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Scan 207
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
2 lines. Read by computer on 30 September 2026. Printed page 193. See the scan on archive.org.
1almost certain that, in these instances, it is not our present violin which is indicated, but some of the viol types already alluded to. One of these entries, taken from a manuscript in the Cotton Collection, is as follows: "Item to the vyolons being vij of them, every one at 2od. per diem for their wages, and £16 2s. 6d. for their lyveries. In all per ann. £325 15s. od." There is as little room for doubt that the viol manufacture, as well as viol playing, attained to great perfection in England, and that both served and were adopted as models in other countries. Rousseau, the writer already referred to, says, on this head, "It passed from the Italians to the English, who first began to compose and play harmonised pieces for the viol, and who imparted the knowledge to other kingdoms;" and Maugars, a celebrated performer on this instrument and court violist in his day, in France, says, in a manuscript written in Rome on the 1st October, 1639, and entitled "Reply to an Inquirer regarding the appreciation of music in Italy," "As for the viol, there is no one now in Italy who excels upon it, and, indeed, it is very little practised in Rome, which surprises me exceedingly, seeing that they formerly had a Horatio of Parma, who performed marvels upon it, and who has left to posterity some very fine pieces, and also that the father of the great Ferabosco first carried the use of it to the English, who, since then, have surpassed all other nations." This incidental allusion by so early a writer to its introduction from Italy to this country is not unimportant when taken in conjunction with Mace's statement, that the viols by Ross (1598) and Smith (1633) "were old." The "great Ferabosco" above referred to was Alfonso
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