Ceolas: The Fiddler's Companion

Result of search for "Bonnie Scotland":

ARCHIBALD MACDONALD OF KEPPOCH. Scottish, Slow Air (6/8 time). D Minor. Standard. AAB. See "Keppoch A Wilderness" for related history of the MacDonalds of Keppoch. The tune was first published by the Scots fiddler, collector and composer Captain Simon Fraser (1773-1852) of Ardachie, near Fort Augustus. Fraser's work The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles contained many works collected from vaious sources during the period 1715-1745. The MacDonalds of Keppoch were a distinguished branch of Clan MacDonald, who supported the Stewart monarchs in the 17th century, culminating with their participation in the Jacobite risings of the 18th century. They fought entry on the side of Bonnie Prince Charlie in the Jacobit Archibald MacDonald lived from 1678 to 1745, dying just prior to the entrance of the MacDonald's of Keppoch on the side of Bonnie Prince Charlie in his ill-fated attempt to gain the crown of Scotland and England. The MacDonalds of Keppoch are a very distinguished branch of the Clan Macdonald who played vital roles in providing support for the Stewart monarchs in the 17th century and then wholeheartedly supported the Jacobite risings in the 18th century. As a result of their support for the Jacobite cause they lost their lands in Lochaber/ Roy Bridge and they are currently without an officially recognised clan chief.
Lerwick (Kilted Fiddler), 1985; pg. 71. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle), Vol. 2, 1988; pg. 20 (includes a harmony part). Matthiesen (Waltz Book II), 1995; pg. 2. Green Linnet SIF 1047, Johnny Cunningham - "Fair Warning" (1985). Elke Baker & Liz Donaldson - "Terpsichore."

BANKS OF SPEY, THE. Scottish, Strathspey. A Minor. Standard. AB (Hardie, Marshall): AAB (Gow): AABB (Gatherer). Composed by William Marshall (1748-1833). The Spey is the swiftest-flowing river in Scotland, famous for its firshng and salmon runs. Marshall himself was not only a composer, mathematician and fiddler, but also a keen angler who fashioned beautiful flies (Moyra Cowie, The Life and Times of William Marshall, 1999). Hardie (1992) reminds us that the strathspey form is commonly believed to have originated in the valley of the Spey in north-eastern Scotland. Poet Robert Tannahill wrote verses which fit Marshall's tune:
***
The Banks of Spey
***
Scenes of my childhood, your wanderer hails you,
Wing'd with rude storm, though the winter assails you,
Bleak and dreary as ye are, ye yet hae charms to cheer me,
For here, amidst my native hills, my bonnie lassie's near me.
***
'Tis sad to see the wither'd lea, the drumly flooded fountain,
The angry storm in awful form, that sweeps the moor and mountain;
But frae the surly swelling blast, dear lassie, I'll defend her,
And frae the bonnie banks o' Spey I never more shall wander.
***
Gatherer (Gatherer's Musical Museum), 1987; pg. 38. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 4, 1817; pg. 27. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 88. Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1822 Collection, pg. 48. McGlashan (A Collection of Reels), c. 1786; pg. 3. Oswald (Caledonian Companion), Book 2.
T:Banks of Spey
L:1/8
M:C
S:McGlashan - Reels
K:A Minor
A2 A>B A>Bc>e|d<c B>A G2 G2|A2 A>B A>B c>d|e>cde g2 g2|
a>ge>c d<ega|e<gg>B G2 GB|A<E A>B c>de>g|e<d c>B A2A:|
|:c|A<E A>c A<E A>c|B>cdB G2 GB|A<E A>c A<E c>d|e>cde g2g2|
a>g e<c d<eg<a|e<g g>B G2 GB|A<E A>B c>d e<g|e<d c>B A2 A2:|

BARNERS OF FALKIRK, THE. English, Reel. England, Northumberland. D Dorian. Standard. AABB. The title refers perhaps to the famous Falkirk Tryst, or cattle market at Falkirk, Scotland, which drew Highlanders from all over the Highlands. As a focal point of Highland culture during the period of the Tryst, a bagpipe competition developed, first held in 1781 and won in that year by one Patrick MacGregor, with second place honors going to a MacArthur. The third place finisher was old John MacGregor, once personal piper and attendant to Bonnie Prince Charlie Stuart. Although the old man had been wounded at the Battle of Culloden in 1745, his piping skills remained intact and he became the piper to Campbell of Glenlyon. The next year, at age 74, he tried again and won second prize (Collinson, 1975). Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 3; No. 451.

