history

The violin first emerged in northern Italy in the early 16th century . There are no surviving instruments from he early part of the century, but there are paintings from the period that depict them. The earliest detailed description of the violin, including its tuning, was published in Lyons in 1556 . By this time the violin had already begun to spread throughout Europe.

The oldest surviving dated violin, is the "Charles IX" by Andrea Amati , made in Cremona in Italy in 1564 .

The most famous violin makers, were all based in Cremona between the late 16th century and the 18th century included:

• Amati family of Italian violin makers
• Guarneri family of Italian violin makers
• Stradivari family of Italian violin makers

Scotland has a long and noble musical tradition. The three most important Scottish instruments are the harp, bagpipe, and fiddle. The Rebec was a popular instrument in the time of Mary Queen of Scots - a 2 or 3 stringed instrument played with a bow. When the Italian violin developed, it took immediate hold in Scotland.

Bowed string instruments have been called fiddles in Northern Europe since at least the 12th century. The word in Old English had various spellings from fithele to fiddlel.  In Gaelic it's fidhle, and in Yiddish, fidl.   As for 'violin,' it is a 16th century adaptation of the Italian word violino .

Scottish traditional fiddling encompasses a number of regional styles, including the bagpipe -inflected west Highlands, the bombastic style of Norse-influenced Shetland Islands and the strathspeys and slow airs of the North-East.

In the 18th century , Scottish fiddling is said to have peaked. Fiddlers like William Marshal, James Scott Skinner and Neil Gow were legends across Scotland, and composers like Charles McLean , James Oswald and William McGibbon used Scottish fiddling traditions in their Baroque compositions.

More recently, Scottish fiddling has included a number of styles. Of particular interest is the very traditional style of the Canadian island of Cape Breton .