Scan 493
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1909
19 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 415. See the scan on archive.org.
1On which illegally he plays,¹
2Shall (dictum factum) both be brought
3To condign punishment, as they ought.'
5This said he clapped his hand on sword,
6To show he meant to keep his word.
8He drew up all his force into
9One body and into one blow.
11The Knight, with all its weight, fell down
13Like a feather bed betwixt a wall
14And heavy brunt of cannon ball.
16the pretext of "making division" with his Viol. Dr. Johnson has truly said of Hudibras, "The manners, being founded on opinions, are temporary and local, and therefore become every day less intelligible and less striking… Much, therefore, of that humour which transported the century with merriment is lost to us, who do not know the sour solemnity, the sullen superstition, the gloomy moroseness, and the stubborn scruples of the ancient Puritans… and cannot, but by recollection and study, understand the lines in which they are satirised. Our grandfathers knew the picture from the life; we judge of the life by contemplating the picture."
18¹ Alluding to an ordinance made in 1658: "And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person or persons, commonly called Fiddlers, or minstrels, shall at any time after the said first day of July (1657) be taken playing, Fiddling, and making music in any inn, alehouse, or tavern, or shall be taken proffering themselves, or desiring, or intreating any person or persons to hear them play, &c., &c., shall be adjudged… rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars."
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