photo: www.billyhorne.com

The hurdy-gurdy
is a medieval instrument still used in traditional music of several countries, especially in central France where it is called vielle. It is played by pressing keys for the melody and at the same time turning a wheel which sounds the strings. Several strings function as drones, giving a constant background tone similar to bagpipes.
In Sweden, this instrument was called hiwll harpa (=hjulharpa) from the 15th to 17th century, until the modern term vevlira came into use. According to Allmo & Winter (1985), it is possible that several Swedish and Danish sources which mention "harps" or "lyres" in folk music context refer to a hurdy-gurdy instead.
Per-Ulf Allmo & Jan Winter: Lirans hemligheter. En studie i nordisk instrumenthistoria. Musikmuseets skrifter nr 11, Ordfront förlag Sthlm 1985.

Billy Horne
Billy made his first hurdy-gurdy after he went out to buy one and found they were too expensive for his pocket. He is an instrument maker, craftsman and performer of traditional music, living in Turku in Finland.

Billy describes his hurdy-gurdy workshop to the Nordic Harp Meeting as follows:
"A personal introduction to the history and building of this unusual and unique instrument "The Hurdygurdy" at a makers workshop. Two hours of interesting,informative and first hand knowledge that will leave you wanting more. The language will be English."

Link to Billy's website