Featured A violin my son picked up today

He actually got a bunch of stuff which I was going to show together, but I decided to put up separately.

No label on the violin, but the case is a GBS "coffin" case from the late 1800s. He also picked up a new student violin for my grandson. Now we don't have to pay rental on the one from school and it's a nicer one.

 

Hey, it's a violin. Probably newer than the case though.
My first violin came from the Goodwill, I seem to remember a $30 price tag. My gosh it was a terrible instrument...when we had it appraised along with my good violin ( J.G. Ficker, Markneukirchen, 1797) many years later the written appraisal pointed out that it had an "unusual raspy tone, unsuited to classical music but perhaps acceptable in Country-Western."

 

Take a good look at the bow. Sometimes they're worth more than the violin itself.

Debora

 

I told him the case was probably more valuable than the violin. My grandson was so excited to get the new one. They also got a Yamaha Porta-Sound keyboard in a case. Quite a haul.

 

No chin rest - look through the cutouts on the body with a flashlight for labels!

 

Yeah. We did that. If there was a label, it fell off and blew away. There were three bows with these so I have to check those out tomorrow. He got a bunch of small items, too. An elderly couple cleaning out - they were going to have him take it all to the dump! The only thing he didn't take were a couple thousand vinyl records. Big band era. No one wants records.

 

UHG, tell me about it! My parents treasures were mostly trash, But I did get boxes of Pristine Apple, Ivy , and October Franciscan!! Most Apple and Ivy had 40's, 50's & just a few 60's backstamps!!

 

Sounds like my kind of violin. I'm sure it was suitable to Shetland fiddling as well. Nothing to sneeze at, even Yehudi Menuhin was a great admirer of the Shetland fiddlers.
Here is a nostalgic video with music by Willie Hunter, a fiddler all lovers of Shetland music get nostalgic about. For those of you who just woke up, perfect for a pre-coffee early morning, not the usual Shetland speed:

 

We have a group of musicians here in Orleans that perform at one of their homes every Thursday night in the summer. Mostly Irish music. Fiddles, pipes, even an accordion on occasion. You never know who will join them - sometimes traveling musicians from overseas. Dinah Mellin is the leading fiddler. Great music.

 

This is one of her home concerts from a couple of years ago.

 

Great music. I know the song well, it is Macpherson's Farewell.
The words were allegedly written by 17th century Scottish outlaw Jamie Macpherson shortly before his execution.
He was a colourful character, the son of a Scottish laird (lord) and a beautiful Gypsy girl, and was actually executed for being a Gypsy. It has always been beyond me how being of a certain ethnicity can be against the law. But he was popular during his lifetime and became so well-known there is even a wiki page on him:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Macpherson

 

AJ - that first one just pulls the heartstrings right out of one.

And, glad to know Yehudi approved. He played at my college once - have never forgotten!

 

I was at an estate sale today and there was a room packed with vinyl records.
The guys were buying them by the box so maybe these were the ones in demand.

 

And Bev, as the most fervid fan of the the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, love yours! There used to be (still?) a pub on the Cape which had Irish in house singing. Loved it!!

 

I know. And the old photographs, all that is lost. The Scottish Isles have not had an easy history and Willie Hunter expresses it so well.

 

Lovely!
I have been watching the television crime show "Shetland" which, here in the USA, I found on my Roku's Britbox channel. The stunning scenery has caused Shetland to make it onto my "places to see before I die" list.

 

It is a very good series, we love it. No camera gimmicks, but intelligent story lines, perfect acting, and as you said, stunning scenery.

 

Forgot to add, they have Shetland music as well, here are the opening titles: