The organ to which I allude is that of Magdalen College, built by Harris, the grandfather of Renatus, in 1637, for forty pounds. It escaped the ordinance of 1644, and was still remaining in the College Chapel in 1654, when Evelyn, who was at Oxford in the July of that year, has this entry in his "Diary":
"Next we walked to Magdalen College, where we saw the library and chapel, which was likewise in pontifical order, the altar only I think turned tablewise, and there was still the double organ, which abominations (as now esteemed) were almost universally demolished; Mr. Gibbon [Christopher Gibbons], that famous musician, giving us a taste of his skill and talents on that instrument."
This notice seemed to refute the tradition that "in the Grand Rebellion, when the organ of Magdalen College, among others, was taken down, it was conveyed by order of Cromwell to Hampton Court, where it was placed in the great gallery." I accordingly treated the story as apocryphal in my "History of the Organ." Since then, however, the matter has been
