Violumpet or Trumpolin?

Singing in the rain? Not! But he was jigging around a lot as he played.
Up at Carlisle today. As we approached "Marcus & Spencius" (Carry on Cleo?)

"I thought I could hear the curious tone
Of the cornet, clarinet and big trombone
Fiddle, 'cello, big bass drum
Bassoon, flute and euphonium....."

I wondered why this distant chap I could see was miming playing a trumpet with a Violin Bow, to the sound of a record. HAD to go for a closer look. Turns out he wasn't miming, but playing this strange hybrid.

On return to base I discovered it isn't a Violumpet, Trumpolin, Fiddolin or Trumpiddle: it's a "Stroh Violin"
"My" bloke, I have to say, sounded a LOT better than the chappy on the left of this page.

"The instrument is named after its designer, John Matthias Augustus Stroh, an electrical engineer in London, who patented it. On 4 May 1899, Stroh applied for a UK patent, GB9418 titled Improvements in Violins and other Stringed Instruments: which was accepted on 24 March 1900. This described the use of a flat metal (other materials are also mentioned) diaphragm in the voice-box (reproducer) of a violin to mechanically amplify the sound."