He was first fiddle. Chief man, the most distinguished of the company.
To play second fiddle. To take a subordinate part. The allusion is to the leader of concerts, who leads with a fiddle.
The Scotch fiddle or Caledonian Cremõna. The itch. As fiddlers scratch with a bow the strings of a fiddle, so persons suffering from skin-irritation keep scratching the part irritated.