"
"The tooth-pick freely" and "the spirit twice a day" being tags of
Mr. Forsyth's, he laughed.
Furber the Violin-Maker
From what my cousin [Reginald E. Worsley] and Gogin both tell me I am
sure that Furber is one of the best men we have. My cousin did not
like to send Hyam to him for a violin: he did not think him worthy
to have one. Furber does not want you to buy a violin unless you can
appreciate it when you have it. My cousin says of him:
"He is generally a little tight on a Saturday afternoon. He always
speaks the truth, but on Saturday afternoons it comes pouring out
more."
"His joints [i.e. the joints of the violins he makes] are the closest
and neatest that were ever made."
"He always speaks of the corners of a fiddle; Haweis would call them
the points. Haweis calls it the neck of a fiddle. Furber always the
handle."
My cousin says he would like to take his violins to bed with him.
Speaking of Strad violins Furber said: "Rough, rough linings, but
they look as if they grew together."
One day my cousin called and Furber, on opening the door, before
saying "How do you do?" or any word of greeting, said very quietly:
"The dog is dead."
My cousin, having said what he thought sufficient, took up a violin
and played a few notes. Furber evidently did not like it. Rose, the
dog, was still unburied; she was laid out in that very room.
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