The Fiddler’s Companion

© 1996-2009 Andrew Kuntz

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SIR

 

 

Notation Note: The tunes below are recorded in what is called “abc notation.” They can easily be converted to standard musical notation via highlighting with your cursor starting at “X:1” through to the end of the abc’s, then “cutting-and-pasting” the highlighted notation into one of the many abc conversion programs available, or at concertina.net’s incredibly handy “ABC Convert-A-Matic” at

http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html 

 

**Please note that the abc’s in the Fiddler’s Companion work fine in most abc conversion programs. For example, I use abc2win and abcNavigator 2 with no problems whatsoever with direct cut-and-pasting. However, due to an anomaly of the html, pasting the abc’s into the concertina.net converter results in double-spacing. For concertina.net’s conversion program to work you must remove the spaces between all the lines of abc notation after pasting, so that they are single-spaced, with no intervening blank lines. This being done, the F/C abc’s will convert to standard notation nicely. Or, get a copy of abcNavigator 2 – its well worth it.   [AK]

 

 

 

SIR ADAM FERGUSON. AKA and see “Adam Ferguson's Reel,” “Lads of Leith [2],” “Lads of Laois{e},” “Sic a Wife as I hae Gotten.” Scottish, Reel. E Minor. Standard tuning. AAB. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of the tune in print in John Riddell's 1766 collection (pg. 14). Sir Adam Ferguson (1733-1813) was MP for Ayrshire and a friend of writer Sir Walter Scott (according to Henry Cockburn, Memorials of His Time, 1856).  

X:1

T:Sir Adam Ferguson's Reel

T:Lads of Leith, The

T:Sic a Wife as I hae Gotten

B:Riddell's Collection (via Murdoch Henderson)

Z:Nigel Gatherer

M:4/4

L:1/8

K:Em

B,EEF E/F/G FE | A,DDE D/E/F ED | GFED EFGA | Bedc B2 E2 :|]

eB BA/B/ gfed | Adfa gfed | eB BA/B/ gfed | g>bag f2 ed |

eB BA/B/ gfed | Adfa gfed | g>bge fafd | gfed e2 E2 |]


 

SIR ALEX MACDONALD'S REEL. AKA and see “The Braes of Mar [1],” “Johnny Will/Won't You Marry Me?” “Lord MacDonald [1],” "Strath Spray's Rant." Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning. AABBCC. Appears in David Young's Duke of Perth MS (also known as the Drummond Castle MS), 1734. Glen (1891) finds it in Bremner's 1757 collection, where he directs: “In this Reel the 1st part is played twice over between the 2nd & last parts.” Bremner (A Collection of Scots Reels), 1757; pg. 22.

X:1

T:Sir Alex’r McDonald’s Reel

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

B:Bremner – Scots Reels (1757)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

F(AA)(f/g/ a)fed | gfed BdBA | F(AA)(f/g/ a)fed | (e/f/g) (f/g/a) “tr”e2 d2 :|

|: FAA>B A>BAF | G/G/G G2 GABG | F(AA>)B (A>B)AF | GBAF “tr”E2D2 :|

|: (f/g/a) a>b a>baf | g/g/g g2 g>aba | (f/g/a) a>b a>baf | gafg “tr”e2d2 :|

 

SIR ALEXANDER CUMMING. Scottish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning. AAB. Composed by Alexander Walker in honor of Sir Alexander Cumming, Baronet of Altyre. Walker (A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Marches, &c), 1866; No. 181, pg. 62.

 


SIR ALEXANDER DON [1]. Scottish, Strathspey. F Major. Standard tuning. AB. "Composed by Major Logan," asserts MacDonald in the Skye Collection. The attribution refers to Major William Logan of Ayr, a well-respected gentleman-fiddler (see “Major Logan’s Frolic” for more). See note for "Auld Lang Syne,” for which this tune bears similarities.

***

Sir Alexander Don, 5th Baronet, of Newton-Don, Berwickshire, was born in 1751 and died in 1815. He married in 1778 the ‘divine’ Lady Harriet (Henrietta Cunningham), sister of the Earl of Glencairn, a patron of the poet Robert Burns. The couple’s two daughters died of accidental drowning in 1793, but a son survived to take the title upon his father’s death. A grandson, William Don, however, left the army deeply in debt, and had to part with what remained of the estate. He became a well-known actor and died in 1861 in Australia, where he was touring with a company. In the 1790’s in response to the growing threat from post-revolutionary France, local fencible regiments for home defence sprang up, and, like many of the gentry, Sir Alexander formed a unit. It was called the Berwickshire Fencible Calvary, and he served as Colonel during the five years of its existence. Sir Alexander was a sporting man; when the Kelso races began in earnest in the 1760’s, he sponsored competitors, and his horse Cheviot won a famous race there in 1765.

***

The melody “The Caledonian Hunt [1]” was composed by Alexander Don, who, along with other gentry, formed the Caledonian Hunt society whose annual ball was the event of the year among the Scottish aristocracy of his era. Sir Alexander even presented Nathaniel Gow (whose band often provided the music for the ball) with a valuable Italian violin, in admiration of Gow’s music. Variation sets for “Miss Ketty Hall” are also attributed to him (and Nisbet of Dirleton). MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 144. Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; pgs. 100-101.

X:1

T:Sir Alexander Don [1]

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:MacDonald – Skye Collection  (1887)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:F

c/B/|AFF>A Bdd>B|Acc>A BGGc/B/|AFF>A BddB|c>f e/f/g/e/ fFF c/B/|AFF>A Bdd>B|

AccA BGGc/B/|AFF>A BddB |c>f e/f/g/e/ fFF||c|f<ag<a f2 cB|AF (d/c/)B/A/ BGGc|

f<ag<a f<a c>A|BG c>B AFFc|f<ag<a f2 cB|AF (d/c/)B/A/ BGGc|f<ag<a f<a c>A| B<G c>B AFF||

 

SIR ALEXANDER DON [2]. Scottish, Strathspey. D Major. Standard tuning. AB. "From the Opera of Rosina" (Gow). Rosina (1782) was a very successful comic opera by the once-popular English light composer William Shield (1748-1829). “Sir Alexander Don” is the theme from the overture, and sounds quite like “Coming Through the Rye.” Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 212. Gow (The First Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels), 1784 (revised 1801); pg. 10.

X:1

T:Sir Alexander Don’s [2]

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:Gow – First Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels (1784)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

A,|D<D D>F “tr”E>DEF|D<D D>F A3d|D<D D>F “tr”E>DEF|D>B,B,>A, D3A,|D<D D>F “tr”E>DEF|

D<D D>F A3d|D<D D>F E>DEF|D<B, ~B,>A, D3||B|A<F F>D FEEF A<F F>D F3B|A<F F>D “tr”E>DEF|

D<B,”tr”B>A, D3B|A<F F>D “tr”FEEF|AFFD [D3B3] (c/d/)|(B/A/G/F/) (G/F/E/D/) “tr”E>DEF|D<B,”tr”B,>A, D3||

 

SIR ALEXANDER DON [3]. Scottish, Strathspey. G Minor. Standard tuning. AABCD. Composed by Robert Mackintosh. Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music), vol. 2, 1895; pg. 35.

X:1

T:Sir Alexander Don

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:Glen Collection, vol. 2  (1895)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G Minor

d|B<G G>D B,A,G,B|A/G/F c/B/A fcAf|B<G G>D B,<A,G,<g|f/e/d/c/ d/c/B/A/ BGG:|

d|g<dB<G b<gd<B|f<cA<F a<fc<A|b<dB<G b<gd<B|c>e d/c/B/A/ BGGd|

g<dB<G b<gd<B|f<cA<F a<fc<A|d<bc<a B<gA<^f|g>e d/c/B/A/ BGG||D|

G,<DB,<G D<dB<G|A,<FC<F A,<cA<F|G,<DB,<G D<dB<G|c>e d/c/B/A/ B<GGD|

G,<DB,<G D<dB<G|A,<FC<F A,<cA<F|G<BD<G B,>DC>E D>CB,>A, B,G,G,||

d|B/a/g d/c/B b>g d<B|A/G/F c/B/A a>f c<A|B/A/G d/c/B b>g d<B|

A/B/c d/c/B/A/ BGGd|B/A/G d/c/B b>g d<B|A/G/F c/B/A a>f c<A|d<bc<a B<gA<^f| g>e d/c/B/A/ BGG||

 

SIR ALEXANDER DON [4]. Scottish, Jig. D Major. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831) as the first tune in a medley, followed by the reel “Sir Alexander Don [5].” Gow (Sixth Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1822; pg. 22.

X:1

T:Sir Alexander Don [4]

M:C

L:1/8

R:Jig

C:Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831)

N:The first tune of a jig and reel medley

N:”Briskly. May be played Slowly when not Danced.”

B:Gow – Sixth Collection of Strathspey Reels (1822)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

B|AGF {G}FED|DED {G}FED|DED FED|FGA Bcd|AFA {c}d3|

cBA {c}d3|”tr”B>cd AGF|E>FE GAB|AGF {G}FED|DED {G}FED|

DED {G}FED|FGA Bcd|AFA {c}d3|cBA {c}d3|”tr”B>cd AGF|E>FE GAB||

A>BA A2g|”tr”fef d2B|A>GA A2 d/e/|fdB Bcd|A>BA A2 g|”tr”fef d2 d/e/|

fdB AGF|BGE EGB|A>BA A2g|”tr”fef d2B|A>BA A2d/e/|

fdB Beg|fdf ece|dcB A2 B/c/|dcB AGF|BGE GAB||

 

SIR ALEXANDER DON [5]. Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning. AB. A later composition by Nathaniel Gow which Collinson (1966) uses as an example of the progress of the Gow family's compositions away from the strict confines of the old modes and gapped scales. It was composed as the second tune in a medley set, preceded by the jig “Sir Alexander Don [4].” Gow (Sixth Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1822; pgs. 22-23.
X:1

T:Sir Alexander Don’s [5]

M:C

L:1/8

R:Reel

C:Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831)

N:The second tune of a jig and reel medley

B:Gow – Sixth Collection of Strathspey Reels (1822)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

A|~d2 fd (dc) BA|~d2 fd (dc) BA|~d2 fd ge ^ge|aABc d3A|~d2 fd (dc) BA|

~d2 fd ge ^ge|aA Bc d3||f/g/|bf .^d.d bB (ba)|(ge) .c.c (aA) ag|(fe)dd “tr”B2 ed|
cABc defg|agfe ^dBba|gfed cAag|fedc Bded|cABc d2D||

 

SIR ALEXANDER DUNBAR’S STRATHSPEY. AKA and see “Sir Archibald Dunbar.”

 

SIR ALEX. McDONALD'S REEL. AKA – “Sr. Alexander McDonald’s Reel.” AKA and see “Braes of Mar.” Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning. AABBCC. The melody appears in the Drummond Castle Manuscript (in the possession of the Earl of Ancaster at Drummond Castle), 1734, inscribed "A Collection of the best Highland Reels written by David Young, W.M. & Accomptant." The melody also appears in the Robert Bremner's 1757 collection and the Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (1768) and James Aird’s Selections of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 1 (Glasgow, 1782). English printings include Charles and Samuel Thompson’s Compleat Collection, vol. 3 (London, 1773), Straight and Skillern’s Two Hundred and Four Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1 (London, 1775), and Longman and Broderip’s Compleat Collection of 200 Favorite Country Dances (London, 1781). Versions in manuscript form can be found in the 1780 copybook of fiddler John Fife (Perthshire, Scotland, who also appears to have compiled some of his ms. at sea), Jeremiah Brown’s (Seabrook, N.H.) 1782 commonplace book, and the 1788 commonplace book of fiddler John and William Pitt Turner (Norwich, Conn.). The latter probably copied it from the Thompson’s 1773 collection, along with numerous other tunes from the publication. Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3), 1773; No. 135.

X:1

T:Sr Alexander McDonald’s Reel

M:C|

L:1/8

B:Thompson’s Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3 (London, 1773)

Z:Transcribed and edited by Flynn Titford-Mock, 2007

Z:abc’s:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

F(AA)(f/g/) afed|gfed BdBA|F(AA)(f/g/) afed|(e/f/g) (f/g/a) e2 d2:|
|:F(AA)B ABAF|G/G/G G2 GABG|F(AA)B ABAF|GBAF E2D2:|
|:(f/g/a) ab a>baf|g/g/g g2 gaba|f/g/a ab a>baf|fafg e2 d2:||

 

SIR ALLAN McLEAN. Scottish. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing of the tune in Robert Ross's 1780 collection (pg. 37).

 

SIR ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL'S JIG. The version in The Scottish Country Dance Book is reprinted from a 1788 collection of Joshua Campbell. The first half equals the first of "Dublin Jig [3]". Scottish Country Dance Book, 1930‑57, Pt. 15, No. 3 (second tune).

