Scan 44
Researches into the early history of the violin family, 1883
8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 34. See the scan on archive.org.
1Be this as it may, I think I shall be able to convince the reader, by statements of well-ascertained facts, that the usual assertion as to the crwth being the oldest instrument of the violin kind has no foundation whatever, and would probably long since have been confuted were it less the practice of musical authors to compile without investigation and to dictate without knowledge. Sure enough, in Wales they found a curious sort of fiddle, said by the natives to have been in use with them from time immemorial, as people always say when they possess something peculiar, the origin of which they are unable to trace. The supposed high antiquity enhances to the people the value of their relic, especially if they find it admired by foreigners and learned antiquaries.
3As regards the allusions to the crwth by Welsh bards and minstrels, asserted to date from the sixth century, and mentioned by several musical archaeologists, I think I am justified in rejecting this evidence on the authority of distinguished modern writers on Welsh literature. Take, for instance, the following statements:—
5D. W. Nash, in his interesting work entitled "Taliesin; or, Bards and Druids of Britain," p. 340 (London, 1863), remarks: "The Welsh minstrelsy, instead of dating from a time beyond the limits of history, or deriving its materials from a source hidden in the obscurity of a pre-historic age, enters the circle of the romantic literature of Europe during the tenth and succeeding centuries, and will probably be found to have received more from than it communicated to its continental neighbours."
7A. H. Sayce ("Introduction to the Science of Language," Vol. ii., p. 86, London, 1880) remarks: "Excepting glosses of the eighth century and a few inscriptions of still earlier date, Welsh literature begins with the revival in the eleventh century, when such of the older poems as had been preserved were modernised in language, and a large number of additions were made to them and ascribed to the traditional names of Aneurin, Taliesin, and other bards. The best part of the literature belongs to the next two centuries, when, among other productions, the 'Triads' and a number of chronicles were composed."
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