BECAUSE HE/I WAS A BONNIE/BONNY LAD (she bid him aye come back). AKA and See "Boney (Bonny) Lad(s)," "Jack's Favourwright (Favorite)." Scottish, Shetland, English, Cape Breton; Country Dance (cut time) or Reel. England, Northumbria. Shetland, Whalsay. G Major (Cole, Raven): A Major (Athole, Gow, Hunter, Kerr, Skye). Standard. AB (Cole, Hunter, McGlashan): AAB (Athole, Gow, Kerr, Skye): AABB (Raven). A popular country dance dating back to at least 1752, according to Alburger (1983), when fiddler and dancing master John McGill of Girvan wrote down the instructions for his pupils. Glen finds its earliest appearence in print in Bremner's 1757 collection (pg. 14). The tune appears, however, in the somewhat earlier Drummond Castle Manuscript, which is inscribed "A Collection of Country Dances written for the use of his Grace the Duke of Perth by Dav. Young, 1734." Young's MS was in the possession of the Earl of Ancaster at Drummond Castle in the early 1970's, and hence its present-day title. It retained its popularity through that century and into the next, for the title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes, which he wrote c. 1800./ The tune, attached to an alternate 'B' parts, turns up in southwestern Pa. as 1) a fife tune (4/4 time) in the repertory of Hiram Horner (1944) who had the tune from a Scots fifer, and known simply as "Old Bagpipe Air" [Bayard, 1981; No. 252, pg. 216], and 2) as a jig called "Nancy Fat" played by fifers in Greene County, Pa., and by one "crippled Jack Anderson" in particular [Bayard, 1981; No. 566, pg. 503]. Bruce & Stokoe (Northumbrian Minstrelsy), 1882; pg. 155. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 46. Gow (Complete Collection), Part 1, 1799; pg. 23. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 118. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 2; No. 10, pg. 4. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 9. McGlashan (A Collection of Reels), 1786; pg. 44. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 183. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 13. Rounder 7011, "The Beatons of Mabou: Scottish Violin Musci from Cape Breton" (1978).
X:1
T:Because He Was a Bonny Lad
L:1/8
M:C|
S:Reel
B:The Athole Collection
K:A
e|c>BA>a (f/g/a (ec|d>fe>c B/B/B ~B>e|c>BA>a (f/g/a (e>c|dfec A/A/A A:|
e|cBAc defd|cAec B/B/B (Bd|cBAc defg|agac A/A/A (Ae|cAeA fA eA|
cAec B/B/B (Bg|afge efec|dfec A/A/A A||
X:2
T:Because He Was a Bonny Lad
L:1/8
M:C
S: Bruce & Stokoe - Northumbrian Minstrelsy
K:G
d|B>Agg e/f/g d>B|c>edB cAAc|B>Agg e/f/g d>B|c>edc BGG:|
|:d|BGdG eGdG|c>edB cAAc|BGdB eGdG|c>edc BGG:|