 

SIR ARCHIBALD DUNBAR. AKA – “Sir Alexander Dunbar.” Scottish, Strathspey. D Mixolydian. Standard tuning. The melody was first published (as “Sir Alexander Dunbar”) in Alexander “King” McGlashan’s 3rd collection (1786). Sir Alexander Dunbar (1742-1791) of Northfield succeeded to the title of 5th baronet Dunbar in 1776. Sir Archibald Dunbar (1772-1847) was his son, and succeeded as 6th baronet. The Dunbar men appeared to have been typical Scottish aristocrats, concerning themselves with hunting, fishing and drinking, however one was truly remarkable. Alexander’s half-brother William Dunbar (1750-1810, by their father’s second wife) was an explorer, merchant, naturalist and astronomer who emigrated to America at the age of 21. Establishing himself as a merchant the increasingly successful Dunbar parlayed himself into a plantation empire along the Mississippi at Baton Rouge and Natchez. A corresponding friend of President Thomas Jefferson, Dunbar’s scientific achievements became know to the American establishment, and Jefferson picked him to lead an expedition into the unexplored Red River territory west of the Mississippi. AAB (Cranford/Holland, Gow): AABB (Perlman, Skye): AABB' (Athole, Kerr). Source for notated version: Paul MacDonald (b. 1974, Charlottetown, Queens County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]. Cranford (Jerry Holland: The Second Collection), 2000; No. 137, pg. 52. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 3, 1806; pg. 36. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 2; No. 155, pg. 18. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 41. McGlashan (A Collection of Reels), c. 1786; pg. 7 (appears as “Sir Alexander Dunbar’s Strathspey”). Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 191. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 107. A & M Records 79602 2000-2, Ashley MacIsaac - “Close to the Floor” (1992). Jerry Holland – “Master Cape Breton Fiddler” (1982). Rounder Records 7057, Jerry Holland – “Parlor Music” (2005).

See also listings at:

Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index 

X:1

T:Sir Archibald Dunbar

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

B:Stewart-Robertson – The Athole Collection (1884)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

F|D/D/D F>D G>E =C>E|D/D/D F>D A>DF>D|A>DF>D G>E=C>E| D<d A>F D/D/D D:|

|:f|d<d f>d g>e=c>e|d<d f>d a>df>d|1 a>df>d ge=ce|D<d A>F D/D/D D:|2 a>df>d g>e=c>e|d<b a>f d/d/d d||

           


SIR ARCHIBALD GRANT OF MONEMUSK'S REEL. AKA and see "Money Musk/Monymusk(, Sir Archibald Grant of)." Scottish, Strathspey. G Major. Standard tuning. AAB (Alburger, Johnson, McGlashan): AABB' (Johnson). Either composed or set (the latter according to a note in Gow's Caledonian Repository) by Donald/Daniel Dow (1732‑1783) in 1776, whose c. 1780 Thrity‑Seven New Reels & Strathspeys is the earliest appearance of the tune in print. Two earlier tunes are either models or cognate airs, depending on whether Dow actually did compose the tune or not, namely "Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch" and "The Ruffian's Rant." Sir Archibald founded the town of Archiestown, near Monahoudie Moss on Speyside. See notes entered under "Money Musk" for more. Source for notated version: Dow's Thirty‑seven New Reels, pg. 5 [Johnson]. Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1983; Ex. 42, pg. 65. Johnson (Scottish Fiddle Music in the 18th Century), 1984; No. 82, pg. 228. S. Johnson (A Twenty Year Anniversary Collection), 2003; pg. 28. McGlashan (A Collection of Reels), c. 1786; pg. 19. TAC002, Don Bartlett & The Scotians ‑ "Play Favourites.” WMT002, Wendy MacIsaac – “That’s What You Get” (1997?).

X:1

T:Sir Archibald Grant’s Reel

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:McGlashan – Reels (c. 1786)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

e|d<G B>G d>Gc>e|d<G B>G A/B/A ce|d<G B>G B/c/d d>g|e>cA>d B>G G:|

(g|g)>dd>g B>gd>f|g>dcg B>gA>f|g>de>g d>gB>g|e>cA>d B>GG>(g|

g)>dc>g B>gA>(f|g)>de>g d>gc>g|B>gA>g B>G G||

 

SIR ARTHUR SHAEN. Irish, Planxty. G Minor. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by Turlough O'Carolan. Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 159, pg. 108.

 

SIR ARTHUR WELLESL(E)Y’S DASH.  English, Waltz. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Sir Arthur Wellesley became the Duke of Wellington, the victor at Waterloo over Napoleon. At the time of Cahusac’s publication (1809) he was involved in aiding the Portuguese against in their revolt against the French on the Iberian Peninsula. The campaign lasted some eight years and eventually culminated in the invasion of France and the capture of Toulouse in 1814, following which Napoleon abdicated. Cahusac (Annual Collection of Twenty Four Favorite Country Dances for 1809), 1809; No. 11.

X:1

T:Sir Arthur Wellesly’s [sic] Dash

M:3/8

L:1/8

R:Waltz

B:WM Cahusac – Annual Collection of Twenty Four Favorite Country Dances for 1809, No. 11 (London)

N:”With proper Directions to each Dance as they are performed at

N:Court, Bath, and all Public Assemblies.”

Z:Transcribed and edited by Flynn Titford-Mock, 2007

Z:abc’s:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

(d/c/)|BBB|Bcd|efg|d2 (d/c/)|BBB|ecA|G2 (A/G/)|F2 (d/c/)|

BBB|Bcd|efg|{^g}a2 (f/d/)|B(=g/f/e/d/)|^c(a/b/a/g/)|fdd|d2:|
|:a/f/|def|gab|.c’(c’/a/b/g/)|a/f/dd|{a}gfe|{e}(c/B/A/G/)|.B(d/c/A/B/)|B2:||

 

SIR CHARLES COOTE. AKA and see "Planxty Charles Coote." Irish, Planxty. C Major. Standard tuning. AAB. Composed by Turlough O'Carolan. Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 18, pg. 34.

 

SIR CHARLES COTTON’S HORNPIPE.  English, Hornpipe. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Sir Charles Cotton (1753-1812) was a career naval officer who served in the Royal Navy from the American Revolution through the Napoleonic era. After a long career as a post captain he was promoted to admiral and was involved in keeping the French fleet contained in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Perhaps his finest hour was in 1808, when he skilfully extricated Sir John Moore’s army from Galacia, after it was closely pursued by the French. He was recalled to England later in the year, and Cahusac’s tune no doubt records his celebrity. Cahusac (Annual Collection of Twenty Four Favorite Country Dances for 1809), 1809; No. 17.

X:1

T:Sir Charles Cotton’s Hornpipe

M:C
L:1/8

R:Hornpipe

B:WM Cahusac – Annual Collection of Twenty Four Favorite Country Dances for 1809, No. 17 (London)

N:”With proper Directions to each Dance as they are performed at

N:Court, Bath, and all Public Assemblies.”

Z:Transcribed and edited by Flynn Titford-Mock, 2007

Z:abc’s:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

F>G|A2A2 BAGF|G2E2E2zf|gfge cecA|d2D2D2 f>g|

A2d2d3f|ec a2 aedc|dfBd ce^GB|A2A2A2:|

|:A>G|F2D2D2 d>c|B2G2G2 B>A|^G2 E2 E2 e>d|c2A2A2 zc|

dfaf dAB=c|BGdB g3e|fadf egec|d2d2d2:|

 

SIR CHARLES DOUGLAS. AKA and see “Caillich Odhar.” Scottish, Strathspey. D Major. Standard tuning. AAB. Composed by Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831) in honor of Sir Charles Douglas, Bart. (d. 1789), a British admiral and a descendent of the Scottish earls of Morton. Douglas became a lieutenant in the British navy at the time of the Seven Years War, in 1753, promoted to captain in 1761. He took part in the defence of Canada during the American Revolution, relieving Quebec by forcing his way up the icy St. Lawrence, and he commanded the 64-gun HMS Stirling Castle in the Battle of Ushant in 1778. Later he distinguished himself at the Battle of Dominica, 1782, when he convinced Admiral Rodney to “break the line” and thus divide the French fleet, resulting in a victory. It was his improvements in naval gunnery, however, that sealed his reputation, among which was the replacement of the slow-match system with flintlock mechanisms for the firing of ship-board cannon, both more effective and safer to operate. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 213. Gow (Fourth Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels), 2nd ed., originally 1800; pg. 4. O’Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. III), c. 1808; pg. 48. Jerry O’Sullivan – “O’Sullivan meets O’Farrell” (2005).

X:1

T:Sir Charles Douglas’s Strathspey

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:O’Farrell – Pocket Companion, vol. III (c. 1808)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

ADAF ADDB | ADFD F/G/A d2 | ADFD ADAF | GdFd E23B2 :|

A<d d>f edcB | A<d d>f ef g2 | A<d d>f ecdA | BdFd E2B2 |

A<d d>f edcB | Addf ef g2 | faef dfBd | AdFd E2B2 ||

 

SIR CHARLES FORBES BART. OF NEWE. Scottish, Strathspey. A Major. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by Alexander Walker for his patron; he notes "slow, when not danced." Walker was the gardener at Castle Newe. Bart. = baronet. Walker (A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Marches, &c.), 1866; No. 1, pg. 1.

 

SIR CHARLES FORBES OF NEW(E) AND EDINGLASSIE. Scottish, Slow Strathspey. F Minor. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by William Marshall (1748-1833). Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1845 Collection, pg. 34.

X:1

T:Sir Charles Forbes of New and Edinglassie

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:Marshall1845 Collection

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:Fmin

C|F>GA>B A/G/F/E/ c/B/A/G/|F>GA>B dA, cB/A/|Ge ed/c/ B/A/G/F/ E>G|

B/A/G/F/ A/G/F/E/ F2 FC|F>GA>B A/G/F/E/ c/B/A/G/|F>GA>B cA, cB/A/|

Be ed/c/ B/A/G/F/ E>G|B/A/G/F/ A/G/F/E/ F2F||c|f>ga>f geeg|f>ga>f a/g/f/=e/ fg|

f>gab geeg|f>ec=e f2 fc|f>ga>f geeg|fagb af g=d|=e/d/c/B/ eB GEEG|F/G/A/B/ cC F2F||

 

SIR CHARLES SEDLEY'S MINUET. Scottish, English; Minuet (3/4 time). England, North‑West. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The melody appears in the Gillespie Manuscript of Perth, 1768, and also appears in a minuet collection by David Rutherford in the 1750’s (a copy of which is in the music collection at Thomas Jefferson’s home Monticello). In America the melody appears in the music manuscript copybooks of Captain George Bush, and of Henry Livingston, Jr.  Livingston purchased the estate of Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1771 at the age of 23. In 1775 he was a Major in the 3rd New York Regiment, which participated in Montgomery’s invasion of Canada in a failed attempt to wrest Montreal from British control. An important land-owner in the Hudson Valley, and a member of the powerful Livingston family, Henry was also a surveyor and real estate speculator, an illustrator and map-maker, and a Justice of the Peace for Dutchess County. He was also a poet and musician, and presumably a dancer, as he was elected a Manager for the New York Assembly’s dancing season of 1774-1775, along with his 3rd cousin, John Jay, later U.S. Chief Justice of Governor of New York. Source for notated version: the MS collection of Captain George Bush (1753?-1797), an officer and fiddler in the Continental Army [Keller]. Keller (Fiddle Tunes from the American Revolution), 1992; pg. 9. Knowles (Northern Frisk), 1988; No. 71.

X:1

T:Sir Charles Sedley’s Minuet

M:3/4

L:1/8

R:Minuet

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

d2 fdec | d2e2f2 | A2 BcdB | A2G2F2 | D3 FEG |

F2 DFEG | F2 GFED | A6 :: AFDFA=c | B2 AB G2 | B^GEGBd |

c2 Bc A2 | ecAceg | fdec d2 | fdec d2 | Ag f2e2 | d6 :|

X:2
T:Sir Charles Sedley's Minuet
C:Traditional
S:GINA LE FAUX "Masquerades And Operas" Lefaux Music LFM004
N:Ms Le Faux writes to say she “recorded the tune on an 18th century

N:fiddle which is in its original condition with gut strings tuned down to

N:old pitch. This version is in the key of D, old pitch, and not C.” [A.K.]
S:The CD notes list the 1760 Joseph Barnes manuscript as the source.
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:D

(3ABc |: d2 +d2f2+ +d2f2+ | d2e2f2 | A2 Bc dB | A2G2F2 |

DF EG FA | A2G2A2 | +A,4G4+ +A,4F2+ |[1 +A,4E4+ (3ABc :|

[2 +A,4E4+ AB |: AF DF A=c | B2A2G2 | BG EG Bd | c2B2A2 |

ec Ac eg | f2e2d2 | a4c2 | [d4 dB :| [2 d4 ||

 

SIR CHARLES'S RANT. English, Jig. England, Northumberland. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The tune appears in Northumbrian piper John Peacock's collection dated c. 1805. Peacock (Peacock’s Tunes), c. 1805/1980; No. 20, pg. 7. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 117.

