Books › The violin, how to make it, 1880 › scan 24
Scan 24
The violin, how to make it, 1880
2 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 18. See the scan on archive.org.
1him hear my band of Violinists which was reckoned particularly good." The Violin about this period must have been quite common throughout Britain, as even toy Fiddles formed a part of the wares disposed of in the fairs, as in a pamphlet dated 1641, the author, after describing several of the characters, states, "Amongst these, you shall see a gray goose-cap (as wise as the rest) with a 'what do ye lacke' in his mouth, stand in his boote, shaking a rattle, or scraping on a Fiddle, with which children are so taken, that they presentlie cry out for these fopperies." We also find about this period a letter from Lord Lothian to Lord Ancrum, whilst with the Scottish army at Newark, in 1641, which contains the following:—"I cannot out of manie furnish you with a sober Fidler. There is a fellow here plays exceeding well, but he is intollerably given to drink." The few following remarks from the amusing Pepys, relative to the coronation day, may prove somewhat interesting:—"A great pleasure it was to see the Abbey raised in the middle, all covered with red, and a throne (that is a chair) and footstool on the top of it, and all the officers of all kinds, so much as the very Fiddlers, in red vests. . . . I took a great deal of pleasure to go up and down, and look upon the ladies, and to hear the music of all sorts, but above all, the twenty-four Violins." And in reference to the improvements of the stage a few years later, 1666, the same author observes, "Now wax candles and many of them; then not above three lbs. of tallow; now all things civil, no rudeness anywhere; then as in a bear-garden; then two or three fiddlers, now nine or ten of the best; then nothing but rushes upon the ground, and everything else mean, now all otherwise. 'Hermitt Poore' and 'Chevy Chase' was all the music we had; and yet no ordinary Fiddlers get so much money as ours do here, which speaks our rudeness still. That he hath gathered our Italians from several courts in Christendom, to come to make a concert for the King, which he do give £200 a-year a piece to." Amongst the common customs prevalent previous to, and during the reign of this merry monarch, may be mentioned the following one from an author in 1659, where, speaking of taverns, he says, "Your L. will not believe me that the ladies of the greatest quality suffer themselves to be treated in one of these taverns, but you will be more astonisht when
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