Also called a crowd or rote, a crwth is an archaic stringed instrument of the bowed lyre type, associated particularly with Welsh music but once widely played across Europe.

The crwth consists of a fairly simple box construction with a flat, fretless fingerboard and 6 gut strings. Traditionally the soundbox, or resonator, and a surmounting yoke in the shape of an inverted U, were carved as a single unit from a block of maple or sycamore. The soundboard, or belly, a separate piece (the upper surface, nearest the strings), was most often made of deal or some other soft wood, and the bridge was usually made of cherry or some other fruitwood. Two soundholes, or circular openings about 1 inch in diameter, were cut into the soundboard to allow pulsating air from the soundbox to escape and strengthen the tone. Two strings ran parallel to the fingerboard, but not over it, so those strings were used as fixed-pitch drones which could be plucked by the player's left thumb. The remaining strings, which were tightened and loosened with metal harp wrest-pins and a tuning key or wrench, were usually bowed with a horsehair and wood bow.