           

SIR DAVID DAVIDSON OF CANTRAY. Scottish, Canadian; Reel. Canada, Cape Breton. D Major. Standard tuning. AAB (Kerr): AA’B (Cranford). Composed by John Lowe (1797-1866, who also composed “Archie Menzie’s” and “Rachael Rae”), father of the Joseph Lowe who published a collection in 1840. The tune is heard in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, fiddle repertoire, as well as Scottish traditional fiddle repertoire. The Battlefield Band recorded a slow version of the tune in the mid-1970’s, influencing for a while the popular tempo of the tune, although the original tempo seems to have been restored in modern sessions. There were two David Davidsons of Cantray, father and son. David Davidson (Sr.), son of William Davidson and Agnes MacKercher, built the estate, purchasing in 1767-8 the lands of Cantray and Croy (in the valley of the Nairn, Inverness-shire) and afterwards adding Clava. This laird married Mary, daughter of George Cuthbert of Castlehill, Sheriff-Substitute of Inverness, and is alluded to in the statistical account of 1842 as "a man of singular sagacity, of most active powers of mind, and practical good sense," and as "a liberal-minded and fatherly landlord." David and Mary’s son was David Davidson (Jr.), of who was born around the year 1788. It was David Davidson (Jr.) who was knighted by King George III. See also “Lady Davidson of Cantray.” Cranford (Jerry Holland’s), 1995; No. 106, pg. 31. Henderson (Flowers of Scottish Melody), 1935. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 3; No. 14, pg. 4. Martin & Hughes (Ho-ro-gheallaidh), 1990; pg. 18. Rounder 82161-7032-2, Bill Lamey – “From Cape Breton to Boston and Back: Classic House Sessions of Traditional Cape Breton Music 1956-1977” (2000). Rounder Records 7057, Jerry Holland – “Parlor Music” (2005). Topic Records 12TS, Alex Green - “The Caledonian Companion” (1975).

See also listings at:

Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index

Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources 

X:1

T:Sir David Davidson of Cantray

M:4/4

L:1/8

R:Reel

K:D

A|d2 fd cdBd|AdFd EecA|d2 fd cdAF|GEec d2 dA|

d2 fd cdBd|AdFd EecA|d2 fd cdAF|GEec d2 d:|

|:f|afdf afba|gfed cdef|gfed cbag|fedc d2 df|

afdf afba|gfed cBAG|FAdc Bbge|cABc d3:|

                       

SIR DAVID HUNTER BLAIR('S REEL). Scottish, Reel. F Major (Athole, Campbell, Kerr, Martin): G Major (Surenne): D Major (Huntington). Standard tuning. AB (Surenne): AAB (Kerr): AABB (Athole, Huntington, Martin). Sir David Hunter Blair (1778-1857), 3rd Baronet, Blair, became a religious man and was involved in the printing of Bibles, as well as serving as the Deputy-Lieutenant and Convener of the County of Ayr, and the one-time Colonel of the Ayrshire Militia. One of the finest Regency era castles in Scotland, Blairquhan (pronounced ‘blair-wan’) Castle, Ayrshire, designed by Scottish architect William Burn, was built for Blair in the Tudor style from 1821-1824 on the site of an older castle. It remains in the possession of the Blair family to this day. A version of the melody appears in the music manuscript copybook of keyboard player Ann Winnington’s music manuscript (under the title “Sir David Hunt of Blair”), c. 1810, wherein the frontispiece indicates she resided at the time in New York, although the manuscript eventually made its way back to England. Ship’s fiddler William Litten also entered a version of the tune into his music copybook around the year 1800, while at sea. He is believed to have served in a British merchant ship or perhaps naval vessel in the Pacific. However, his manuscript ended up on the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard. The reel was published in several early 19th century publications, including Thomas Balls’ Gentleman’s Amusement Book 2 (Norfolk, Conn., 1815), G.E. Blake’s Gentleman’s Amusement No. 3 (Philadelphia, c. 1825), Wheatstone’s Clarinet Preceptor (London, 1801), William Whiteley’s Instrumental Preceptor (Utica, N.Y., 1816), and William William’s New and Complete Preceptor for the Fife (Utica, N.Y., 1819). Campbell (Strathspey Reels...Irish Jigs...,) pg. 2. DeVille (The Universal Contradance Album), No. 30. Huntington (William Litten's), 1977; pg. 24. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 1; Set 27, No. 2, pg. 17. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle), vol. 2, 1988; pg. 37. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 237. Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; pg. 8.

X:1

T:Sir David Hunter Blair

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

B:The Athole Collection

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:F

a|~f2 cd cdcd|cf a2 cf a2|b2 ga gaga|gfef ge c:|

|:g|af ~f2 cfAc|FAcf eg ~g2|af ~f2 cfAc|FAcf ge ~f:|

X:2

T:Sir David Hunter Blair’s Reel

L:1/8

M:C

S:Button & Whitaker’s Selection of Dances, Reels, Waltzes No. 1 (undated, early 19th S:century)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:F

f2 cd cdcd|cf a2 cf a2|b2 ga gaga|gfef ge c2:|

|:af f2 cA A2|FAcf eg g2|af f2 cA A2|Acfa ge f2:|

X:3

T:Sir David Hunter Blair

M:C

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Surenne – Dance Music of Scotland, pg. 8  (1852)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

g2d>e d>ed>e | d>gb2 d>gb2 | c’2a>b a>ba>b | a>gf>g a>fd2 | g2d>e d>ed>e | d>gb2 d>gb2 |

c’2 a>b a>ba>b | a>gf>g a>f d2 || b>gg2 dgBd | GBdg fa a2 | b>g ({a/g/f/}g2) dgBd |

GBdg af g2 | b>gg2 dgBd | GBdg fa a2 | b>g ({a/g/f/}g2) dgBd | GBdg af g2 ||


 

SIR EDWARD CROFTON. Irish, Planxty (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738). Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 22, pg. 36.

                       

SIR FESTUS BURKE, PLANXTY (Fiacha a Burc). AKA and see “Festus Burke,” "Planxty Sir Festus Burke," "Sir Festus a Burca." Irish, Air or Planxty (2/4 time, "spirited"). D Major. Standard tuning. AB. The melody, for which no words are extent, was composed by the blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan. O'Sullivan (1983) notes that Sir Festus Burke was the 5th baronet of Glinsk, County Galway, who succeeded to the title on the death of his father in 1721 (he was the half-brother of Sir Ulick Burke, for whom O'Carolan composed another piece). Sir Festus married the eldest daughter of the Earl of Clanricard, Lady Laetitia, in 1708, though the union proved barren, and he died around 1730. Source for notated version: the melody was noted by the Irish collector Edward Bunting from the playing of harper Charles Fannin in 1792. Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 9, pg. 30. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 244. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1979; No. 696, pg. 128. O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 44, pgs. 70-71. Green Linnet GLCD 1128, Brendan Mulvihill & Donna Long - “The Morning Dew” (1993. Appears as “Festus Burke”). Shanachie 79013, Derek Bell - "Carolan's Receipt" (1987).

X:1

T:Planxty Sir Festus Burke

M:2/4

L:1/8

R:Air

N:”Spirited”

S:O’Neill – Music of Ireland (1903), No. 696

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

dA de|{a}fe/d/ df|gf/e/ af/d/|cB AA|B/A?G GB|GB c/d/e|d/c/B/A/ Bc|d2 dz|

af da|a/g/f/e/ da|bg eb|b/a/g/f/ ez|a/g/f/e/ f/g/a/f/|e/d/c/B/ c/d/e/c/|d/B/G/B/ G/B/d/B/|

e/c/A/c/ A/c/e/c/|d/c/B/A/ G/F/E/D/|C/B,/C/D/ E/F/G/E/|FD DF|{G}A2 Az|BG GB|

{d}e2 {d}ez|e/d/B/A/ Aa|g/a/b f/g/a|gB c/d/e/c/|d2 dz||F/A/d/A/ F/A/F/D/|F/A/d/B/ AF/A/|

BG d/c/d/B/|cA e/d/e/c/|da eg|g/f/e/f/ ge|d2 zd|GG/B/ GG/B/|AA/a/ Aa/a/|GG/g/ GG/g/|

g/f/e/f/ g/f/e/d/|{g}ae/f/ g/f/e/d/|{a}be/f/ g/f/e/d/|cA AA|B/c/d/c/ B/A/G/F/|A/G/F/E/ G/F/E/D/|AA, C/D/E/C/|D2 Dz||

                       

SIR GEORGE ABERCROMBIE. Scottish, Strathspey. A Major. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by Alexander Walker in honor of Sir George Abercrombie, Baronet of Birkenbog and Forglen. Walker (A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Marches, &c.), 1866; No. 15, pg. 6.

 

SIR GEORGE CLERK OF PENNYCUICK. AKA – “Sir George Clark’s Strathspey.” Scottish, Slow Strathspey. G Major. Standard tuning. AB. The melody is attributed to Nathaniel Gow in the 1819 Beauties of Niel Gow. Sir George (1787-1867) was a Scottish nobleman with Tory sympathies. He was a successful Member of Parliament and politician, became Master of the Mint in 1845, and President of the (London) Zoological Society in 1862. The family is still resident at Pennicuik House in modern times. Gow (Beauties of Niel Gow), 1819, Book 1, pg. 23. Hunter (The Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 85. Scottish Country Dance Book 20, 1959. Ron Gonella – “Tribute to Niel Gow.” Greentrax Alasdair Fraser & Paul Machlis – “Legacy of the Scottish Fiddle, vol. 1.”

 

SIR GEORGE CLARK'S STRATHSPEY. AKA and see “Sir George Clerk of Pennycuick.” Scottish, Strathspey. G Major. Standard tuning. AB. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 125. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; pg. 164.

X:1

T:Sir George Clark’s Strathspey

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

(g/>a/) | (b<g) ~g2 (d<B) B2 | (c<e) (c<e) A2 (AB/c/) | (d<B)B2 (G<E)E2 | (c>.A)(B>.G) (G/F/E/D/) (Dg/a/) |

(b<g)~g2 (d<B)B2 | (c<e)(c<e) A2 (AB/c/) | (d<B)B2 e<E) (EF/G/) | (G/F/E/D/) (E>.F) G2G ||

(d/>c/) | (B<d)~d2 (d<b) (b>.a) | (g<e) (e>.d) d2 (d>.c) | (B<d)~d2 (e<B) c2 | (d>.A) (B>.G) (G/F/E/D/) (DE/F/) |

(G<B)B2 (B>d)d2 | g>de>d d2 (7d/e/f/g/a/b/c’/ | (d’<b) (b<g) (g<e) (e<c) | (B<G) {B}(A>)F) G2G ||

 

SIR GEORGE MACKENZIE [1]. Scottish, Reel. A Major. Standard tuning. AB (Surenne): AAB (Gow). Composed by Niel Gow (1727-1807). The title honors Sir George Steuart MacKenzie (1780-1848) of Coul, 7nd Bart., a landowner who came into possession of his Ross estates in 1796, at a time of great economic and agricultural change in the Highlands of Scotland. He was a learned man, a mineralogist, geologist, and agriculturalist. He made experiments with the hardness and inflamibility of diamonds, and extensively explored the geology and botany of Iceland. Unfortunately, MacKenzie came to regard the small subsistence tenants of Rogie to be a hindrance to improving the Highland economy, an opinion he expanded upon in his book A General View of the Agriculture of Ross and Cromarty (1813). They refused to switch to sheep-herding and clung to their oxen, with the result that Sir George had the majority removed from his estates in 1808, the year that he introduced Cheviot sheep. Coul said of the landless tenantry: “They live in the midst of filth and smoke. That is their choice. They will yet find themselves happier and more comfortable in the capacity of servants to substantial tenants than in their present condition.” On the other hand, Sir George was wont, as Justice of the Peace for his region, to be lenient when the circumstances suited him. He could overlook some illegal distilling: “We know and we feel, that when we inflict even the lowest penalty directed by law, if the tenant be able to pay he will not pay his rent.” He married Mary MacLeod, a daughter of the sheriff of Ross-shire, in 1803, and the couple had nine children. They lived at Coul House, on the eastern bank of the Blackwater.

***

A Freemason and a science dilettante, MacKenzie later became passionately interested in phrenology (the ‘science’ of determining character traits by the contours of the skull) and, in 1820, published a volume called Illustrations of Phrenology. He later gave papers defending phrenology when the practice was attacked at the Royal Society. Osgood MacKenzie, writing in his book A Hundred Years in the Highlands, gives the following anecdote:

***

"Sir Hector Mackenzie of Gairloch invited Sir George Mackenzie of Coul, Mackenzie of Dundonnell, Mackennzie of Letterewe

and Mackenzie of Kernsary to join him in an expedition to repress the Gille Dubh [black fairy]. These five lairds repaired to Loch a Druing

armed with guns with which they hoped to shoot the fairy. Most of them wore the Highland Dress with dirks at their side... They

 spent the night at Loch a Druing, and slept in John Mackenzie's barn where couches of heather were prepared for them. They

went all through the woods, but they saw nothing of the Gille Dubh!"