BLUE BONNETS OVER THE BORDER [1]. AKA and see "All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border," "Over the Border," "Blue Bonnets Jig," "Blue Bonnets," "Scotch Come Over the Border" (Pa.). Scottish, Slow Air (6/8 time), Jig, Country Dance Tune or March. B Flat Major (Athole, Skye): D Major (Neil). Standard. AAB. Samuel Bayard thinks this tune was fashioned in the 1740's into a quick dance piece in 6/8 from a slow 3/4 time song tune from about 1710 or earlier called "O Dear Mother (Minnie) What Shall I Do?" This "Blue Bonnets Over the Border" was in turn the basis for a 4/4 version called "Braes of Auchtertyre/Auchentyre," "Belles of Tipperary" and "Beaus of Albany;" out of this group of tunes came "Billy in the Lowground/Low Land." Michael Diack's, on the other hand, has written in his Scottish Country Dances that "Blue Bonnets" is derived from a 17th-century
Scottish tune called "Lesley's March to Scotland." If this is the "Leslie's March" printed by Oswald (1755) and Watts' Musical Miscellany (1731), then the resemblance seems obscure and based on a few motifs. The tune, correctly classified a jig, often appears under the label 'country dance tune' because of its long association with the dance. Neil's (1991) version is an adaptation of one appearing in Uilleam Ross's Collection of Pipe Music (1869), and the piece is said to be a quickstep march of the Black Watch. 'Blue bonnets' is a euphemism for the Scots, stemming from the custom of Jacobite troops to identify themselves with a white cockade worn on a blue bonnet. The white cockade emblem is said to have originated when Bonnie Prince Charlie plucked a wild rose and pinned it to his hat. Lyrics to the tune were written by Sir Walter Scott, who based them on an old Cavalier song (Scott also mentions the song in his novel The Monastery).
***
March! march! Ettrick and Leviotdale,
Why, my lads dinna ye march forward in order?
March! march! Eskdale and Liddesdale,
All the blue bonnets are over the Border.
Come from the hills where your hirsels (i.e. sheep) are grazing,
Come from the glen of the buck and the roe,
Come with the buckler, the lance and the bow
Trumpets are sounding, war-steeds are bounding
Stand to your arms and march in good order
England shall many a day tell of the bloody frey
When the blue bonnets come over the Border.
***
MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 162. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 25, pg. 34. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 145. A & M Records 79602 2000-2, Ashley MacIsaac - "Close to the Floor" (1992). Culbernie Records CUL 102, Alasdair Fraser & Jody Stecher - "The Driven Bow" (1988). Rounder RO 7023, Natalie MacMaster - "No Boundaries" (1996. A jig setting learned from her uncle, fiddler Buddy MacMaster).
T:Blue Bonnets Ow'r the Border
L:1/8
M:6/8
R:Country Dance
B:The Athole Collection
K:B_
B,3 B,>CD|B>cd B2F|BGG G2g|g>fd c2B|B,3 B,>CD|B>(3c/d/c/) BGF|
G3 FDF|FBD C2B:|
|:Bdf fdB|gfd c2B|Bdf g>ab|B>(3c/d/e/) c2B|Bdf fdB|gfd cBc|G3 FDF|
FBD C2B:|

BONNIE BANKS OF AYR. Scottish, Air (4/4 time). D Major. Standard. AB. Hunter (The Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 14.

BONNIE BANKS O' LOCH LOMOND. Scottish, March or Air (4/4 time). G Major. Standard. AB (Neil): ABC (Kerr). The tune is one of the most famous of Scots airs and appears to be based melodically on "Kind Robin." It is thought to date from the year 1746, and the lyrics are supposed to refer to one of Bonnie Prince Charlie's ill-fated followers who was about to be executed for rebellion. His sweetheart had come to Carlisle, perhaps to seek his release, but he told her he would be taking the 'low road', or grave, back to Loch Lomond, where they had spent their happiest hours.
***
O, ye'll tak' the high road
And I'll tak' the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye;
But I and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie, banks o' Loch Lomond.
***
Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 3; No. 407, pg. 45. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 113, pg. 151.
T:The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond
B:Allan's Violin Gems
Z:Nigel Gatherer
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:G
D2|G2 GA B2 AG|A2 AG E2 D2|G2 G2 G2 Bd|e4 d2 d2|e2 ed B2 Bd|
cBAG E2 DE|G2 Bd e2 dB|A4 g2 D2|G2 GA B2 AG|ABAG E2 DE|
G2 G2 G2 Bd|e4 d2 d2|e2 ge d2 Bd|cBAG E2 DE|GGBd e2 dB|A4 G2|]

BONNIE BUNCH OF ROSES [2]. Irish, Air (4/4 time). D Major. Standard. AAB. The 'bonny bunch of roses' were the prize Napoleon strove for, but could not conquer--England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. One of the most widespread of Napoleonic songs, it takes the form of a conversation between Marie Louise and her son and gives the highlights of Napoleon's life, though emphasizing the retreat of the Grand Army from Russia. The ambitions of the young Napoleon reflects that of his father. It begins:
***
By the margins of the Ocean, one morning in the month of June,
Where feathered, warbling, songsters, their charming notes did sweetly tune.
There I beheld a female, she seemed to be in great grief and woe,
Conversing with young Bonaparte,
Concerning the bonny bunch of roses, O.
***
Although popular in England, it is considered that the song originally was Irish in origin. See also "Bunch of Roses." See also Joyce's (1909) "The Blackbird." O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 126, pg. 22. Claddagh 4CC 32, Willie Clancy - "The Pipering of Willie Clancy, Vol. 1" (1980). Island ISLP9432, The Chieftains - "Bonaparte's Retreat" (1976).

BONNIE GLENFARG. Scottish, Jig. A Major. Standard. AB. Composed by J. Scott Skinner. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 22.

