1629) and would have provided appropriate accompaniment for the wedding festivities. Also, the pipe is suggestive of Pan, the son of Hermes. Pan had the horns and the feet of a goat. Edith Hamilton says that "he was the goatherds' god, and the shepherds' god, and also the gay companion of the woodland nymphs when they danced. . . Upon his pipes of reed he played melodies as sweet as the nightingale's song" (44-45).
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown, 1942.
International Cyclopedea of Music and Musicians. Osca Thompson, Ed. 9th ed. New York: Dodd Mead, 1964.