James Caston’s dulcimer
The instrument had four strings per course over 20 bridges, with the 5th and 6th bridges offset in typical East Anglian tuning, as can be seen by the marks on the soundboard in the photographs.
It seems most likely that the dulcimer was made by James Caston senior, who lived all his life in Forncett, although it is possible that it was his grandson -also James (1840-1922) – who made the dulcimer, but he only appears to have worked in Forncett for about half-a-dozen years and had moved by the mid 1860s. So this instrument is one of the earlier ones we can date: to between 1820 and 1865.
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