Scan 492
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1884
18 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 396. See the scan on archive.org.
1THE VIOLIN.
3When hard words, jealousies, and fears
4Set folks together by the ears,
5And made them fight, like mad or drunk.
7Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling, one of two readings
8 Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling, one of two readings
9And out he rode a-colonelling."
11The absurdities into which the genius of Cervantes hurried Don Quixote and Sancho served to allay the extravagances of knight-errantry. The adventures of Hudibras and Ralpho, undertaken to extinguish the sports and pastimes of the people, aided greatly in staying the hand of fanaticism, which had suppressed all stage plays and interludes as "condemned by ancient heathens, and by no means to be tolerated among professors of the Christian religion."
13With Crowdero we are taken back upwards of two centuries in the history of the Violin; from times wherein it is held in the highest esteem and admiration, to days when it was regarded with contempt and ridicule. Crowdero (so called from crowd, a Fiddle) was the fictitious name for one Jackson, a milliner, who lived in the New Exchange, in the Strand. He had served with the Roundheads, and lost a leg, which brought him into reduced circumstances, until he was obliged to Fiddle from one alehouse to another for his existence. Hudibras—
15"On stirrup-side, he gaz'd about
16Portending blood, like blazing star,
17The beacon of approaching war."
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.