BONNY LAD, THE. AKA and see "Boney Lads," "Because I was a Bonny Lad," "Because He was a Bonny Boy." English, Reel. England, Northumberland. G Major (Kennedy, Peacock): A Major (Cole). Standard. AB (Cole): AAB (Kennedy): AABB (Peacock). There was a kissing dance by this (and a series of other) names popular in Scotland in the 18th and early 19th centuries (see note for "Babbity Bowster"). Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 16 (appears as "Bonnie Lad"). Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 36, pg. 18. Peacock (Peacock's Tunes), c. 1805/1980; No. 6, pg. 2.

BONNIE LASS OF BON ACCORD. Scottish, Air or March (4/4 time). A Major. Standard. AAB. Of the 600 tunes composed by J. Scott Skinner (1843-1927), this is one of his best and most famous, composed in 1884 and still popular today. 'Bon Accord' is an affectionate name for the city of Aberdeen, Scotland, and is ensconsed over the arms of the city -- it means "happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again." Its origins are thought to date to 1308, when it was a watchword or 'cri de guerre' of the burghers of ther town who at that time overcame the English garrisoning the town. "'It's inspirer,' wrote Skinner, 'was a young girl named Wilhelmina Bell (who later became Mrs. Peters, and whom Skinner had met at a house party in Union Terrace, Aberdeen, in December 1884)...[whose] father used to play bass fiddle for my father.' She was a splendid dancer, but was having to work as a servant, for her father had been ruined by taking on a friend's debts. 'Never mind, my lassie,' said I, cheerfully...'I'll ma' a tune that'll maybe keep ye in min' when we're baith deid'" (Alburger, 1983). This is perhaps close to the literal truth, for the opening bars of the tune were inscribed on Skinner's gravestone in Aberdeen's Allenvale cemetary (Hardie, 1992). Skinner wrote the tune the next morning after meeting Mina, and later that day, having completed the melody, he showed to an Aberdeen photographer named Alexander Dinnie. Dinnie was impressed by the tune and suggested that Skinner "make it something about Bon-Accord. Just at that point Mina passed on an errand. Scott Skinner whispered to Dinnie that she was the bonnie lass that the tune was about. 'I've got it,' exclaimed Dinnie, 'Ca' it the bonnie lass o' Bon-Accord' and he did" (Neil, 1991). It was first published in Skinner's Logie Collection. Purser (1992) remarks that the tune follows the same formal pattern as Niel Gow's "Lament for the Death of His Second Wife," repeating its second strain three times in slightly different versions. Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1983; Ex. 107, pg. 184. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 53. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 82 (includes variations). Hunter (The Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 21 (includes variations). MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 152 (includes one set of variations). Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 87, pg. 117. Skinner (The Scottish Violinist), pg. 1 (includes variations). Green Linnet 1015, Eugene O'Donnell- "Slow Airs and Set Dances." Philo 1051, Boys of the Lough - "Good Friends, Good Music" (1977). Rounder 7001, Joseph Cormier- "Scottish Violin Music of Cape Breton" (1974). Topic 12T280, J. Scott Skinner- "The Strathspey King."
T:Bonnie Lass o' Bon Accord
L:1/8
M:C
Q:80
S:MacDonald - The Skye Collection
K:A
E|A>B {aB}c>B AA,CE|A{BAG}A/f/ e/c/{c}B/A/ {A}B2 Bc|
A>B {A/B/}c>B AcE=G|(F/D/F/A/) (G/E/G/B/) A2 A:|
{efg}a>cd>f eA a(g/f/)|eA (f/e/)(d/c/) {c}B2 B(3e/f/g/|a>c (df) (e/A/c/A/) (a=G)|
(F/D/F/A/) (G/E/G/B/) A2 A (3e/f/g/|a>c df eA a(g/f/)|eA (f/e/)(d/c/) {c}B2 B>c|
(A,/C/E/A/) c>B AC E>=G|(F/D/F/A/) (G/E/G/B/) A2 A||
E|{B/}(A/G/A/B/) {AB}(c/B/A/G/) (A/A,/B,/C/ E/F/G/G/)|
(A/G/)(A/f/) (e/c/){c}(B/A/) {A}B2 B>c|
(A/G/A/B/) (c/B/A/G/) (A/A,/B,/C/ D/E/F/=G/)|(F/D/F/A/) (G/E/G/B/) A2 A:|
|{efg}a/g/f/e/ d/c/B/A/ e/A/c/A/ a/(G/A/)B/|c/A/e/A/ a/e/d/c/ {c}B2 B (3e/f/g/|
a/g/f/e/ d/c/B/A/ e/A/c/A/ a/(G/A/=G/)|(F/D/F/A/) G/E/G/B/ A2 A (3e/f/g/|
a/g/f/e/ d/c/B/A/ c/A/e/A/ ag/f/|e/(G/A/a/) f/e/d/c/ B2 B>c|A,/C/E/A/ c>G AC E>=G|
(F/D/F/A/ G/f/e/G/) {G}A2A||

BONNIE LASS O' FYVIE, THE. AKA and see "Eveleen's Bower," "Peggy Darby." Scottish, Air (4/4 time). D Major. Standard. AA. A 'bothy' ballad, bothy being the name of the hut where itinerent workers lived on a farm in the 19th century. Hunter (The Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 359. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 71, pg. 95.

