Gordon Burnett has an interest in violins.
He’s made them, repaired them, played them and, thanks to a staff member at the county archives, discovered the origin of a violin he got from a family member about 25 years ago.
It was a recent trip to the Aboyne library looking for a book on the history of violins that got him directed to the archives to find out about the origin of the violin he got from his cousin Allan Smeltzer over two decades ago.
“I could read his name so I went to the library to see if they had a book on old violins but they didn’t have it,” Burnett said of the search sparked by finding William Elliot’s name inside the instrument.
He knew it was made in 1898 by William Elliot which was recorded on a label attached to the inside of the back plate of the instrument. He couldn’t make out the name of the place it was made.
Library staff said he should take it to the archives where staff might be able to help.
His question to archive assistant Elysia DeLaurentis was simple; “Where was this violin made?”
With the help of archive staff the final piece of the puzzle was put together with the location on the label of a community called “Hawick” pronounced “Hoyk.”
DeLaurentis said staff tracked down two communities with a similar name, one in Minnesota and one in Scotland. Staff used the county’s ancestry website and found there was no William Elliot registered in the 1900 census of Hawick, MN. There were several similar names registered in the early census in Scotland.
“A further online search revealed a list of heritage resources in and near Hawick, Scotland,” DeLaurentis said of the search.
“On his behalf, staff emailed the Hawick museum to explain Mr. Burnett’s quest. Its staff responded quickly and enthusiastically; they were not familiar with William Elliot, but were intrigued.
“They undertook some research and confirmed that William Elliot (1862-1915) was born just outside Hawick, and while living in the town and working as a joiner (carpenter) had made over 100 violins in his spare time.
“An article they included from the 1915 Hawick News and Advertiser described the high quality of the violins he made.”
It was the quality of the instrument that captured Burnett’s interest when he first saw it.
“I found out for sure that violin came from this town in Scotland,” Burnett said in an interview from the home at Pine Meadows he shares with his wife Doreen.
Coincidentally, his son Murray had been in Hawick playing shuffleboard and knew exactly how to pronounce the name.
“The town is about the size of Fergus,” Burnett said he has learned.
He has also wondered, in addition to the one Elliot violin he has, how many of the original 100 violins have survived.
Violins have been played in Burnett’s family for decades. His father, Alexander, was a violin maker and player, as was the cousin he got the Elliot violin from.
Burnett, who has donated his father’s violin to the archives, has made three violins and is working on a fourth, and he has a collection of nine of the instruments.
“We never played in any orchestra. We just played for our amusement,” Burnett said.
He’s happy to have learned a little about the violin he picked up a quarter of a century ago.
