FIG. 89. OLD SPINET.
(In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin.)
Violins and Harps.
To many the chief charm of old instruments is found in the delicious tones and notes produced by an old violin, which, if the work of a well-known maker, commands a fancy price; among the most valuable being an authentic Stradivarius. Many old English violins were made in Soho in the eighteenth century, for that was the centre of the trade, although in still earlier days violin makers worked in Piccadilly. In Soho, too, horns, trumpets, drums, and guitars were made. The guitar, but in slightly altered form, was the popular home instrument played upon by Greek and Roman maidens. Many of the earlier European lutes were in reality guitars. Some beautifully inlaid specimens are occasionally met with. Of these there are many varieties in the Victoria and Albert Museum; among them there is a guitar lyre, on which is a mask of Apollo, an exact imitation of the lyre of the Ancients, which was formerly used by a member of the Prince Regent's Band at the Royal Aquarium, Brighton.
There is one other instrument which ranks high among the musical instruments of olden time found in British homes. It is the harp, heard to perfection in the drawing-room and the concert hall—an instrument upon which such beautiful melodies can be produced. There are many pretty legends about the harp heard with such delight and yet superstitious awe by the Vikings, who, on their return from Britain, told of the mysterious shores where mermaids of great beauty were said to rise from the seas, and, sitting upon the foam-lashed rocks, played upon their harps music of sweetest sound. American collectors to-day pay large sums for genuine Irish harps, which differ somewhat in size and form from those upon which Welsh maidens played. There are still a few such ancient instruments to be met with in Ireland and Wales.
Of minor instruments there is not much to say—all are intensely interesting when they carry with them memories of former owners, for they are veritable mementoes of home amusements, pleasures, and delights.