It was a rare enough accomplishment then, and a rarer thing still to find a wealthy landowner performing on the violin.
Yet so he did, though he kept his passion very much to himself, as fiddling was thought lightly of in those days.

His musical skill was altogether exceptional, and he was the first possessor of the Stradivarius violin which afterwards fell so unfortunately into Sir John's hands.

This violin Temple bought in the autumn of 1738, on the occasion of a first visit to Italy.

In that year died the nonagenarian Antonius Stradivarius, the greatest violin-maker the world has ever seen.

After Stradivarius's death the stock of fiddles in his shop was sold by auction.