BONNIE LASSIE TAKE ADVICE. AKA and see "Mo chailinn og thoir le toigh an aire dhomh." Scottish, Slow Air (4/4 time). G Minor. Standard. AAB. "There are verses sung to this air, attributed to (John MacMurdo or MacRae of Kintail) giving a curious account of the various obstacles which stood in the way of his entering into the matrimonial state, and cautioning the girl he had in view from rashly listening to inconsiderate or delusive addresses, which he minutely pictures to her. There is a Scots air, called 'Mount Your Baggage', evidently built upon this melody which will be found quite inferior to this little plaintive air" (Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 227, pg. 92.
T:Bonnie lassie take advice
T:Mo chailinn og thoir le toigh an aire dhomh
L:1/8
M:C
S:Fraser Collection
K:E_
E>F|G3F G4|G2c2 B3E|G2F2F2 E>F|G3F G4|G2e2 d3=B|c2G2G2:|
~e>f|g3f e2 dc|=Bc F2 G3F|E3F G4|G2e2d3=B|c2G2G2 ~e>f|
g3f e2dc|=Bc F2 G3F|E3 C E2 zF|G2e2 d3c|B2G2G2||

BONNIE SCOTLAND. Irish, Fling. D Major. Standard. AAB. Roche Collection, 1982; Vol. II, pg. 36, #289.

BONNIE WELLS O' WEARIE, THE. Scottish, Air (4/4 time). G Major. Standard. AB. The melody was composed by the self-taught musician John Charles Greive, who proved skilled enough in his craft to lecture on harmony at Heriot-Watt College and to start up a "kind of children's opera" (Neil, 1991). The Wells o' Wearie were to be found in Holyrood Park at the foot of Arthur's Seat opposite 'Samson's Ribs' and were once used by washer women from a nearby village (Echo Bank) and, perhaps because of this, were a gathering place for young men. In 1831 one of Scotland's first railways was built which ran nearby, according to Neil (1991), and was called "The Innocent Railway" because the cars (which carried coal from Dalkeith to Edinburgh) were pulled by horses due to popular fears about the use of steam engines. Words to the tune were written by Alexander MacLagan, a contemporary of Grieve's who lived in Edinburgh and a regular contributor to the Edinburgh Literary Review.
**
O lang may bonnie lassies fair,
Wi' nature's charms around them,
Still bleach their claes on flow'ry braes
Wi' nae sad cares to wound them.
Lang may her sons' mid fairy scenes,
Wi' hearts richt leal and cheerie,
Still meet to sing their patriot sangs
Beside the Wells o' Wearie.
**
Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 20, pg. 26.

