On topic - I thought that maybe the point being made was that the fiddle was easier to play in D (and G naturally) and didn't warrant a comment like "Nobody told mine that, fortunately. It plays in whatever key I tell it to" which I felt was a tad sarcastic.

As a teacher I try not to tell students things like "the fingering is the simplest thing in the world and you learn it in the first hour of Day 1" or

"the bowing is just a bit harder" or

"it's no more problematical to play in one key over another once you have identified the various places where the appropriate notes are found".. just in case they might get disheartened when they haven't mastered the instrument in the first 6 weeks of playing.

Sorry, Countess, if I offend your aristocratic sensibilities.