According to Boone, "From numerous 16th century references"; NB¹: According to WNT it is "a derivative of French muse, as a name for a musical instrument (mlatin musa, fr. muse in cornemuse, and musette. In Middle Dutch the form is not clear: in Old French there may have existed, besides musette, another diminutive, *muselle [NB²: Compare Italian Musella; ws], but this word is not recorded. Western Flemish knows Muizel in the same sense, however" (NB³: Unfortunately, WNT fails to mention the source of this linguistic information);
NB⁴: ➺ homonym (France).