The Violins that Survived (Monday’s Bow Nov. 28)

The Violin that Survived Slavery

My sister has a violin that was passed to her from my grandmother, to my mother, and on to her. To a musician today, the instrument would probably be written off as a ratty old fiddle. But to us it is not just a violin. It is the violin.

The violin belonged to Dan Irving, a man who has not made it in the history books of any of real significance. But he is in the history of this family. Dan Irving was an indentured servant of this Canadian family that would come to possess his violin.

Having left (involuntarily) his homeland of Britain for the winters of Ontario, Dan Irving traveled across the Atlantic carrying his German-made Stradivarius copy, itself more wanted by its owner than he had been wanted as a child. He arrived at the family farm of these Ontario residents and became part of their family. In that era, all British Home Children sent to Canada were allowed to leave once they reached 18. Dan Irving wanted to venture west in search of the opportunity promised by Canada’s frontiers.

He had a violin, but he needed a suitcase. That was the price he paid for his freedom.

However, the violin played on for generations in the family of his former owners.

My grandmother joined a string band and performed in churches and at local dances… Refurbished now, the violin sits in my sister’s music parlor where she plays it from time to time… she thinks of his violin as a precious child, not just an instrument.

This single instrument and the music it played came to represent a link that united people across time and space. Dan Irving, one of the “lucky ones” as the author writes, stayed in touch with his new family across great distances, even coming back to visit. The violin, and the memories that it resides at the center of, may be one of the few elements that tie three generations of family together.

[It (the violin) is] a piece of history, and it is a symbol of the many forms of the mistreatment of children that still burden us.

It’s life – not unlike the mystery of an abandoned child, a voyage across the ocean, and a destiny that was fortunate – reminds us of the work that still must be done.

Only music could express such meaning without any words. See the original piece