James Morgan

He was born in Kincardine-on-Forth, in the year 1839. He was apprenticed at the age of fourteen to a cabinet-maker, who was a first-class workman, and an occasional maker of all sorts of musical instruments made of wood, including violins. During apprenticeship he made about a dozen violins and one violoncello. Leaving Kincardine, he settled down in Edinburgh, where he made several violins of such excellent workmanship and tone that brought him quickly to the notice of some of the musicians of the town. At this period, however, he passed through a religious crisis, and violin-making and playing were cast aside for twenty-eight years. When he next took up the art he was considerably past the meridian of life, and had reached the age at which it is usual for men to cease from the harder activities of life. This does not imply that he does not now turn out instruments of a high order, but that they are few and far between. It is a pity that Morgan ever laid by his gouge, and especially so when it is considered that religious scruples were the cause. It was never intended that religion should rob art of its fruit. He works on the Stradivari model, using very choice materials, and Whitelaw's varnish. The tone is large and mellow.