Ukulele

History

The ukelele or ukulele is a family of instruments from Hawaii, the most common sizes are soprano and baritone. The instrument came to Hawaii with Portuguese fishermen, and it has its ancestry in Iberian cuatro type instruments - paticularly the cavaquinho.

It got banjoed (for volume) and was used in British music hall and American Vaudeville. George Formby is the most famous English name, but Tessy O'Shea was no slouch.