Books › Musical instruments, 1908 › scan 131
Scan 131
Musical instruments, 1908
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 91. See the scan on archive.org.
1the fiddle-bow not less dexterously than the sword. And in "Chronicon picturatum Brunswicense" of the year 1203, the following miraculous sign is recorded as having occurred in the village of Ossemer: "On Wednesday in Whitsun-week, while the parson was fiddling to his peasants who were dancing, there came a flash of lightning and struck the parson's arm which held the fiddle-bow, and killed twenty-four people on the spot."
3Among the oldest representations of performers on instruments of the violin kind found in England those deserve to be noticed which are painted on the interior of the roof of Peterborough Cathedral. They are said to date from the twelfth century. One of these figures is particularly interesting on account of the surprising resemblance which his instrument bears to our present violin. Not only the incursions on the sides of the body but also the two sound-holes are nearly identical in shape with those made at the present day. Respecting the reliance to be placed on such evidence, it is necessary to state that the roof, originally constructed between the years 1177 and 1194, was thoroughly repaired in the year 1835. Although we find it asserted that "the greatest care was taken to retain every part, or to restore it to its original state, so that the figures, even where retouched, are in effect the same as when first painted," it nevertheless remains a debatable question whether the restorers have not admitted some slight alterations, and have thereby somewhat modernised the appearance of the instruments. A slight touch with the brush at the sound-holes, the screws, or the curvatures would suffice to produce modifications which might to the artist appear as being only a renovation of the original representation, but which to the musical investigator greatly impair the value of the evidence. Sculptures are, therefore, more to be relied upon in evidence than frescoes.
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