Question: What instrument did the famous English musician born in the historic county of Northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom play?

Context paragraphs:
Bucklow Hundred: The hundred of Bucklow was an ancient division of the historic county of Cheshire, in northern England.  It was known to have been in existence at least as early as 1260, and it was formed from the earlier Domesday hundreds of Bochelau and Tunendune.

English language in Northern England: The English language in Northern England has been shaped by the region's history of settlement and migration, and today encompasses a group of related dialects known as Northern England English (or, simply, Northern English in the United Kingdom).  Historically, the strongest influence on the varieties of the English language spoken in Northern England was the Northumbrian dialect of Old English, but contact with Old Norse during the Viking Age and with Irish English following the Great Famine have produced new and distinctive styles of speech.  Some "Northern" traits can be found further south than others: only the northernmost accents of Northumberland and Tyneside retain the pre-Great Vowel Shift pronunciation of words such as "town" ( , ""toon""), but all northern accents lack the – split, and this trait extends a significant distance into the Midlands.

Yorkshire Dales: The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in Northern England in the historic county of Yorkshire, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954.

Startforth Rural District: Startforth Rural District was a rural district in the North Riding of the historic county of Yorkshire in the Pennines of northern England.

Salford Hundred: The Salford Hundred (also known as Salfordshire) was a subdivision of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England.  Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of Salford (the suffix "-shire" meaning the territory was appropriated to the prefixed settlement).  It is also known as the Royal Manor of Salford and the Salford wapentake.

Joseph Bottomley: Joseph Bottomley (1786–1861), was an English musician.  He was born at Halifax in Yorkshire in 1786.  His parentage is not recorded, but his musical education was begun at a very early age; when only seven years old he played a violin concerto in public.  At the age of twelve he was sent to Manchester, where he studied under John Grimshaw (1765? -1819), organist of St. John's Church, and Watts, the leader of the concerts.  Under Watts's direction he at the same time carried on his violin studies with Yaniewicz, then resident in Manchester.

Macclesfield Hundred: The hundred of Macclesfield was an ancient division of the historic county of Cheshire, in northern England.  It was known to have been in existence at least as early as 1242, and it was formed to a great extent from the earlier Domesday hundred of Hamestan.  In 1361 Edward, the Black Prince was lord of the hundred, manor and borough of Macclesfield.

West Derby Hundred: The West Derby Hundred (also known as West Derbyshire) is one of the six subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire, in northern England.  Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of West Derby (the suffix "-shire" meaning the territory was appropriated to the prefixed settlement).

Yorkshire: Yorkshire ( or ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom.  Due to its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform.  Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as a geographical territory and cultural region.  The name is familiar and well understood across the United Kingdom and is in common use in the media and the military, and also features in the titles of current areas of civil administration such as North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and East Riding of Yorkshire.

Rochdale (ancient parish): Rochdale was an ecclesiastical parish of early-medieval origin in northern England, administered from the Church of St Chad, Rochdale.  At its zenith, it occupied 58620 acre of land amongst the South Pennines, and straddled the historic county boundary between Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire.  To the north and north-west was the parish of Whalley; to the southwest was the parish of Bury; to the south was Middleton and Prestwich-cum-Oldham.

Supporting paragraphs: Joseph Bottomley Yorkshire
Answer: violin