Books › Chats on violins, 1905 › scan 27
Scan 27
Chats on violins, 1905
13 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 13. See the scan on archive.org.
1The Fiddle's Ancestors
3Although there is not much that is respectable in the history of the Rebec, still I must admit that he had some feathers in his mythical cap: Charles VIII. mentions giving a fee to Raymond Mounet, "Jouer de Rebec," and in 1523 there existed a "Jouer ordinare de Rebec du Roi." Henry VIII., whose matrimonial complications did not preclude him from being an ardent flute player, included three rebechs in his State band, and in his privy purse expenses of 1531, quotes "20s. paiede for a Rebecke." Chaucer mentions the rebec most politely in his description of the parish clerk:
5"In twenty manners could he trip and daunce
6After the schoole of Oxenforde tho'
7And with his legs casten to and fro,
8And play songs on a small Ribible."
10The literature of the day, however, was not always as kind as this in its criticisms of the rebec. A Spanish poet called it the "squalling rebec," and a French poet who was evidently not an admirer of the fair sex said: "Its tone emulated the female voice."
12In Paris free use was made of the poor rebec's name for every kind of ridicule;
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.