Second, perhaps, only to the bagpipe, and in lineal descent from its stringed ancestor the harp, the fiddle occupies a place of central importance in the musical heritage of Scotland. The fiddle, or a crude instrument very much like it, has been played for centuries in Europe, going back at least as far as early Roman times. As musicians and artisans gradually refined musical technology to produce the classical viols and violins, those instruments, favored by the aristocracy, were adopted enthusiastically throughout Scotland.

Musically, the term "fiddle;' as used in Scotland, may be a bit misleading. The fiddle and the violin are, after all, the same instrument. If the word "fiddle'' suggests a proletarian or "folk" context, it is also true that the strains of "the sweet music" as it is known in Scotland owe much of their status there to the fact that they appealed as well to the refined tastes of the Scottish upper classes. The great Scottish fiddle composers- Niel Gow, Scott Skinner, William Marshall-were patronized as members of the households of music loving Scottish barons, yet their immortal creations, along with local favorites, were likely to be found in the repertoire of the itinerant fiddler who serviced the common folk. In Scotland, the fiddle was as much at home accompanied by the cello and harpsichord in the gilded halls of an aristocrat's estate as it was in the company of the pennywhistle and "squeezebox" accordian at the lowland Harvest Home or humble Highland ceilidh.

The name fiddle remains with us today principally because of its associations with Scottish dance music, which itself was beloved in ballroom, dance hall and bothy alike. Airs, marches, Strathspeys, reels, jigs and North East Classical music are all part of Scotland's rich heritage of fiddle music. Acknowledging also the important contributions of the Scottish tradition to America's own rich fiddle heritage, we are especially pleased to see it take its rightful place in the Scottish-American community.