***

MacKenzie also dabbled in writing, producing a play for the Edinburgh stage based on his travels in Iceland. It was called Helga, and is the story of a lover’s triangle. It was roundly derided by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe in his letters, and evidently quickly disappeared from public view.

***

Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 314. Gow (Fourth Collection of Strathspeys & Dances), 2nd ed., originally 1800; p. 11. Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; p. 137.

X:1

T:Sir George Mackenzie of Coul [1]

M:C

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Surenne – Dance Music of Scotland, pg. 137   (1852)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A

f | e2 cA d2 fd | e2 cA dBBa | e2 cA e3=g | fded cAAf | e2 cA d2fd | e2 cA dBBa |

e2 cA e3=g | fded cAA || g | (f/3g/2<a) ec e3f | (f/4g/2<a) ec fBBg | a2 ec e3=g |

fded cAAg | (f/4g/2<a) ec e3g | (f/4g/2<a) ec fBBg | a2 ec e3=g | fded cAA ||

 

SIR GEORGE MACKENZIE [2]. Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB'. A variation of version #1. The melody is attributed to Mr. McLeod of Raasay, Laird and amateur violinist, and was first published in William Morrison's Collection (1812) under the title “Lady McKinzie of Coul” (Paul Cranford). The melody is popular among Cape Breton fiddlers, having been recorded by the influential Winston Fitzgerald. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 92.

See also listing at:

Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index

X:1

T:Sir George MacKenzie

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

B:Stewart-Robertson – The Athole Collection   (1884)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

f|d2AF DFAF|d2AF Eece|d2AF DFAF|GBAB FDD:|

|:A|FDAF BGAF|BGAF GEEA|1 FDAF BGAF|A,EGE FDD:|2 FDAF GABg|fdec dDD||

                       

SIR GEORGE MACKENZIE OF COUL. See “Sir George MacKenzie [1].”

 

SIR GEORGE McKENZIE OF COUL'S FAVORITE. Scottish, Slow Strathspey. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831). Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 214. Gow (Fifth Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1809; p. 32.

X:1

T:Sir George MacKenzie of Coul’s Favorite

M:C
L:1/8

R:Strathspey

N:”Slow”

C:Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831)

B:Gow – Fifth Collection of Strathspey Reels (1809)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:C

E<E {E}c>A {A}GE [B,2D2]|E<E {E}c>A (Gc)(Ec)|AB/c/ G>A {A}GE [B,2D2]|E<E “tr”c>d {^d}eEGc:||

(e<g) “tr”g>a {a}ge “tr”d2|(e<g) (e<a) (e<g) (e<c’)|(e<g) “tr”g>a {a}ge “tr”d2|(.c.c) {cd}e>d c(EGc)|

(e<g) “tr”e>a {a}ge “tr”d2|(e<g) “tr”[dg]>a gd eB|c>A {A}GE cE [B,2D2]|E<E “tr”c>d {^d}e(EGc)||

                       

SIR GEORGE STEWART OF GRANTLEY’ S STRATHSPEY.  Scottish, Strathspey. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Attributed to “D.D.” in Gow’s Fourth Collection (1800), perhaps Daniel Dow (1722-1783), a fiddler-composer and cotemporary of the renowned fiddler-composer Niel Gow (1727-1807). The latter had fiddle lessons from the age of 13 from John Cameron, a retainer of Sir George Stewart of Grandtully, and by the age of 18 was good enough to win a fiddle contest involving nine other fiddlers, including his mentor Cameron and Daniel Dow. The title perhaps references Sir George Stewart of Grandtully, 2nd Baronet of Grandtully (who succeeded to the estates in 1720 and died in 1759), or his namesake, the 5th Baronet of Grandtully, who died in 1827.  It is possible that the tune originally referenced the 2nd Baronet, and that Nathaniel Gow revived the tune for the Gows’ Fourth Collection (1800), pandering to the 5th Barnonet who had been recently raised (1797). Gow (Fourth Collection of Strathspeys & Dances), 2nd ed., originally 1800; p. 16. Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 65.

X:1

T:Sir George Stewart of Grantley’s Strathspey

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathpsey

C:”D.D”

B:Gow – Fourth Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels (1800)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A

c/>B/|A>FA>E “tr”F2 EF|A>B {A/B/}c>B AFE {d}c/>B/|AFAE “tr”F2 AB|(c<e) “tr”B>c AFF:||

c/e/|fceB ~c>BAf|ec”tr”B>c A>F Ec|fceB {d}c>BAf|ecBc AFFc/e/|

”tr”f>afc e>f (e/d/)c/B/|A>B {A/B/}c>B AFE c/B/|AFAE F2 AB|(c<e) “tr”B>c AFF||

                       


SIR GUY. English, Air (3/4 time). F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The song appears in the ballad opera Robin Hood (1730). Songs of Sir Guy are quite old and are mentioned in chronicles of the 16th and even 15th century. Chappel (1859) quotes William of Nassyngton who, writing around 1480, mentions stories of Sir Guy as usually sung by minstrels at feasts, and Puttenham, who wrote in 1589 that they were "commonly sung by harpers at Christmas dinners and bride‑ales for the recreation of the lower classes." 

***

Was ever knight for lady’s sake

So toss’d in love as I, Sir Guy!

For Phillis fair, that lady bright

As ever man beheld with eye.

She gave me leave myself to try

The valiant knight with shield and spear;

Ere that her love she would grant me,

Which made me venture far and near.

***

See also “Was Ever a Man So Tost in Love.” Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), vol. 2, 1859; pp. 156‑157.

X:1

T:Sir Guy

M:3/4

L:1/8

R:Air

S:Chappell – Popular Music of the Olden Time  (1859)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:F

F Ac|f2c2 dB|c3F Ac|f2A2 BG|F3F Ac|f2c2 dB|c3F Ac|f2A2 BG|F3||

G AF|G2 AB/c/ BA|G3 GAF|G2c2 d=B|c3 c_BA|B2 AB/c/ BA|G3 CFG|A2c2 AG|F3||

                       

SIR HARRY INNES. Scottish. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of the tune in print in Angus Cumming's 1780 collection (pg. 18).

                       

SIR HARRY’S FAVOURITE.  English (?), Jig (9/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning. AAB. Kennedy (Fiddler’s Tune-Book: Slip Jigs and Waltzes), 1999; No. 75, pg. 18.

 

SIR HARRY'S WELCOME HOME. AKA and see “The Thistle.” Scottish, Strathspey. G Major. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by Peter Hardie (c. 1775‑1863) of Dunkeld, principally remembered as a violin maker. Paul Cranford remarks that this strathspey was one of the Inverness County, Cape Breton, favorites in the 20th century, played by Johnny Wilmot, Donald Angus Beaton, and others. Cranford (Jerry Holland: The Second Collection), 2000; No. 210, pg. 78. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 54. Rounder CD 11661-7033-2, Natalie MacMaster – “My Roots are Showing” (2000). WMT002, Wendy MacIsaac – “That’s What You Get” (1998?).

See also listings at:

Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index 

X:1
T: Sir Harry's Welcome Home
T: Strathspey, G
C: Peter Hardy
F: http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/users/p/pfackler/www/Music/CBTunes.abc
L: 1/16
M: C|
K: G
|: dd3 d3B A3G E3e| dd3 d3B G3e g3e| dd3 d3B A3G E3A|[1 GD3 EF3 G4 G3e :| [2 GD3 EF3 G4 G3d |] 
|: g3d gb3 a3g ef3| g3d gb3 g3d gb3| g3d gb3 a3g e3g|[1 a3b ag3 e4 e3f :| [2 a3b ag3 e4 e3g |]
D: Glenn Graham/Rodney MacDonald, Traditionally Rockin', TR1
D: Natalie MacMaster, My Roots Are Showing

 

SIR HENDRY’S STRATHSPEY. Scottish, Strathspey. B Flat Major. Standard tuning. AB. The tune was published in 1799 by Thomas Calvert, a musician from Kelso, Scotland. A note with his collection states that Calvert supplied “a variety of music and instruments, instruments lent out, tun’d and repaired.” See also the related “Lady Mary Primrose’s Favorite.”

X: 1
T:Sir Hendry's Strathspey
M:C
L:1/8
Z:Nigel Gatherer
K:Bb
B|F>BDB "tr"F>GBc|BG"tr"F>D D<CCB|FBDB "tr"F>GBg|\
fBf z e/ eddf|gz/e/ Eg fz/f/ Df|ed"tr"cB B<GGB|
FBDB "tr"F>GBg|fc [B2F2D2] [BFD]||f|b>fd>f B>fd>f|\
ed "tr"cB BGGf|b>fd>f B>fd>f|g>b g/f/d
f2 fg/a/|bfdf g>ecg|fdc z B/B/ G>GB|FBDB F>GBg|\
fc "tr"[B2F2D2] [BFD]|]

                       

SIR HENRY MACDERMOTT ROE. AKA and see "Henry MacDermot Roe [1]."

                       

SIR JAMES BAIRD('S FAVORITE). Scottish, (Slow) Strathspey. A Major. Standard tuning. AB. Sir James and Lady Baird’s names are included in a broadside sheet which lists the attendees at a ball at the Kelso Races. He was Sir James Gardiner Baird, 6th Baronet of Saughton Hall, who died in 1830. Baird was also Lt. Colonel in command of the East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry regiment, formed in 1797 as part of the home guard during the Napoleonic era. See other tunes in the Gow and other collections for the family: “Miss Baird of Saughton Hall,” “Lady Baird(‘s) [2].” Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 215. Gow (First Collection of Neil Gow’s Reels), 2nd edition 1801 (originally published 1784); pg. 8. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 1; Set 26, No. 1, pg. 16.

X:1

T:Sir James Baird’s Favorite

M:C
L:1/8

R:Strathspey

N:”Slow”

S:Gow – First Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels (2nd edition, 1801)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A

c/B/|AEE>C “tr”E2 Ec/B/|AFF>E “tr”F2 F>A|”tr”E>FAA “tr”B>ce>f|e<c B>A “tr”F2 Fc/B/|

AE (E/F/A/)C/ “tr”E2 Ec/B/|AF (F/A/F/)E/ “tr”F2 FA|~E>FAA ~B>ce>f|(f/e/).d/.c/ (d/c/)B/A/ “tr”F2F||

c/d/|~e>fec e2 e>a|”tr”f>g (f/g/)a/g/ (f2 ~f>)a|e<c “tr”B>A A>B{A}c>B|A<F ~F>E [C2E2] [CE]c/d/|

~e>f (f/e/)d/c/ “tr”e2 ea/g/|”tr”(f/e/f/).g/ (f/g/).a/.g/ “tr”f2 fa/f/|(f/e/)(d/c/) (d/c/).B/.A/ ~A>BcA|(B/c/).d/.f/ (e/c/).B/.A/ “tr”F2F||

                       

SIR JAMES BAIRD’S (STRATHSPEY).  Scottish, Strathspey. G Major. Standard tuning. AAB. “Very old,” notes Gow in 1788. As the Gows indicate the tune predates them, the title may refer to Sir James Baird of Saughtonhall, 2nd Baronet, who died in May, 1715. Gow (2nd Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1788; pg. 3.

X:1

T:Sir James Baird’s

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:Gow – 2nd Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels (1788)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

B/c/|d<G d>B “tr”d2 GB/c/|d>d (e/d/)c/B/ cA AB/c/|dGB<g A<gG<g|d>B {c}BA/G/ DGG:||

e|”tr”d>eg>a (g/a/b/a/) g2|gG {e}dc/B/ e<A e2|~d>e~g>a (g/a/b/a/) g2|dG {c}BA/G/ DGGe|

~d>e~g>a (g/a/b/a/) gd/c/|Bg {e}dc/B/ [DA>]B {d}cB/A/|BGdB dg/f/ ec|d>G {c}BA/G/ DGG||

 

SIR JAMES COLQUHOUN. AKA and see "Earl of Glencairn [1]." Scottish. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing of the tune in Angus Cumming's 1780 collection (pg. 9). Sir James is mentioned incidentally in Lord Henry Cockburn’s (1779-1854) book Memorials of His Time (published posthumously in 1856), in a section on the deplorable Scottish judge David Rae, Lord Eskgrove, head of the Criminal Court. Cockburn wrote of Rae that “a more ludicrous personage could not exist,” and went on to catalogue some of his more egregious courtroom behaviors, including berating a tailor he had condemned for stabbing a soldier in the stomach—not the least of his crimes was that in so doing he rent the King’s property, the soldier’s sash! In another courtroom incident:

***

He had to condemn two or three persons to die who had broken

into a house at Luss, and assaulted Sir James Colquhoun and

others, and robbed them of a large sum of money. He first, as

was his almost constant practice, explained the nature of the

various crimes, assault, robbery, and hamesucken—of which

last he gave them the etymology; and he then reminded them

that they had attacked the house and the persons within it, and

robbed them, and then came to this climax—“All this you did;

and God preserve us! Joost when they were sitten doon to their

denner!”  (pg. 114)

                       

SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. Scottish, Strathspey. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB'. Composition credited to Mathew Gow by Kerr. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 3; No. 15, pg. 4.

