I watched the Mutiny on the Bounty film last nite, couldve focused more on the fiddling I feel. Poor directorship. So heres a bit of trivia for you, Fiddlers commissioned aboard military ships to entertain the crew. Not a cellist or banjo mind you, fiddlers!

BYRNE (Byrn), Michael Able-bodied seaman on the Bounty; loyalist; kept on board against his will; survived the wreck of the Pandora; acquitted at court-martial.

Michael Bryne was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, and was twenty-six years old when Bligh signed him on the Bounty for the express purpose of playing his fiddle while the sailors danced. Bligh explained his view in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks:

Some time for relaxation and mirth is absolutely necessary and I have considered it so much so that after 4 o’clock the evening is laid aside for their amusement and dancing. I had great difficulty before I left England to get a man to play the violin and I preferred at last to take one two-thirds blind than come without one.