"Meanwhile I played a violin that I had bought from Millard Spurling. This violin had a mother of pearl inlay on the back. Millard had bought the violin from George Joy [George Jacob Joy (1861-1936)], who I believe taught school at Great Cranberry Island. Millard had intentions of learning to play but never did. After his wife died he had a lady friend at Ellsworth who had a daughter going to school who wanted to take violin lessons so he let her borrow it. When he got it back it was damaged. He had it for a number of years before he sold it to me. I repaired it and that gave me something to play while I scraped the varnish off the one I made. I intended to re-varnish but didn’t get to it so it set around in this condition for years.
While playing at the Grange Hall at Northport I miss-stepped and fell off the stage with the Spurling violin in my hand. I was not hurt but the top was in splinters." - "Fiddle Making" by Ralph Warren Stanley, 2010. Ralph has since repaired the "Spurling Violin."
Stanley - Ralph Warren Stanley (1929-2021), “Spurling Violin,” Southwest Harbor Public Library, accessed April 20, 2024, https://swhpl.digitalarchive.us/items/show/10492.Item 14447
