The English name of "bassoon" comes from a more general term referring to the bass register of any instrument, but after Henry Purcell's call for a "bassoon" in Dioclesian (1690) referring to the wooden double reed, the word began to be used to refer to this instrument in particular. (A dance also named "fagot" dates to a century earlier.) The instrument was constructed folded back on itself, as it is to this day (giving it the name in some regions "curtal", as it was shortened significantly). The origin of this name is therefore a mystery. However, this etymology is incorrect: The term "fagotto" was in use for the bassoon before the word was used for "bundle of sticks" also, when the term first appeared, the resemblance did not exist, as the instrument at that time was carved out of one continuous block of wood (Jansen 1978). Some twentieth century musicologists believed that this instrument, resembling a bundle of sticks, was given the name meaning such, "fagotto", in 16th century Italy. The dulcian later evolved into the curtal, which featured separate joints like a modern bassoon, and gained an extra key. However, there were only eight finger-holes and two keys. It was, like the modern instrument, frequently constructed of maple, with thick walls to allow finger-holes to be drilled obliquely, with its bell flared slightly at the end. The early dulcian had many similarities to the modern bassoon: though generally constructed of only a single piece of wood rather than sections, it too consisted of a conical bore that doubled back on itself at the bottom, with a curved metal crook leading from the instrument body to the reed.
There were eventually eight members of the dulcian family of varying size, from soprano down to bass ranges. Scattered evidence exists for its creation at various places and times, and few early examples survive. Used and developed greatly in the 16th century to add a stronger bass to the wind band then consisting largely of shawms and recorders, the dulcian's origins are unknown. The bassoon was developed from its precursor, most often referred to as the dulcian, a wooden instrument all in one piece. Dulcians and racketts, from the Syntagma musicum by Michael Praetorius.
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