Books › The reminiscences of a fiddle dealer, 1925 › scan 35
Scan 35
The reminiscences of a fiddle dealer, 1925
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 11. See the scan on archive.org.
1The Italian Tone
3so I put the last one I had tried on a table and sat down. Whilst looking round me I asked Mr. Eadie (Mr. Clark being out of the room) if any, and how many, were Cremonas. "Not one," said he. "How can you tell," I asked, "you have only heard the tones of a few of them." "Tone!" said he, "that has nothing to do with the maker." "No?" I said. "And what has?" "Oh! the make and the varnish," he replied. "And what are these like," was my next query. "That would take a week to explain," he said. "And do you know them when you see them yourself," I asked. Mr. Eadie was highly amused and said, "Why you might as well ask me if I know a white man from a black one. Of course I do." As a matter of fact, he had never seen any Italian instruments, and, naturally, his actual knowledge amounted to very little. He had, however, a firm conviction that Nature had bestowed the innate knowledge on him at his birth, and felt he was telling me the truth in what he had said. Just at that moment, my roving eye caught sight of a fiddle which I had not noticed before. It was standing in a corner of the room with its back towards us and as I had the owner's permission to examine and play any of the instruments I cared to try, I rose and took this one in my hand. I was delighted with its beautiful appearance, which excelled all others I had seen, and after a long look of admiration, I took up the bow and tried
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