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Overview
organ
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An organ is the emblem of St Cecilia, patron saint of music.
organ-grinder a person who is more important or powerful than another (usually contrasted with monkey). The allusion is to an itinerant street musician who played a barrel organ which was turned by hand, and who often had a pet monkey. The expression was notably used in the House of Commons in 1957 by the Labour politician Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960), when he said, ‘I am not going to spend any time whatsoever in attacking the Foreign Secretary…If we complain about the tune, there is no reason to attack the monkey when the organ grinder is present.’
