A brief overview

Scotland has a long and noble musical tradition. In order of antiquity, the three most important Scottish instruments are the harp, bagpipe, and fiddle. In the days of Mary Queen of Scots the “rebec” was in vogue, a bowed instrument. When the Italian violin developed, it took immediate hold in Scotland. As the new fiddle was beckoning the Scots to dance, a newly reformed Church (now Presbyterian) was condemning the instrument as a vehicle of licentiousness.The gentry would not give up their dance, and rich and poor alike side-stepped the clergy’s protestations. All over the land, from Duke’s ballroom to shepherd’s fields, the power of the fiddler’s “up driven bow” made the success of the gathering.

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.

Classical music is a composer’s medium. Fiddling is a performer’s medium. Great fiddling demands spontaneous inventiveness on the part of the player, bringing alive exciting variations of tunes.  Where classical music might focus on tonal purity, fiddling technique projects the beat. Since fiddle music is dance music, fiddlers set a high value on rhythmic drive.