Hurdy Gurdy

Like I said previously, a Hurdy Gurdy is a type of Hand crank operated instrument. It is a stringed musical instrument in which the strings are sounded by means of a rosined wheel which the strings of the instrument pass over. This wheel, turned with a crank, functions much like a violin bow, making the instrument essentially a mechanical violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents (small wedges, usually made of wood) against one or more of these strings to change their pitch. Like most other acoustic string instruments, it has a soundboard to make the vibration of the strings audible.
Most hurdy gurdies have multiple "drone strings" which provide a constant pitch accompaniment to the melody, resulting in a sound similar to that of bagpipes. For this reason, the hurdy gurdy is often used interchangeably with or along with bagpipes, particularly in French and contemporary Hungarian folk music. The Hurdy Gurdy is more so a Traditional/Folk instrument.

German Hurdy Gurdy

A hurdy Gurdy being played. The guy answers a few questions in your heads. =]