Scan 30
Researches into the early history of the violin family, 1883
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 20. See the scan on archive.org.
1with three strings of twisted silk. It measures about two feet and a half in length. Its head, instead of having a scroll, is generally elaborately carved. At a first glance, it would appear that the Burmese constructed this instrument after a model of a European violin; there is, however, no evidence in support of this conjecture—on the contrary, Michael Symes (Embassy to Ava in the year 1795) expressly records: "I at first imagined it had been of European introduction, and brought to Pegu by the Portuguese; but I was assured that it is an original instrument of the country." Moreover, its name appears to have been derived from the same root which is traceable in the names of several Hindu instruments. This root is the Sanskrit word sarva, signifying "entire" or "universal," which is to be found in the Burmese thro and saroh as well as in the Hindu sarungi, sarinda, sarrooda, sar-mundal, &c.
3The only oriental instrument played with a bow to which, in my opinion, ought to be assigned a European origin, is to be found with the Arabs in Egypt. They call it kemangeh-roumy (i.e., "Greek viol"), which suggests that they obtained it from Greece. However, there is no reason to assign to it a high antiquity; on the contrary, its shape and construction rather point to our viola d'amore as its parent. The kemangeh-roumy certainly bears a strong likeness to our violin. It is generally mounted with six catgut strings, and with six sympathetic strings of thin
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