Books › British Violin Makers: A Biographical Dictionary of British Makers of Stringed Instruments and Bows and a Critical Description of Their Work, 1920 › scan 206
Scan 206
British Violin Makers: A Biographical Dictionary of British Makers of Stringed Instruments and Bows and a Critical Description of Their Work, 1920
6 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. Printed page 166. See the scan on archive.org.
1HARDIE, MATTHEW, Edinburgh: 1755-1826. He was born in Edinburgh in the year 1755, he died in St. Cuthbert's Poorhouse, August 30, 1826, and was buried in Greyfriars' Churchyard. His remains were laid to rest in the portion of the churchyard allotted to paupers. I visited this celebrated churchyard a year ago, and the exact spot of Matthew Hardie's grave was pointed out to me by one of the keepers: it is in one of the corners of the first enclosed block in the portion of ground known as the Covenanters' Prison. There is not a stone nor a brick to mark it. "Modern Athens," that is justly proud of its famous sons, and that has erected a hundred-and-one monuments to their memory, cannot afford to put up a plain head-stone over the remains of Scotland's greatest violin maker! The neglect need not concern us very much, for it may be that if the shade of old Matthew were consulted on the matter it would exclaim with Cato: "I had rather it should be asked why I had not a statue than why I had one." That would be quite in keeping with the manner of the old humorist when he tabernacled in the flesh.
3Matthew Hardie has been named the "Scottish Stradivari," and not without justice. His work is excellent, and deserves much more attention than has been given it by English connoisseurs and writers. It has been said that he copied the Stradivari model exclusively, but that is wrong, he copied Amati too. I have both seen and handled numerous genuine examples of his Amati copies. It is quite possible that he had abandoned Amati during the last few years of his life, for I do not remember seeing any copies of this model that were made after about 1810. Except as regards varnish the Amati copies will compare very favourably with the work of Benjamin Banks. His tone is larger than that of Banks, but what it gains in quantity it sometimes loses in quality.
5He must have been a prolific maker, and his fame had spread far in his own day. His instruments found their way to the south of England, to South Wales, and even to the
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.