BRAES OF BALQUHITHER/BLAQYHEDER/BALQUHIDDER/BALQUIDDER, THE. Scottish; Air, Strathspey and Country Dance Tune (4/4 time). G Major (Kerr): F Major (Athole). Standard. AABCC (Gow, Kerr): ABCD (McGlashan): AABCCD (Athole). No matter which spelling is used the name 'Balquhither' is pronounced 'Balwhither'. The tune appears in both air and dance versions. Glen (1891) finds the piece frist published in Bremner's 1757 collection (pg. 37), however, the tune (and dance instructions) appear in The Bodleian Manuscript (1740), inscribed "A Collection of the Newest Country Dances Performed in Scotland at Edinburgh by D.A. Young, W.M. 1740" (the MS is named for the Bodleian Library, Oxford, where it is housed). Robert Tannahill (1774-1810), bard and weaver of Paisley, wrote a song by this name which appeared twice in R.A. Smith's Scottish Minstrel (1821-1824), Vol. 1, pg. 49 and Vol. IV, pg. 89 (the latter air is a modification of the first and is called "The Three Carles o' Buchanan"). The song text appears in Henry W. Shoemaker's Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania (1931), with the following note:
***
Potter County: This very ancient ballad was furnished by Mr.
Myron Hill, 70 years old. It was sung to my grandfather when a
child, soon after the War of Revolution, by veterans of that war,
and he sang it to me in 1876, in memory of our family soldiers
of 100 years before.- John C. French, 1919.
***
Mr. French's account predates the Tannahill publication by some forty years, and perhaps he was a victim of the human penchant for subscribing increased antiquity to already old items, though it is possible that an older song text to the country dance tune predated the Tannahill publication. Tannahill's words begin:
***
Will ye go, lassie, go,
To the braes o' Balquhidder?
Where the blaeberries grow,
'Mang the bonnie bloomin' heather;
Where the deer and the roe,
Lightly bounding together,
Sport the lang summer day
'Mang the braes o' Balquhidder.
***
Chorus:
Will ye go, lassie, go,
To the braes o' Balquhidder?
Where the blaeberries grow,
'Mang the bonnie bloomin' heather.
***
The song "Wild Mountain Thyme" is derived from "Braes of Balquidder," as is "Will You Go, Lassie, Go" reworked by Frank McPeake of Belfast. Gow notes the tune "may be play'd very Slow." Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 27. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; Set 16, No. 1, pg. 11. McGlashan (A Collection of Reels), c. 1786; pg. 37. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 212. Folk Lyric FL-116, Betsy Miller (Ewan MacColl's mother). Green Linnett GLCD 1146, The Tannahill Weavers - "Capernaum" (1994. Tannahill's song).
T:Braes of Balquhidder
L:1/8
M:C|
R:Reel
B:The Athole Collection
K:F
c|A/B/c Fc A2 AB|A/B/c Fc AGGB|A/B/c Fc A2 Ac|defd cAA:|
c|defd cAag|fdcA AGGc|defd cAfg|agfd cAAc|defd caga|~fdcA AGGA|
FCA,C FGAc|defd cAA||
|:c|dFcF A2Ac|dFcF AGGc|dFcF A2Ac|defd cAA:|
c|defd cAag|fdcA AGGc|defd cAfg|agfc A2Ac|defd caga|fdcA AGGA|
FCA,C FGAc|defd cAA||
T:The Braes o' Balquhidder
B:G.F. Graham, The Popular Songs and Melodies of Scotland (1900)
C:Words written by Robert Tannahill 1774-1810.
N:it's vaguely like The Duke of Bucclugh's Tune in Playford, 1687
M:2/4
L:1/8
R:Air
Q:1/4=96
K:D
% hexatonic, G missing
F>A|B2 A>D|F2 F>A|B2 A>F|F<E F>A|B2 A>D|F2 F>A|B>c d>B |A<F||
F>A|B>c d>B|A<F f>e|d<B A>F|F<E F>A|B>c d>B|A<F f>e|dB AF |F<E||
F>A|B2 A>D|F2 F>A|B2 A>F|F<E F>A|B2 A>D|F2 F>A|B>c e/d/c/B/|A<F|]

BRIDE'S A BONNIE THING, THE. AKA and see "Scotland." Shetland, Scottish; March or Jig. A Major. AEAE or Standard. AABB (Brody, Cooke): AAB (Gow). A Scottish tune played on the Shetland Island of Unst as a march; it is a variation of the tune of the same name printed in early Scottish collections. John Stickle played the tune in the key of G; Tom Anderson in A (AEAE). It was the traditionally played to welcome the bride into the ben (best) room after the wedding. The piece appears in James Oswald's collection, but Glen finds it first printed by Robert Bremner in his 1757 collection (pg. 34). Sources for notated versions: Tom Anderson and Aly Bain (Shetland) [Brody]; John Stickle (Unst, Shetland) [Cooke]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 57. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 413. Cooke (The Fiddle Tradition of the Shetland Isles), 1986; Ex. 31, pg. 84. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 3, 1806; pg. 25. Philo 2019, Tom Anderson and Aly Bain- "The Silver Bow." Shanachie 79002, "The Boys of the Lough" (1973). Trailer LER 2086, Boys of the Lough- "First Album."
T:Bride's a Bonnie Thing, The
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Gow - 3rd Repository
K:A
eAA ecc|fBB Baf|eAA ecc|eAA ecc|fdd ecc|fBB Baf|eAA ecc|eAA Aaf:|
e2d (f/g/a)f|-g2B Bcd|e2e (f/g/a)f|ece ae=g|fdf ece|f2(B Bc)d|e2e (f/g/a)f|
e2A A2c/d/|e2e (f/g/a)f|(=g2B) Bcd|e2e (f/g/a)f|ece ae=g|fdf ece|f2B Bcd|
e2d (f/g/a)f|e2A Aaf||