X:1

T:Sir James Douglas

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:Kerr – Merry Melodies, vol. 3, No. 15  (c. 1880’s)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

B|:A>DF>D A>DD>B|A>DF>D F/G/A “tr”B2|A>DF>D A>DF>F|

G>BF>B E/E/E “tr”B2:||:A<dd>f e>dc>B|A<dd>f e>fg>e|1A<dd>f e>cd>A|

B>dF>d E/E/E “tr”B2:|2f<a e<f d<f B<d|A>dF>d E/E/E “tr”B2||

                       

SIR JAMES G. BAIRD, BART. Scottish, Strathspey. G Major. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by Robert Mackintosh. The title references Sir James Gardiner Baird, 6th Baronet of Saughtonhall, who died in 1830. Baird was also Lt. Colonel in command of the East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry regiment, formed in 1797 as part of the home guard during the Napoleonic era. Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music), vol. 2, 1895; pg. 14.

X:1

T:Sir Jas. G. Baird Bart.

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:Glen Collection, vol. 2  (1895)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

B|G>F G<D G>F G<D|E<C A>G F<A A>B|G>F G<D E<CE<e|d>cB>A B<G G>B|

G>F G<D G>F G<D|E<C A>G F<A A>B|G>F G<D E>D E<B,|C<A, D>C B,G,G,||

d|g<dg<B g<dd<B|c<A d>B FAAB/c/|d<Bg<d e<cd<D|E<c B>A B<G G>d|

g<dg<B g<dg<B|c<A d>G F<A A>B|G>B d<D EGc>e|d>cB>A BGG||

                       

SIR JAMES GRANT. Scottish, Slow Strathspey. E Flat Major. Standard tuning. AAB. Composed by John Anderson (1737-1808) and printed in his second volume, '''A Collection of New Highland Strathspey Reels''' (Edinburgh, 1790-91, which contains seven of his compositions. Little is known about him, although he seems to have connections to Perthsire and Edinburgh (he died in Inverness). Musicologist Gavin Greig wrote of Anderson in the '''Aberdeen Journal''' (1908, p. 178), after reviewing four of Anderson's own pieces from the volume ("Bonny Links of Aberdeen," "Sir James Grant," "Mr. James Ramsay," "New Bridge of Dumfries"):

<blockquote>

These exhibit no originality, and have hardly any melodic interest or value--being little more than mere exercises in arpeggios. Anderson, indeed, would appear to have been rather an executant than a composer.. Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music), vol. 2, 1895; pg. 31. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 185.

X:1

T:Sir James Grant

M:C

L:1/8

R:Slow Strathspey

S:Glen Collection, vol. 2 (1895)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:E Flat

B/A/|G>EB,>E G,>EB,>E|G>EB,>E D>F FB/A/|G>EB>G e>B g2|A>cB>A GE E:|

(3B/c/d/|e>BG>B EBeg|eE c/B/A/G/ AF F2|e>BG>B Eegb|a>gf>a g>e e2|

eBGE GEB,G,|B,/E/F/G/ A/G/F/E/ DF F2|EBGe Bgeb|A/G/A/G/ F/c/B/A/ GE E||

                       

SIR JAMES M. OF EDINGIGHT. Scottish, Strathspey. E Minor. Standard tuning. AAB. Composed by Alexander Walker. Walker (A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Marches, &c), 1866; No. 130, pg. 44.

                       

SIR JAMES’S WELCOME. See “Failte Shir Shenmais.”

                       

SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD’S REEL.  Canadian, Reel. Composed by Sarnia, southwestern Ontario, fiddler John(ny) Durocher (1934-1989), around the time of the Canadian Centennial in 1967—John A. MacDonald was Canada’s first Prime Minister. Durocher was born the youngest of sixteen children, to a modest family of few resources. He quit school in his young teens to help make family ends meet and remained a factory worker for most of his life, not even possessing a drivers license. John came to fiddling when he found a broken fiddle in the trash one day and asked the owner for permission to retrieve it; with some repair work he had his first instrument. A few lessons from a local teacher (which served to teach him how to read and write music), were all the formal music education John received. He was a prolific composer of fiddle tunes, however, and named them for sports and current events, family and friends and topics of his day, explains Ritchie. Durocher’s music was picked up by radio fiddler Don Messer, who included many of his tunes in his broadcasts and printed collections, helping Durocher to become quite influential in the Ontario scene for his over 400 compositions. [For more see Ron Ritchie, “John Durocher: A Gifted Composer,” Fiddler Magazine, vol. 12, No. 2, Summer 2005, pgs. 25-27].

 

SIR JOHN CATHCART. Scottish. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing of the tune in John Riddell's 1766 collection (pg. 27).

                       


SIR JOHN FENWICK'S (THE) FLOWER AMONG THEM ALL. AKA and see “Long Cold Nights,” “Mary Scott [2] (the Flower of Yarrow).” English; Air or Waltz (3/4 time). England, Northumberland. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Sir John Fenwick was the Provost of Berwick on Tweed who is supposed to have joined the Jacobites on their heady march south after their victory at the battle of Prestonpans. "There are but few of those interesting memorials of ancient days now left amongst us of the class to which this melody belongs, viz., the 'Gathering Tunes', or tunes played to collect the tenants and retainers of some Border chief to the fray. This air is one of the best, not only for its own characteristic beauty, but also for the melancholy historic associations connected with it. It is traditionally stated that it was the tune to which the Jacobite friends of the brave and unfortunate Sir John Fenwick marched to his seat at Wallington when he was concerting plans for the overthrow of William of Orange and the restoration of James the Second. A few years afterwards this song, thoughtlessly sung, cost two of the gentlemen of the county their lives. The incident is related in Brand's History of Newcastle, vol. II, p. 504. The tune is given in William McGibbon's Collection of Scotch Airs, published about 1740, under the name of 'Mary Scot,' but this date is much later than the time of its popularity in Northumberland. The late Mr. John Bell, of Gateshead, in his efforts to collect and preserve local lyrics, wrote to Sir Walter Scott in 1816, asking him, if possible, to furnish him with some information about Northumberland Jacobite songs, naming amongst others 'Sir John Fenwick's the Flower Amang Them'. Sir Walter, in his reply, states: 'I have heard words somewhat similar, alluding probably to some election business—

***

'They voted twice ower, and so did they wrang him,

They voted twice ower, and so did they bang him,

They voted twice ower, and so did they wrang him,

But Fenwick of Bywell's the flower amang them.'

***

But you know,' continued Sir Walter, 'how common it is for new words to be written to any popular tune.' The Antiquarian Society of Newcastle some time ago offered a reward for a copy of the original song, but without a successful result" (Bruce & Stokoe, Northumbrian Minstrelsy).

***

A pair of pipers were hanged at Newcastle for daring to play this Jacobite mustering tune. Perhaps the oldest known version of the tune is in the manuscript of Henry Atkinson, dated 1694/95, under the title “The Flower of Yarraw.” Atkinson was a fiddler from Hartburn, Northumberland, in the North East of England (as evidenced by the bow markings in the manuscript, and the local place names).

***

The “Long Cold Nights” title for the tune stems from a song printed by Playford in Apollo’s Banquet (1687), in Thompson’s Orpheus Caledonius (1725), and later expanded on in a broadside ballad (see C. M. Simpson’s The British Broadside Ballad and Its Music, No. 292, for more information). In fact, the tune was quite popular in the 18th and employed for several songs, including “Mary Scot” (published in Ramsay’s Poems, 1720). Dance versions of the melody were constructed as the strathspey “Carrick’s Rant," which itself is a development of “Clurie’s Reel,” printed in the Angus Cumming collection, according to Stenhouse, who also says that “the tune of Mary Scott was known at least a century before (either dance melodies) were even heard of.” “Sir John Fenwick…” appears in the music manuscript collections of Robert Eliot Bewick (Gateshead, 1835) and Joseph Crawhall (Northumberland, 1872).

***

Bruce & Stokoe (Northumbrian Minstrelsy), 1882; pgs. 158‑159. Callaghan (Hardcore English), 2007; pg. 86. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician No. 5: Mostly Irish Airs), 1985 (revised 2000); pg. 12.  Northumbrian Pipers’ Tune Book, vol. 1. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 135. Harmonia Mundi HMU 907186, Andrew Lawrence-King, Paul O’Dette, David Douglass – “Playford: Apollo’s Banquet” (1998).

See also listing at:

Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources 

X:1

T:Sir John Fenwick’s the Flower Amang Them

M:3/4

L:1/8

S:Bruce & Stokoe – Northumbrian Minstrelsy  (1882)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

G3 ABc|d2e2g2|d2e2g2|edcBAG|A3 Bcd|e2e2g2|

e2e2g2|e4d2|G3 ABc|d2e2g2|d2e2g2|edcBAG|

c2 dcBA|A2B2d2|e4 d2::g2G2B2|g2G2B2|

g2G2g2|edcBAG|a2A2B2|a2A2B2|a2A2a2|

e4d2|g2G2B2|g2G2B2|g2G2g2|edcBAG|

c2 dcBA|B2 cBAG|A2B2d2|e4 d2:|

                                   

SIR JOHN HENDERSON'S JIGG. English, Jig. England, North‑West. G Major tuning. Standard tuning. AAB (Gow): AABB' (Knowles). Composed by renowned Perthshire fiddler-composer Niel Gow (1727-1807), probably for Sir John Henderson, 5th Baronet or Fordell in the County of Fife. His seat was Fordell House, built in 1721 as a family residence for the Hendersons (it was demolished in 1963). He sat as a Member of Parliament for Fifeshire, Kirkcaldy Burghs, Seaford and Stirling Burghs, and also set to making improvements in Fife. St. David’s harbour was built in 1752 to accommodate deeper draft vessels in service of the coal industry, and not incidentally his own private coal company. As the nearby coal seams became depleted coal was mined deeper and further, and Henderson built one of the first railways to assist in transporting the coal to the harbour, although made at first from beech and firwood, with trucks drawn by horses. The miners, however, lived little better than serfs, having been excluded by the Habeas Corpus Act of 1701. When told by Henderson that the new Act of 1790 no longer bound them in servitude, the news was cheered and celebrations took place in the form of a Gala Day. Gow (Second Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels), 1788; pg. 15 (3rd edition). Knowles (Northern Frisk), 1988; No. 28.

X:1

T:Sir John Henderson’s Jig

M:6/8

L:1/8

R:Jig

B:Gow – 2nd Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels, 3rd ed., pg. 15  (orig. 1788)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

c|”tr”B2(G G)BG|dBG Bcd|efg dBd|ecA A2c|”tr”B2(G G)BG|

dBG Bcd|efg dBg|dBG G2:||d|gdg gbg|gbg afd|efg dBd|ecA A2”tr”f|

gdg gbg|gbg afd|efg dBg|dBG G2d|gdg gbg|gbg afd|

efg dBd|ecA A2f|gdg bag|”tr”f>ed afd|efg dBg|dBG G2||

 

SIR JOHN LOCKHART ROSS. Scottish, Reel. G Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 449. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 2, 1802; pg. 14 (appears as “Sir John Lockhart Ross’s Reel”). Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 197.

X:1

T:Sir John Lockhart Ross

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

B:Stewart-Robertson – The Athole Collection   (1884)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G Minor

D|GABc Bc/d/ cB|AfcB AFcA|GABc B/c/d cB|AFcA G/G/G G:|

A|Ggga g/a/b ag|f=efg afcf|dcdg bagf|cAfA G/G/G GA|Ggga g/a/b ag|

f=efg afcf|ba/g/ ag/^f/ gf/=e/ fd|cAfA G/G/G G||

 


SIR JOHN MALCOLM.  AKA and see “Munlochy Bridge.” Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of the tune in print in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection. A more popular name for the tune nowadays is “Munlochy Bridge,” from piper William Ross’s 1885 collection. The title does not refer to the famous author and Major-General, Sir John Malcolm, whose dates are too old (1769-1833). Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs), vol. II, 1785; No. 195, p. 73. Bremner (Scots Reels), c. 1757; p. 96.

X:1

T:Sir John Malcolm

M:C

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Aird, vol. II (1785)       

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

d | A>Bde fdef | AA/A/ AF A2 Ad | A>Bde fdef | B/B/B dA B2B :|

|| b | a>baf e>def | “tr”A2 A>F A2 Af | a>baf “tr”edef | B/B/B dA B2 Bb |

abfa “tr”e>def | “tr”A2 AF A2 Ad | ABde fdef | dBdA B2B ||

 

SIR JOHN MAXWELL. Scottish. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of the tune in print in Joshua Campbell's 1778 collection (p. 74). Sir John Maxwell's name heads the subscription list for the construction of the Glasgow Assembly Hall, built in 1762 (the only ‘gentleman’s’ name on the list).

