In 1881 I began to attend some of the great Musical Festivals, going to Worcester as the guest of the Dean, Lord Alwyne Compton; also undertaking the onerous task of writing an account of the proceedings for the Press, a tiresome and fatiguing duty which I never tried to do again. But it was a very pleasant time. One of my fellow guests was Dr. Stone, a wellknown amateur who played the contra-fagotto* at the Festival, and we made a good deal of music at the Deanery. Dr. Stone's instrument was an enormous affair (Santley once told him that it resembled the stand-pipe at Chelsea Waterworks!). We arranged a duet for contra-fagotto and piano, the theme being that of the well-known round, "Three blind mice." Stone played the tune at an incredible depth, and my part was to demonstrate the scamperings of the mice. The composition had a great success. It was never printed, nor do I think there is any record of its performance in the annals of the Festival.