Books › Chats on Violins, 1905 › scan 28
Scan 28
Chats on Violins, 1905
8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 14. See the scan on archive.org.
1and in London, where all sorts of stringed instruments were generously dubbed "fiddles," the rebec found small favour. In truth neither fiddlers or fiddles were looked upon as anything more than beggars and noise. Gosson writing in the time of Queen Elizabeth gives a good idea of the low esteem in which fiddlers were held. He says:
3"London is so full of unprofitable pipers and fiddlers, that a man can no sooner enter a tavern than two or three cast of them hang at his heels to give him a daunce before he departs."
5When I read this paragraph of Gosson's, I can always conjure a picture for myself of those humble, shabby fiddlers asking the favour of playing you a dance on their scruffy little rebec. Poor, cold, sometimes starving figures they look, but bravely and unconsciously laying the foundation stone of the future Antonius Stradivarius.
7In 1628 the contempt and disgust for the rebec became aggressive; turned away here, kicked out there, the doom of this poor little instrument was finally sealed by the Civil Lieutenant of Paris. This gentleman
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.