 

SIR JOHN SCOTT'S FAVORITE. Scottish (originally Irish), Slip Jig. A Major (Gow): G Major (Kennedy). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Gow): AABBCCDD (Kennedy). Kennedy’s ‘C’ and ‘D’ parts are the tune that Gow prints. The tune is identified as “Irish” in Gow’s 3rd Collection (1792). If so, however, the title honors a Newcastle lawyer who rose to become Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, John Scott (1751-1838), 1st Earl of Eldon. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 376. Gow (Third Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels), 1792; pp. 20-21 (3rd ed.). Kennedy (Fiddler’s Tune-Book: Slip Jigs and Waltzes), 1999; No. 76, p. 18.

X:1

T:Sir John Scott’s Favorite

M:9/8

L:1/8

R:Jig

B:Gow – 3rd Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels, 3rd ed., pp. 20-21  (orig. 1792)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A

B|(a/b/C).a “tr”B>AF FEF|(A/B/c).A BAF “tr”d2f|ecA BAF {G}FEF|(A/B/c).A “tr”B>AF A2:||f|

ecA A>BA (f/g/a).f|ecA AcA “tr”B2f|ecA A>BA (f/g/a).f|ecA B>”tr”AF A2f|

ecA AcA “tr”f>ga|ecA AcA “tr”B2f|ecA ecA (f/g/a).f|ecA “tr”B>AF A3||

 

SIR JOHN SHAW STEWART. AKA and see "Mrs. Crawford/Crawfurd of Donside('s Reel)." Scottish, Strathspey. G Minor. Standard tuning. AAB. The melody was published by the Gows in First Collection (pg. 4), 1784, but was claimed by John Riddell who titled it "Mrs. Crawford of Donside's Reel" and published it in 1766. Sir John Shaw Stewart (1812) was the 4th Baronet of Greenock and Blackhall, who married Frances Colhoun in 1789, though they had no children. Stewart was MP for Renfrewshire twice (from 1780-1783 and 1786-96). He built a large and elegant country manor named Ardgowan House (‘the house of the smith’) between 1798 and 1801. The mansion, which overlooks the Firth of Clyde north of Inverkip, was designed by William Cairncross, once assistant to the famous architect Robert Adams. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 216. Gow (First Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1784 (revised 1801); pg. 4.

X:1

T:Sir John Shaw Stewart’s Strathspey

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

S:Gow – First Collection of Strathspey Reels (1784)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G Minor

G|DGG>c (B/c/d) c>B|A>Fc>F d>Fc>F|D(GG>)c d>=efd|c<A f>A {A}G2G:||

A|G(gg>)a {ga}b2 ag|f>ca>c f>caf|dgg>a {ga}b2 ag|{g}f>d{d}c>A {A}G2 G>A|

Ggg>a {ga}b2 ag|fcf>g {fg}a>gfa|g>af>g d>fc>f|A>Fc>A {A}G2G||

 

SIR JOHN SINCLAIR. Scottish, Air. E Flat Major. Standard tuning. AABB. "Very ancient” (Gow). There have been many Sir John Sinclairs in Scottish history, and since Gow labels the tune “very ancient” it is supposed that it referred to a prior Sir John. However, the Sir John Sinclair (of Ulbster, 1754-1835) of Gow’s time was a famous Member of Parliament for Caithness at Westminster, and a man of great intelligence and productivity. He is depicted below by the famous artist Henry Raeburn, probably in his uniform as Colonel of the Caithness and Rothesay Fencibles, a local Highland unit raised for defense during the Wars with France. He was an improver, statistician, agriculturist, ambassador and politician and his public laurels included presidencies of the Highland Society and of the Board of Agriculture and Privy Councillor.

***

Sir John Sinclair, by Henry Raeburn (1794).

***

Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 557.

 

SIR JOHN STEWART OF GRANTULLY [1]. Scottish, Slow Strathspey. F Major. Standard tuning. AAB. Sir John Stewart was the 3rd Baronett of Grantully, married to Lady Jane Douglas, and was laird of Grantully (or Grandtully) castle at the time of the Jacobite rising of 1715. A believer, he entertained the Pretender at his house in Dundee. Unfortunately for him, the Rising was unsuccessful, and the laird was fined £10,000 by the government. His successor, also named John (d. 1797), was smart learned from his sire’s past mistakes and, whatever his sympathies, arranged to be out of the country in 1745 when Bonnie Prince Charlie tried for the throne, although the Prince recruited a company from his lands. There were several tunes by Scottish composers of the period named for the family of John, the 4th Baronett, including the Clementina Stewart tunes (the name of both his wife and a daughter). The name Grantully derives from the Gaelic garan-tulach, the hill of the thicket. The castle of Grantully was a fine old baronial mansion in Dull parish, central Perthshire, dating from 1560. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 217. Gow (The First Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels), 1784 (revised 1801); pg. 32. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 245.

X:1

T:Sir John Stewart of Grantully

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

B:Stewart-Robertson – The Athole Collection

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:F

c|A<F F>c A/B/c/A/ Fc|~f<c A/B/c/A/ B<G G>c|A<F F>c A/B/c/A/ F>c|f2 a/g/f/e/ f<FF:|

c|f2 a/g/f/e/ f>de>c|e/f/g f/g/a g<d d>e|f2 a/g/f g>de>c|f<d c>B A<F ~F>c|

f2 a/g/f/e/ f>de>c|e/f/g f/g/a g<d d>g|a/g/f g/f/e f/e/d d/c/B|A/B/c/A/ G/A/B/G/ A<FF||

 

SIR JOHN STEWART OF GRANTULLY [2]. AKA – “Sir John Stewart of Grandtullie’s Reel.” Scottish, Strathspey. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. McGlashan (A Collection of Reels), c. 1786; pg. 6.

X:1

T:Sir John Stewart of Grandtullie’s (sic) Reel

M:C|

L:1/8

S:McGlashan – Reels

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

g|f>de>c d>BA>F|E>=CC>E G3 g|f>d e>c d>B A>c|dD D>F A3 =c|

B>GA>F G>EF>D|G/F/E/D/ =C>E G>AGE|F<DG<E A<FB<G| d<D D/E/F/G/ A2:|

|:g|f>ed>e d/e/f/g/ a>f|g>e =c>e (g2 g<)a|f>e d<e d/e/f/g/ a>f|a>fd>f a>ba>f|

g>bge f>af>d|g/f/e/d/ =c>g ec g<e|a<fg<e f<de<c|d/c/B/c/ dF D:|

 

SIR JOHN STEWART OF GRANTULLIE'S RANT. Scottish, Rant. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of this tune in print in Neil Stewart's 1761 collection (pg. 29).

 

SIR JOHN STEWART OF GRANTULLY'S REEL, A STRATHSPEY. Scottish, Strathspey. F Sharp Minor. Standard. AAB. Composed by Donald/Daniel Dow (1732‑1783), originally of Kirkmichael, Perthshire. The tune appears in print in his Thirty‑Seven New Reells and Strathspeys (pg. 15), published around 1776. Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1983; Ex. 41, pg. 64.

 

SIR JOHN STUART FORBES. Scottish, Strathspey. B Flat Major. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by Alexander Walker in honor of Sir John Stuart Forbes, Baronet of Fettercairn. Walker (A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Marches, &c), 1866; No. 40, pg. 15.

 

SIR JOHN WHITEFORD. Scottish, Strathspey. E Flat Major. Standard tuning. AAB. Composed by Nathaniel Gow. Sir John Whiteford (or Whitefoord), 3rd Bart. of Blairqhahan, born 1734, was a major in the 11th Foot Regiment and was described (by John Kay in Edinburgh Portraits) as “a remarkably smart, active little man.” He was a Freemason, Master of Lodge St. James (Tarbolton, Ayrshire), and in 1766 became Senior Grand Warden of Scotland; he was also known as an agricultural improver. Whiteford had a love of literature was an early patron of Scots poet Robert Burns, a fellow Mason, to whom the poet remained grateful. It was Whiteford, along with a near neighbour, the Earl of Glencairn, who helped Burns to publish his first collection of poems, the Kilmarnock Edition (1786). Whiteford House in the Canongate, designed by architect Robert Mylne in 1769, was his Edinburgh residence although he had acquired the Ayrshire estate of Ballochmyle in 1766. Unfortunately, Whiteford invested heavily in an Ayrshire bank that failed in 1772, and by 1786 he was forced to sell the latter property. Robert Burns penned the song “Farewell to Ballochmyle,” also called “The Braes of Ballochmyle” (a part of the wooded bank of the River Ayr) when they left, employing Whiteford’s daughter Mary Jane as the heroine of the piece (“I composed the verses on the amiable and excellent family of Whitefoord leaving Ballochmyle. The ‘Maria’ referred to in the song was Sir John’s daughter, Mary Anne Whitefoord.”). Whiteford died in 1803. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 218. Gow (The First Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels), 1784 (revised 1801); pg. 10.

X:1

T:Sir John Whitefoord’s

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

N:”Very Slow”

S:Gow – First Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels (1784)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:Eb

B,|”tr”E>FEB, C>DEe|B<G F>E “tr”C2 C>D|”tr”E>FEB, C>DEe|B>G”tr”F>G E2 E:||

a|g>ef>d e>cB>G|”tr”F>AGE (C2 C>)a|g>edf e>c”tr”B>G|”tr”F>EFG E2 E>g|

egeB ce”tr”B>G|F>AG(B, “tr”C2) C>D|”tr”E>FEB, CDE>e|B<G “tr”F>G E2 E||

 

SIR MANLY POWER.  English, March. At one time the regimental march past of the 57th Regiment (West Middlesex), until their local General ordered them to discontinue it as he considered it to be: “All drum and damned noise!” (David Murry, Music of the Scottish Regiments, 1994). The old 57th was amalgamated into The Middlesex Regiment in 1881, and in 1896 the 1st battalion was reauthorized to revert to “Sir Manly Power.”

 


SIR PATRICK BELLEW'S MARCH (Triall Saoi Padraig Belleu). Irish, March (6/8 time). G Major/Mixolydian. Standard tuning. One part (Stanford/Petrie): AABB (O’Neill). O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903/1979; No. 1823, pg. 342. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; No. 985, pg. 251.

X:1

T:Sir Patrick Bellew’s March

M:6/8

L:1/8

R:March

S:O’Neill – Music of Ireland (1903), No. 1823

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

ded B2G | d2d BAG |  d2d gdB | A2G ABc | d2d B2G | d2d BAG | d2d gdB | A2G ABG :|

|: G>AG g2d | ece d2c | Bcd ecA | G2 (A/G/) FED | G>AG gd=f | ece d2c | Bcd ded | e2B ABG :|

 

SIR PHILLIP MACQUE. See "Sir Phillip McHugh."

 

SIR PHILLIP McHUGH (An Saoi Pilib Mic-Aeda). AKA – “Phillip McCue,” "Sir Phillip MacQue." AKA and see “The Funny Mistake.” Irish, English; Slip Jig. G Major (O'Neill): D Major (Callaghan, Kennedy, Sing Out). Standard tuning. AABB. The tune is not the similarly titled “Philip McCue” published by O’Farrell,” although it is the “Philip McCue” that appears in Wilson’s Companion to the Ball Room (1816). It is labelled “Irish” in the Wilson volume. The slip jig appears in the 1798 music manuscript collection of Joshua Jackson (Harrogate, North Yorkshire), as an untitled piece. Callaghan (Hardcore English), 2007; pg. 82. Kennedy (Fiddler’s Tune-Book: Slip Jigs and Waltzes), 1999; No. 59, pg. 13. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 82. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903/1979; Nos. 1138 & 1146, pg. 215. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 426, pg. 84. Sing Out, vol. 35, No. 4, Winter 1991; pg. 81. Wilson (Companion to the Ball Room), 1816; pg. 31 (appears as “Philip McCue”).  EFDSS CD13, Our Northern Branch – “Hardcore English” (2007. Various artists). Green Linnet GLCD 1135, Martin Mulhaire, Séamus Connolly, Jack Coen – “Warming Up” (1990). Sampler 8809, "Sackett's Harbor." Dave Swarbrick – “Swarbrick 2.” Dave Swarbrick – “It Suits Me Well: The Transatlantic Anthology” (1980).

See also listings at:

Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources 

Alan Ng’s Irishtune.info

X:1

T:Sir Phillip McHugh

M:9/8

L:1/8

R:Slip Jig

S:O’Neill – Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 426

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

D|G2c BGB c2A|B2d cAG F2D|G2c BGB c2A|B2d cAF G2:|

|:B|ABA AFD FED|ABA AFD G2B|ABA AFD FED|B2d cAF G2:|

 

SIR REGINALD McDONALD [1]. Scottish, Strathspey. Olympic 6151, The Angus Strathspey and Reel Society ‑ "Scottish Traditional Fiddle Music" (1978).