BUFFALO GALS [1]. See "Alabama Gals (Won't You Come Out Tonight)," "Bowery Girls," "Brown Town Gals," "Cincinnati Girls," "Hagtown Girls," "Hagantown Gals" (Pa), "I Danced with the Girl with the Hole in Her Stocking," "Jackto(w)n" {or "Jackstown"} (Pa.), "Jimtown (Gals)," "Johnstown" (Pa.), "Louisiana Gals," "Lubly Fan," "Lushbaugh Girls," "Midnight Serenade," "Old Johnnie Walker" (English Country Dance), "Round Town Gals," "Yellow Gals." Old-Time, American, English; Breakdown, Reel or Polka. USA; Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, New York, Pa., Arizona. F Major (Shaw): G Major (most versions). Standard. AB (Shaw, Sweet): AAB: AABB (Phillips). The name Buffalo for the New York town derives from the name of a Native American and was first called Buffalo Creek, becoming simply Buffalo as the town grew. The tune is widespread in American tradition, though as Samuel Bayard (1944) points out, the song is widely disseminated and is now an 'international melody'. Curiously, he thinks the air itself probably originated in Germany, but came to America and was assimilated in 'British style'. Intrumental versions, not surprisingly, are more ornate than vocal settings and display much wider variation, as a comparison of the sources listed below will attest. "Version B ('Johnstown Gals') affords a good example of how the influence of common melodic formulae, combined with tendencies toward attaining easy bowing and fingering will modify the outlines of a tune in instrumental tradition. Version A ('Hagantown Gals') is much like some recorded further south; B is in some ways distinctive...Sets from American tradition are Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs, pp. 288-289; Ford, p. 53; Adam, No. 12; and three playparty versions from Texas in Owens, Swing and Turn, pp. 45, 54, 103. (Bayard, 1944). See also "O Dear Mother My Toes Are Sore " [3] for a 6/8 version ('A' part only).
***
In America it is one of the most frequently mentioned fiddle tunes of the entire repertory. It appears listed in the early 20th century repertories of such geographically disparate Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner and Union County, Pa., fiddler Harry Daddario. Musicologist/Folklorist Vance Randolph recorded the tune from Ozark Mountain fiddler for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's. Cauthen (1990) says the tune had folk origins but was published in 1848 as a minstrel tune. "It was already well known in the gulf town of Mobile, Alabama, in 1846, where a woman who had once been "a flower, innocent and beautiful but long since turned from its stem, trampled, soiled and desecrated" was arrested for drunkenly singing 'Mobile gals, won't you come out tonight' on the streets" (pgs. 13-14). Bronner (1987) says that although the tune had a long traditional history its popularity in America stems from its use in the 19th century popular theater. In the 1840's one Cool White (real name: John Hodges), a blackface performer, sang a tune called "Lubly Fan, Won't You Come Out Tonight" with the popular minstrel troupe the Virginia Serenaders. He claimed to have composed it, and credit is often given to him, but it was first printed on sheet music in New York in 1848 with "author unknown." Alan Jabbour found a tune called "Midnight Serenade" in George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels, volume IV, printed in Baltimore in 1839, that is a set of "Buffalo Gals," and since it preceeds the minstrel era or at least publication of "Lubly Fan," he suggests the tune was at the time in oral tradition at least in the Upland South.
***
Overseas the song can be found in English songsters of the 19th and early 20th centuries; in Scott (1926) it appears as sung by the Ethiopian Serenaders. The tune briefly entered the British top 20 (rising as high as #9) at the end of 1982 when Malcom McLaren, promoter of the punk bands Sex Pistols and Bow Wow Wow, recorded a version consisting of himself vocalizing dance calls to a music track by East Tennessee's Roan Mountain Hilltollers (led by septugenarian fiddler Joe Birchfield) and assorted synthsized sounds, scratching and other arranged noise. Bayard (1944) reports that a German version may be seen in Burchenal's volume Folk-Dances of Germany (p. 21), while three Jugoslav sets he finds strongly resemble his American (Pennsylvania-collected) versions, which serves for his to heighten the suggestion that the tune originally came from Germany (these latter are located in Fr. S. Kuhac, Juznoslovjenske Narodne Popievke (Zagreb), II, (1879), pp. 222-224, Nos. 686-688, to a song entitled "Liepa Mara"). That the melody has also spread into France is evinced by its presence in J. Tiersot, Chansons Populaires Recueillies dans les Alpes Francaises, p. 532. tune 1, a 'Monferine.' Cf. also J.B. Bouillet, Album Aunergnat, p. 25, first part of the 'Bourree d'Issoire'". In East Lothian, Scotland, "Buffalo Gals" was the tune invariably played for the country dance called The Lads of Glasgow, which was performed at regional kirns until the 1930's and in some isolated areas until World War II (Flett & Flett, 1964). The melody was better known in East Lothian as tune for the bothy ballad "Whar'll bonnie Annie lie."
