Very good point JAX2, in fact the aforementioned brazza, was thusly called for being held by the 'brazzo' or arm in vernacular Italian, as opposed to the 'viola da gamba', to be held on or among one's legs. This was also called simply 'gamba' in the English world, or 'gambe' [pron: gambeh] in the Transalpine milieu. Interestingly enough, the variant 'gambo' was never used, where 'voila da gambo' would have meant viola for the stem, probably because this particular term also is often used with the same delightful metaphorical connotations as the otherwise nutritious Bratwurst. Even more so, even though anatomically more precise, 'viola da coscia' [pron: cosha] or thigh viola' was also never adopted, as the sexual association is even more at the surface in most languages. But in some alternate reality the Rose Consort is probably now playing on 'Coscias' while German Early Music bands fiddle on the Kosche or the cosche. Hence in this alternate world Koschenman would make a very brave moniker. I should really contact Dr. Harry Turtledove, master of alternate histories.
