Kathleen Schlesinger

“ The word bombulum was probably derived from the same root as the βομβαύλιος of Aristophanes (Acharnians, 866) (βόμβος and αὐλός) , a comic compound for a bag-pipe with a play on βομβυλιός, an insect that hums or buzzes (see Bag-Pipe) . ”

“ Virdung’s illustration, probably copied from an older work in manuscript, conforms more closely to the text of the letter than does the instrument in the Cotton MS. There is no evidence whatever of the actual existence of such an instrument during the middle ages, with the exception of this series of fanciful pictures drawn to illustrate an instrument known from description only. ”