James Hines (1850-1930) and Bertie Hines (1895-1983)
James Hines was born in 1850 and lived all his life within a few miles of his birthplace in the village of Hoxne, along the valley of the River Waveney which forms the border between Suffolk and Norfolk. Hoxne itself was once in Norfolk but is now in Suffolk, but for most of his life James lived very near the river in Brockdish – once in Suffolk and now in Norfolk!
James grew up as farmworker, but in 1881 is described as a carpenter and he spent much of his early working life as a mechanic in the drabbett mill in Syleham, about a mile away from Brockdish. By 1921, aged 71, he was working as a gardener at Brockdish Place in Thorpe Abbotts. Syleham mill burned down on Empire Day in 1928, a couple of years before James died in 1930. Drabbett was a coarse, unbleached linen, used in making working smocks and there was a centre of industry in Haverhill in Suffolk, some 50 miles away from Syleham, where the firm of Gurteen still exists.
His son Bertie, a farm worker, also played the dulcimer – presumably inheriting his father’s instrument which which was still in the family in the early 2000s.
James’ grandson John Hines believed that it was James who made the dulcimer and said that James used to play it down by the river.
James & Bertie Hines’ dulcimer
The Hines dulcimer has 23 bridges each with 5 courses of strings. The treble bridges are in a straight line but the lower ones show traces of having been moved. It is sturdily built with two sound holes and gilt decoration around them. The original tuning key and canes are still intact.
A diagram of this instrument may be seen on the Dimensions page.
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