Page:The Early English Organ Builders and their work.djvu/48

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36
The Early English

Duddyngton, for the organs, A.D. 1519."[1] From this contract we learn that the builder was to include pipes of 5 feet and 8 feet length in his instrument; that he was to use "fyne metall of pure tyn" in their construction; and that he was to have as few "stopped" pipes as "may be convenient." The compass was to be three octaves and five notes, namely, from C below the bass staff to A above the treble staff. The number of stops is not stated, but the builder was to be allowed fifteen months for the completion of his labour, and the price was to be £50.

It is not known what was the ultimate fate of this organ but it seems likely that it was sold for the value of the old metal—"the pure tyn" mentioned in the contract—during the reign of fanaticism in the century following. This seems the more likely, as the church was without an organ in 1675, when it was resolved at a vestry meeting to erect "an organ of convenient size and loudness for the due cele-

  1. See Appendix II.