‘I shall be obliged to drop the fiddle’ - From the archive: October 1892

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To the Editor of THE STRAD

SIR,—A good many of your readers, including myself, will be greatly obliged to you if you or any of your correspondents could recommend an effective remedy for hot or perspiring hands, I am sure a great drawback to many a violin player. I have been learning the violin here for three terms and have made good progress, so much so, that I have beaten many older pupils. Now I find a great barrier in my way, viz., hot or perspiring hands, which evil does not only make the violin go out of tune every few minutes, but also makes the E strings snap as if they were made of glass. I have tried various remedies for abating this nuisance, but without success, and now I write to you, sir, in the hope that you may be able to help me in coping with this great drawback. If it cannot be stopped, I am afraid I shall be obliged to drop the fiddle, however fond I may be of the instrument.

Thanking you most sincerely on behalf of myself and two other members of our school who are similarly afflicted, I remain, sir,

Yours faithfully,

JAY STREET