 

SIR REGINALD MACDONALD [2]. Scottish, Reel. A Major. Standard tuning. AAB. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 253. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle, vol. 3), 1988; pg. 23. Shears (Gathering of the Clans Collection, Vol. 1), 1986; pg. 44 (pipe setting). Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 14. Smithsonian Folkways Records, SFW CD 40507, The Beaton Family of Mabou – “Cape Breton Fiddle and Piano Music” (2004). 

X:1

T:Sir Reginald MacDonald [2]

M:C|

L:1/8

S:Reel

B:Stewart-Robertson – The Athole Collection (1884)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A

f|e>dcB A2 (A>c|B2 (Bc defa|edcB A2 (A>c|BEGB A2 A:|

f|eAcA eAcA|B2 (Bc defa|eAcA eAcA|BEGB A2 (A>f|

eAcA eAcA|B2 (Bc defg|aefd cAAc|BEGB A2 A||

 

SIR ROBERT G. GORDON BART. OF LETTERFOURIE. Scottish, Reel. A Major. Standard tuning. AAB. Composed by Alexander Walker. Bart. = Baronet. Walker (A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Marches, &c.), 1866; No. 12, pg. 5.

 

SIR ROBERT PEEL. Scottish, Reel. B Flat Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Composed by William Marshall (1748-1833). Sir Robert Peel was the son of Robert Peel, a Lancashire industrialist. He became minister for Ireland in the second decade of the 19th century was was known for his support of the Protestant Church of Ireland over the more popular native Catholic Church. This garnered him a reputation as a strict Tory, the Party of the established British Church, and the nickname 'Orange Peel.' Peel founded the modern police service, lending his name to the slang word ‘peelers’ for policmen. Peel was Prime Minister three times from 1834 to 1846, finally voted out of office during the beginning of the Great Famine in Ireland.

***

Sir Robert Peel.

***

Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1845 Collection, pg. 21. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 290.

X:1

T:Sir Robert Peel

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

B:Stewart-Robertson – The Athole Collection  (1884)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:Bb

F|~B2 FE DB,FD|CccB AFcA|~B2 FE DB,FD|CcAF ~B2 B:|

e|dBfB dBfB|GccB AFFe|dBfB dBfB|GcAF ~B2 B||

 

SIR ROGER. See "Sir Roger De Coverley."

 


SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY. AKA and see "Roger of Coverly," "Old Roger A Coverdill," "The Maltman (Comes a/on Monday)." AKA ‑ "Sir Roger," "The Haymakers" (Scottish). English, Scottish, Irish, New England; Slip Jig. England; Northumberland, Dorset. C Major (O'Neill): D Major (Raven, Trim): A Major (Huntington, Roche): G Major {written in two sharps} (Cole, Kennedy, Plain Brown, Ryan). Standard tuning. ABB (Burchenal): AABB (Cole, Huntington, Roche): ABC (Plain Brown Tune Book/Ellis Knowles): AABBCC (O'Neill, Raven, Skye, Trim): AABBCCDD (Kennedy, Plain Brown Tune Book). The tune was originally known as “Roger of Coverly,” probably from the north of England (according to Kidson). Sir Roger de Coverly was the name of a rakish character in popular literature in the early 18th century. He was supposedly a country squire from Worcestershire, and a member of a small club which ran the popular newspaper The Spectator that appeared daily from 1711 to 1712, and his grandfather was said to have invented the dance that went by his name. In fact, save for the existence and popularity of The Spectator, it was all a fiction by Joseph Addison, one of the principal contributors to the paper. Kidson, writing in Groves, says the prefix ‘Sir’ in the title is not found until after Addison and Steele used the name in their paper. What is revealing about this is that “Roger of Coverly” was considered an old dance at the time the paper was published.

***

“Roger of Coverly” has had a long history in English country dance, retaining its popularity almost until the present-day. One source gives that the air is printed in Playford's Dancing Master, 1650, pg. 167 (though other sources say it did not appear until later editions of the Dancing Master starting in 1669). Dr. Rimbault (Notes and Queries, i. No. 8) gives the earliest printing as Playford’s Division Violin (1685). Kidson finds it in Playford’s Dancing Master of 1695 (9th edition, pg. 167), printed with dance directions. Regarding northern English origins, the antiquarian Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Times) says that he had in his possession a manuscript copy of the tune called “Old Roger of Coverlay for evermore, a Lancashire Hornpipe,” and the a manuscript (in the British Museum) called The First and Second division Violin, attributed to John Eccles, 1705, gives the tune as “Roger of Coverly the true Cheisere way.” Kidson points out that the Calverley family, from whose ancestors the tune is said to derive its name, have been ancient inhabitants of the Yorkshire village which bears the family name. Shropshire musician John Moore included the melody in his c. 1837-40 music manuscripts as “Roger de Calverley,” perhaps influenced by the Yorkshire village. Another suggestion for the origins of the title, continues Kidson, is that it is well-known that Royalists in the English Civil War were often called ‘Roger’, in the same spirit as the American ‘Billy’ Yank and ‘Johnny’ Reb of their Civil War.  It is suggested the ‘Coverly’ is a corruption of ‘Cavalier’.  In support of this is a manuscript called For the violin, Patrick Cumming his Book: Edinburgh, 1723, with the tune in scordatura tuning gives the title as “The Maltman, or Roger the Cavalier.”

***

There are other claimants for provenance. "This survival of old English dances,” the Scotch authority Dauney says, “is more Irish in character than English or Scottish.” Francis O’Neill quotes Wilson, in A Companion to the Ballroom, London 1816, who opines that all tunes in 9/8 time are of Irish origin,” although O’Neill stopped short of claiming the tune as Irish. “Roger of Coverly” was known as "The Haymakers" in Scotland, and dance and tune were popular in the 18th century in that country.  Scots also knew a version of the melody as the Scots song “The Maltman comes on Monday,” not, as erroneously asserted by Chappel, by Allan Ramsey, although it is inserted in the first volume of his Tea-Table Miscellany, 1724 (see Kidson, Groves).

***

As noted above, “Roger of Coverly” has long been associated with a dance of the same name, which may be more familiar in modern times, at least in the United States, as the Virginia Reel. In New England the contra dance the Virginia Reel was often danced to this tune, though other tunes were also substituted. It has been suggested its movements are derivative of a craft dance of the weavers' guild, imitative of the shuttle moving through warp and woof of thread. In the time of George III it was known as the 'Hemp‑Dressers' Dance,' and the King himself took part in it. It traditionally was a concluding dance for balls and assemblies (Kidson/Groves, Linscott, 1939), both in the British Isles, and in relatively modern times in New England. Dance directions for the ‘modern’ figure are given in Wilson’s Companion to the Ball-Room, c. 1816, and Chappell’s Popular Music of the Olden Times. Kidson finds that an early correspondent of Notes and Queries reported the tune was known in Virginia as “My Aunt Margery.”

***

Charles Dickens featured a description of the dance in A Christmas Carol, during the holiday celebration staged by Fezziwig and company, in which Ebenezer Scrooge takes part. The classic movie version starring Alister Simms holds true to this description, for the fiddler plays the correct tune (quite speedily and well!) during the scene. Dickens writes:

***

There were more dances, and there were forfeits, and more dances, and

there was cake, and there was negus, and there was a great piece of Cold

Roast, and there was a great piece of Cold Boiled, and there were mince-

pies and plenty of beer. But the great effect of the evening came after the

Roast and Boiled, when a fiddler (an artful dog, mind—the sort who

knew his business better than you or I could have told it him!) struck up

“Sir Roger de Coverley.” Then old Fezziwig stood out to dance with Mrs.

Fezziwig. Top couple too, with a good stiff piece of work cut out for

them; three or four and twenty pair of partners; people who were not to

be trifled with; people who would dance, and had no notion of walking.

***

English writer George Eliot also mentions the tune in the novel Silas Marner (1861) in the passage on the squire’s dinner party. The village fiddler, a man named Solomon Macey, “a small hale old man with an abundant crop of long white hair”, plays the tune to summon the guests from the dinning room to a room cleared for dancing. “’Ay, ay, Solomon, we know what that means’, said the Squire, rising. ‘It’s time to begin the dance, eh?’”

***

Burchenal (American Country Dances, vol. 1), 1918; pg. 11 (appears as "Virginia Reel" [3]). Cazden (Jigs, Reels and Squares), vol. 1; pg. 35. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), pgs. 534‑535. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 53. Harding's Collection, No. 26. Howe (Musician's Omnibus), No. 2, pg. 128. Huntington (William Litten), 1977; pg. 27. Kennedy (Fiddler’s Tune-Book: Slip Jigs and Waltzes), 1999; No. 77, pg. 18. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 1; pg. 27. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 169. Moffat (Dances of the Olden Time), pg. 49. O'Neill (O’Neill’s Irish Music), 1915/1987; No. 230, pg. 122. Plain Brown Tune Book, 1997; pg. 37 (two versions). Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 131. The Robbins Collection, pg. 189. Roche Collection, 1982, vol. 2; No. 295, pg. 38 (appears as "Sir Roger," a Long Dance). Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; pg. 81. Trim (Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 47. Antilles (Island) AN-7003, Kirkpatrick & Hutchings - "The Compleat Dancing Master" (1973).

X:1

T:Sir Roger de Coverley

M:9/8

L:1/8

S:MacDonald – Skye Collection

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

D|:G2G G2e dBG|A2QA ABG FED|G2G G2e def|g2G GAG FED:|

|:dBd ece dBG|[F2A2][AA] ABG FED|dBd ece def|g2G GAG FED:|

|:gag f2e dBG|[F2A2][AA] ABA FED|gag f2e def|g2g gag fed:|

 

SIR RONALD MACDONALD. Scottish, Reel. G Minor. Standard tuning. AB (Surenne): AAB (Athole): AABB' (Kerr). “Very Old” states Gow (1799). The song “Lizzy Lindsay” mentions a Sir Ronald:

***

Now lassie me thinks you ken little,

If you say that kina ken me,

For my name is Sir Ronald MacDonald,

A chieftain of high degree.

***

Cho:

She has kilted her coat of white satin,

And her petticoat up to the knee,

And she’s gone with Sir Ronald MacDonald

His wife and his darling to be.

***

Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 9. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 3; No. 186, pg. 22. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 191. Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; pg. 130. Claddagh Records CC31, “The Whistlebinkies 2” (1980).

X:1

T:Sir Ronald McDonald’s Reel

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Gow – 1st Repository

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:Gmin

B|G/G/G (dc) d3g|fe(c>A) FGAF|G/G/G (BG) B(dd)f|AFcA G3:|

f|g(ag>f) dfga|fdc>A fcAf|gag>f dfga|fdc>A G3f|

gag>f dfga|fc (d/c/B/)A/ c>dfa|gafg dfcf|AFcA G3||

 

SIR SIDNEY SMITH'S MARCH. See "Sir Sydney Smith's March."

 

SIR SIMON THE KING. AKA and see “Old Sir Simon/Symon the King,” "To Old (Sir) Simon the King."

 

SIR SYDNEY SMITH'S MARCH. AKA – “Handel’s Gavotte.” English, March. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Composed by James Hook (1746-1827), an organist and composer originally from Norwich (see also “Lass of Richmond Hill”). The march is associated with Northumberland musicians, and is often regarded as traditional. Hook was born in Maddermarket, Norwich, England, and had a club foot, as a result of which he was known as ‘The Cripple of Maddermarket’, but he showed prodigious talent at a very early age, writing his first ballad opera at age eight. He was appointed organist at the Vauxhall pleasure gardens, and later (in 1769) organist and composer at the Marylebone Gardens. His music was immensely popular, and he was much admired for his talent, generosity and jovial manner. Unfortunately later in life, after the death of his wife, he went into decline and became withdrawn and depressed, dying in Boulogne, France, in poverty.

***

Sir William Sidney Smith (1764-1840) was a British admiral and naval hero during the Napoleonic Wars, especially remembered for his defence of Acre against Napoleon in 1799. Smith apparently liked to think of himself as a second (Horatio) Nelson, and in fact he was instrumental along with that more famous admiral in ending Bonaparte’s dreams of eastern conquest. It is unfortunate that while Nelson became a national hero of immense proportions, Smith remains all but forgotten. There was a rivalry between the two, as well as friendship, and Smith hoped to snatch Nelson’s laurels by destroying the combined French and Spanish fleets with newly invented rockets and torpedoes before Nelson fought the enemy decisively at sea off Cape Trafalgar in 1806.

***

Sir Sidney led a colorful life. An adventurer as was as strategist and naval expert, he had been imprisoned as a spy in Paris, with the threat of execution, until he made a daring escape. He was a diplomat with a flair for the theatrical, and returned to London from the Middle East wearing Arab robes, presaging Lawrence of Arabia a century later. It may be no surprise that Smith lived in Paris, the capital of his former enemy, for the last twenty-five years of his life.

