James Watt as Musical Organ Maker

This chapter examines Watt’s work in Glasgow between 1756-1744 when he struggled to make a living from mathematical instruments and also resorted to making and selling musical instruments. He made stringed instruments, including viole da gamba and guitars, plus flutes and organs. There are no complete stringed or wind instruments extant, although tools and parts are held in the London Science Museum. Watt also collaborated with Charles Clagget, an accomplished viol de gamba player and innovator in musical instrument technology, including the first trumpet valves. Watt’s accounts books make clear that he made or repaired barrel, chamber and finger organs and the chapter examines the evidence for these organs including the James Watt Organ in the Glasgow Museums’ Service collection. Its potential links to the great man are considered, to try to uncover the boundaries between myth and reality in regards to the provenance of this instrument.