Early Fiddles

In the 13th century, the Borders poet and seer Thomas the Rhymer (aka Thomas of Ercildoune, the old name for Earlston) made what is thought to be Scotland’s earliest written reference to the fiddle.

Harp and fedyl he fande,
The getern and the sawtry
Lut and rybid ther gon gan,
Thair was al maner of mynstralsy.

(From Walter Scott: Minstrelsy of the Scottish Borders)

The fiddle’s close cousin, the rebec, makes an even earlier appearance in a carving at Melrose Abbey. It’s likely the two instruments shared the same traditional repertoire.

The viol gradually replaced the mediaeval fedyl and rebec as the folk instrument of choice. By the 17th century, fiddlers were playing violins, and, like the toun pipers, were gaining legendary status in Borders history.