***

It has been said that this tune had origins in the composer George Friedrich Handel’s music, although this is not confirmed, and certainly Handel incorporated English music he heard and adapted it for his own purposes. The tune does appear in England’s John Clare music manuscript as “Handel’s Gavotte.”  Bryan Creer finds the first two bars of “Sir Sydney” in Handel’s “A virtuous wife shall soften fortune’s frown” from Susanna. The tune is also popular in southern English sessions. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 141. Flying Fish FF‑299, The Battlefield Band ‑ "There's a Buzz" (1982).

X:1

T:Sir Sydney Smith’s March

M:2/4

L:1/8

K:G

B/c/|dd dd|ed cB|d/c/B/c/ Ad/c/|B/c/A/B/ Gd/c/|B/d/B/d/ A/d/A/d/|

G/d/G/d/ G/F/d/c/|G/c/d/e/ d^c|d3:|

|:A/G/|F/D/F/A/ d/A/B/c/|B2 Bd/c/|B/G/B/d/ g/d/e/=f/|(e2 eg/f/|

e/g/e/g/ d/g/d/g/|c/g/c/g/ B/g/B/g/|e/g/e/g/ d/g/d/g/|c/g/c/g/ B/g/B/g/|

ed cB|ed cB|ed cB|BA AB/c/|dd dd|ed cB|d/c/B/c/ Ad/c/|

B/c/A/B/ Gd/c/|B/d/B/d/ A/d/A/d/|G/d/G/d/ F/d/F/d/|E/d/E/d/ F/d/F/d/|

G/d/G/d/ A/d/A/d/|E/d/E/d/ F/d/F/d/|G/d/G/d/ A/d/A/d/|c/e/d/c/ BA|(G2 G):|

 

SIR THOMAS SINCLAIR RAY. Canadian. Canada, Cape Breton.  It was written by Cape Breton fiddler and composer Dan R. MacDonald for the conductor of the Strathspey and Reel Society of Scotland.

 

SIR TOM IN AN OFFICE.  English, Country Dance Tune (whole time). A Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The melody appears unique to Charles and Samuel Thompson’s Compleat Collection, vol. 3 (London, 1773). Dance instructions for “Sr. Tom in an Office” were printed in the Thompson’s Twenty-Four Country Dances for the Year 1769. Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3), 1773; No. 180.

X:1

T:Sir Tom in an Office

M:C

L:1/8

B:Thompson’s Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3 (London, 1773)

Z:Transcribed and edited by Flynn Titford-Mock, 2007

Z:abc’s:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A

a2 (3cde f2 (3Bcd|ecAc BE “tr”E2|a2 (3cde f2 (3Bcd|cABG A2 A,2:|
|:f2 df eaga|(3ced (3cBA e2E2|a2 (3cde f2 (3Bcd|cABG A2 A,2:||

 

SIR TORQUIL MONROE. Scottish, Jig. A Major. Standard tuning. AAB.

X:1

T:Sir Torquil Monroe

C:Adam Rennie (?)

S:78rpm record

M:6/8

L:1/8

Z:Nigel Gatherer

K:A (orig. in Bb)

E|EAA A2B|cAA A2G|FBB BcA|GEE E2E|EAA A2B|cAA A2G|

FcB GFG|A3 A2:|d|cde ecA|dff f2A|GAB BGE|cee e2d|

cde ecA|dff f2A|GAB EFG|A3 A2d|cde ecA|dff f2A|

GAB BGE|cee e2e|efg agf|edc BAG|FGA BGE|A3 A2|]

 

SIR ULICK BURKE(, PLANXTY). AKA and see “Carolan’s Cap [2],” "Planxty Sir Ulick Burke." Irish, Planxty (cut time). D Minor. Standard tuning. AB (Complete Collection/O’Carolan): AABB (Stanford/Petrie). Composed by the blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738). P.W. Joyce prints the tune under the title “Carolan’s Cap” in his Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909). Source for notated version: “From Neal’s collection” (originally published in Dublin, 1726) [Stanford/Petrie]. Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 8, pg. 29. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; No. 730, pg. 183.

X:1

T:Sir Ulick Burk (sic)

M:C|
L:1/8

N:”Fron Neal’s collection.”

S:Stanford/Petrie (1905), No. 730

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:Dmin

dcde f2 (ed) | (cd) (cA) G2 FE | F2 FD FGAB | AGA^C DEFG | F2 F/G/A G2G2 |

AGAd c3c | dcde fgfe | (ed) (dc) A4 | c2 (c/d/e) d2 (d/e/f) | fedc A2 (GF) |

c2 (B/c/d) cA FA | GF ED D4 :: A,DDC DEFD | EDEC EFGE | F2c2 cdcG |

A2d2d4 | {e}fefg (f/g/a) gf | edef e/f/g fe | dcde fefg | A2 (F/G/A) G4 |

cAAd c2c2 | d2 (d/e/f) fe dc | AG AF cA dA | GF ED D4 :|

 

SIR WALTER SCOTT BART. Scottish, Slow Strathspey. B Flat Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Composed by William Marshall (1748-1833). Sir Walter Scott, born in 1771, was one of the most famous of all Scottish writers, whose works were much beloved in his time not only in his native country, but throughout the English-speaking world. He also was fond on music and wrote many ballads, famously “Allen a Dale,” “Blue Bonnets Over the Border” and “MacGregor’s Gathering.”

***

Sir Walter Scott

***

Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1822 Collection, pg. 13.

X:1

T:Sir Walter Scott Bart

M:C

L:1/8

S:Marshall1822 Collection

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:Bb

[DB]>d b>a g/f/e/d/ c2|(B>d) b>c’ d’feb|(B>d) b>a g/f/e/d/ c2|B>DB,f (e/d/)(c/B/) df:|

|:(B>d) F>f (e/d/)c/B/ G2|B,~B D~f (e/d/)c/B/ dF|[Ebg]>f (g/a/)b/d/ (f/e/)de c2|

(~FG/A/) (B>d/4e/4f/4) (e/d/)(c/B/)|df:|

 


SIR WATKIN WILLIAM WYNN. AKA and see “The Ash Grove.” Welsh, Scottish; Air (3/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning. AABBCC. "A Welch (sic) air” {Gow}. The melody is familiar under the title “The Ash Grove.” Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn (1772-1840), 5th Baronet of Wynnstay (near Ruabon, Debingshire), was a north Welsh gentleman and land proprietor who raised a troop of cavalry that saw service in Ireland during the Rising of 1798. The troop, called the Ancient Britons fencible cavalry, “were at all times prominently conspicuous for the rigorous execution of any orders for devastation, destruction, or extermination. They were marked for it by the rebels, and in the course of the rebellion they were cut to pieces almost to a man” (Mitchel & Mac-Georghegan, History of Ireland: From the Treaty of Limerick to the Present, 1869). The regiment was disbanded in April, 1800. He was Member of Parliament twice and appointed Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire from 1793-1830. In  March, 1814, Sir Watkin went to France as Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of a Provisional Battalion of Militia composed of men from the Denbigh, Derby, Hereford, Westmoreland and 2nd West York Militia. Unfortunately, when they disembarked they found that hostilities had already ceased and Napoleon defeated. Mortified, they reported consumed copious amounts of drink. Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 558. Gow (Fourth Collection of Niel Gow’s Strathspey Reels), 2nd edition, originally 1800; pg. 24 (of both 1st and 2nd editions).

X:1

T:Sir Watkin William Wynn

M:3/8

L:1/8

N:”Slowish”

R:Air

B:Gow – Fourth Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels (1800)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

D|(GB).d|(BG).B|(A/B/)(c/A/)(B/G/)|AFD|”tr”G/>A/B/>G/A/>F/|(GE)C|DGF|G2:|

|:D|.G(Bd)|(gd).B|(A/B/)(c/d/)(e/^d/)|(ec).A|(G/A/).B/.c/.d/.e/|(dB).G|Ad”tr”^c|

d2 B/=c/|(dg).d|(BG).B|(A/B/)(c/A/)(B/G/)|(AF).D|”tr”G/>A/B/>G/A/>F/|(GE).C|DGF|G2:|

 

SIR WATKIN'S DELIGHT. AKA and see "Meillionen." Welsh, Air. The melody appears in Daniel Wright’s Aria di camera (London, 1726), under the title “Mellionen, or Sir Watkin’s Delight.”

 

SIR WATKIN’S JIGG.  English, Jig. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The melody appears in Johnson’s Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5 (London, 1750), and in the periodical The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure (London, 1758). Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2), 2005; pg. 119.

 

SIR WILFRID/WILFRED LAURIER MARCH [1]. Canadian, March (6/8 or 12/8 time). B Flat Major. Standard tuning. AA'BB' (Hinds): AA'BB'C (Carlin). "Good for 48 bar Canadian square figures” (Hinds). Source for notated version: Jean Carignan (Montreal, Canada) [Hinds]. Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; No. 99, pg. 62. Hinds/Hebert (Grumbling Old Woman), 1981; pg. 21. Philo PH2012, "Jean Carignan rend hommage a Joseph Allard."

 

SIR WILFRED LAURIER’S [2]. AKA and see “The Stubbert’s Jig.” Canadian, Single Jig (12/8 time). Canada, Cape Breton. G Major. Standard tuning. AB. Distantly related to “Sir Wilfrid Laurier March.” Source for notated version: fiddler Brenda Stubbert (b. 1959, Point Aconi, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia) who had the tune from her father, Robert Stubbert, who learned it from a blind travelling soap salesman named ‘Blind Frank’, a harmonica player [Cranford]. Cranford (Brenda Stubbert’s), 1994; No. 125, pg. 43. Howie MacDonald (appears as “The Stubbert’s Jig”).

 

SIR WILLIAM GORDON CUMMING’S REEL.  Scottish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning. AAB The tune is attributed by Nathaniel Gow to Scots musician and dancing master Duncan McIntyre (born c. 1765). McIntyre taught Scottish dancing from his residence at 22 Great Marlborough Street, London, towards the end of the 18th century and published in that city a collection of Scottish tunes in 1796 (A Collection of Slow Airs, Reels and Strathspeys). He reportedly journeyed to India around the year 1806 as master of ceremonies to the governor general’s court, but there his trail ends. His cause and date of death is unknown. The melody features an interesting interplay with G major and A dorian tonality. Sir William Gordon Cumming-Gordon (1787-1854), 2nd Baronet of Altyre and Gordonstown, who succeeded his father in 1806 and became, briefly, an MP for Elgin Burghs in the 1830’s. He married Elizabeth Maria Campbell (of Islay), and, after she died in 1842 he married (1846) Jane Eliza MacIntosh. He had fifteen children between the two women. The seat of the family was Altyre House (now demolished) in Elginshire, Moray, south of Forres. Gow (Fifth Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1809; pg. 21.

X:1

T:Sir William Gordon Cumming’s Reel

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

C:Mr. MacIntyre

B:Gow – Fifth Collection of Strathspey Reels (1809)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

G(gg>)a baga|gede dG “tr”B2|G(gg>)a baga|”tr”g>e dB A/A/A “tr”e2:||

{^g}a>A e(=g f)def|”tr”g>e dB G/G/G “tr”B2|a>A e(g f)dea|ge dB A/A/A e2|

aA e(g f)def|gedB GABG|Aaa>b agab|”tr”g>e dB A<B e2||

 

SIR WILLIAM HOPE'S SCOTCH-MEASURE. Scottish. The tune appears in Henry Playford's 1700 collection of Scottish dance music. The collection contains the first mention of the term 'Scotch Measure' in print.

 

SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. Scottish, "Pastoral Air." A Major. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by J. Scott Skinner, appearing in his Harp and Claymore Collection. It commemorates the Scottish hero William Wallace (b. 1270), who led a revolt against the English but was finally defeated at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 by the forces of Edward I. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 114. Skinner (The Scottish Violinist), pg. 38.

 

SIRDAR'S MARCH, THE. Scottish, Pipe Quickstep. A Mixolydian. Standard tuning. AAB. Composed by J. Scott Skinner who originally published it in his Harp and Claymore Collection (1904). The title refers to Lord Kitchener. Skinner (The Scottish Violinist), pg. 33 (includes variation sets). Skinner (Harp and Claymore), 1904; pg. 52.

X:1

T:The Sirdar—Lord Kitchener

M:C

L:1/8

R:Pipe Quickstep

C:J. Scott Skinner (1843-1927)

S:Skinner – Harp and Claymore (1904)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A Mix

f | ({f}e2) ce Aece | ({e}d2 Bd G/A/B/c/ df | ({f}e2 ce Aece | ({c}df B/c/d/B/ “tr”cAA :|

e | ag/f/ ea ceAa | gf/e/ dg Bd Gg | ag/f/ ea ceAc | df B/c/d/B/ ({B}c)AAe ||

ag/f/ ea ceAa | gf/e/ dg BdGg | A/B/c/d/ e/A/a g/a/f/g/ ec/A/ | d/e/f/d/ B/c/d/B/ ({B}c)AA ||

 

SIRIUS REEL, THE. Irish, Reel. Composed by flute player Matt Molloy, in honor of his German Shepherd, Max (see also “Humours of Max”). CAROL 1108, Matt Molloy – “Shadows on Stone.”

 

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