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The Anecdotage of Glasgow
Pianofortes introduced to Glasgow


MR. JOHN GARDNER, who made the abortive attempt about A.D. 1786 to manufacture umbrellas, also essayed to manufacture pianofortes, which then were coming into fashion in Glasgow, and displacing the old spinnets, But here Mr. Gardner failed in his first trial, for the instrument he had made was so defective in some of its parts that he did not even complete it. And the importation of highly finished pianofortes from London made him despair of being able to compete successfully with the makers in the metropolis.

"When pianofortes came to be in common use in Glasgow it was curious to see the fate of the old spinnets and harpsichords. These I have seen," writes "Senex," "in great numbers knocked off by the hammer in auction rooms for a few shillings each, and were generally purchased by farmers, who made them answer the double purpose of musical instruments and of sideboard tables."


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