Books › Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883 › scan 192
Scan 192
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
6 lines. Read by computer on 30 September 2026. Printed page 178. See the scan on archive.org.
1CHAPTER VI.
3ENGLISH, SCOTTISH, AND IRISH MAKERS.
5The learned Dr. Schebek, before referred to, in discussing the origin of the change from the ancient bow instrument to the violin in its present form, asks if it is not possible that the metamorphosis took place in this country? With the discovery of the remains of cave lions at Charing Cross fresh in our minds, it may seem hazardous, or at least imprudent, prematurely and wholly to reject such a hypothesis, but I am afraid we cannot, in the meantime, make any sound claim to the distinction. If it could be proved that the art of thrumming a thong of skin or a string of fibre, one end of which is fastened to a crooked stick while the other end is held between the teeth and tightened or loosened as the exigencies of the music demand, was the origin of violin playing, and that the first step made towards the improvement of this primitive music was when the fruit of the Lagenaria vulgaris was emptied of its pulp and seed and employed as a sounding table over which the string was stretched, we might, with as much show
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