Wonderful stories had reached the ears
of some respecting it.
"Is this the organ that was wrecked?" "Is this the organ that was dug
out of the sea?" "Is this the organ that was taken out of the Spanish
galleon?" "Wasn't this organ smuggled out of some ship?" "Didn't it
belong to Handel?" "Wasn't this organ made for St. Peter's at Rome?"
With confidence says one, "This organ really belongs to the continent;
it was confiscated in some war." Whilst another as confidently asserts
that "it was built in Holland for one of the English cathedrals, and the
vessel that conveyed it was caught in a storm and wrecked upon Yarmouth
beach; it was then taken possession of by the inhabitants and erected in
this church." Others, wishing to show their intimate knowledge of this
instrument, have told their friends that the trumpet, which is a solid
piece of wood, held by the angel at the summit of the northern
organ-case, is only blown at the death of a royal person. And a lady,
instead of informing her friend that it was a _vox humana_ stop, called
it a _vox populi_.
We were asked by one, "Did this organ break the windows? I was told a
festival service was going on, the organist blew the trumpet stop, and
broke the windows." Another inquiry was, "Who invented the pedals of
this organ? We were told that quite a youth believed that pedals would
improve it.
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