***
A feature of the tune has long been the multiplicity of place names attached to it in the title. Bronner notes it has been called "Jimtown Gals," "Brown Town Gals," "Alabama Gals," "Roundtown Gals," "Johnstown Gals," "Lushbaugh Girls," "Louisiana Gals," "Bowery Gals," "Cincinnati Gals," "Hagtown Gals," and "Hagantown Gals," as well as "Buffalo Gals." He speculates that Buffalo (New York) became the primary city name attached to the title because it was a "common terminal point for the minstrel circuit from New York city to Albany across to westernmost Buffalo, the city's name and its frontier reputation made it an easy and appropriate substitute for performances of 'Lubly Fan'" (pg. 216). Ceclia Conway, in African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia (1995), notes that the term "Buffalo" was used by Native Americans to refer to blacks (as in "Buffalo Soldiers").
***
As I was walking down the street,
Down the street, down the street;
A pretty little girl I chanced to meet,
Oh, she was fair to see.
***
I asked her if she would have some talk,
Have some talk, have some talk;
Her feet covered up the whole sidewalk,
As she stood close to me.
***
I Asked her would she have a dance,
Have a dance, have a dance;
I thought that I might get a chance
To shake a foot with her.
***
I'd like to make that gal my wife,
Gal my wife, gal my wife;
I would be happy all my life,
If I had her by my side.
***
Chorus:
Buffalo gals, ain't you comin' out tonight,
Ain't you comin' out tonight, ain't you comin' out tonight;
Buffalo gals, ain't you comin' out tonight
And dance by the light of the moon. (Ford).
***
Sources for notated versions: Frank Potter (Nowata County, Oklahoma) [Thede]; Hornellsville Hillbillies, 1943 (New York State) [Bronner]; caller George Van Kleeck (Woodland Valley, Catskill Mtns., New York) [Cazden]. Irvin Yaugher Jr., Mt. Independence, Pennsylvania, October 19, 1943 (learned from his father) [Bayard, 1944]; 10 different fife and violin sources from southwestern Pa. given by Bayard, 1981.Bayard (Hill Country Tunes), 1944; No. 1A. Bayard (Dance to the Music), 1981; No. 167A-J, pgs. 113-117. Bronner (Old Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 20, pg. 90. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 13. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 53. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes); No. or pg. 3. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 56, pg. 28. Miller & Perron (101 Polkas), 1978; No. 26 (polka). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 40 (two versions). Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 145 (appears as "Old Johnnie Walker"). Scott (English Song Book), 1926; pg. 74. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 382. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964; pg. 12. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 119. In the repertoire of Uncle Jimmy Thompson (1848-1931) {Texas, Tenn.}. Flying Fish FF 90468, Critton Hollow - "Great Dreams" (1988). Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Vee Latty (1910-1956) - "Fever in the South."
T:Buffalo Gals
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Shaw - Cowboy Dances
K:F
z2 zC|FG AB|dc A2|cB G2|dc A3C|FG AB|dc A>f|ec BG|F3z||
f/f/e dc/c/|d/cB/ A2|c/BA/ G2|d/cB/ A2|f/f/e dc/c/ d/cB/ A>f|ec/c/ BG/G/|F3 z||

BUNG YOUR EYE. AKA and see "Bang Your Eye," "Brisk Young Lads," "High Cauld Cap," "The Jolly Old Man," "Mary the Maid." Scottish, Jig. A Minor. Standard. ABB (Sharp): AABB (Gow, Karpeles, Kennedy, Williamson). This melody was published in the "Bodleian MS" (1740) {named for the library in which it resides--the Bodleian Library, Oxford} and is inscribed A Collection of the Newest Country Dances Performed in Scotland written at Edinburgh by D.A. Young, W.M. 1740. Originally set by Young as a country dance (to which he gives directions), Karpeles notes that this tune is also suitable as an accompaniment to Rapper Sword Dance. Glen (1891) reported he found the tune earliest in print in Robert Ross's 1780 collection (pg. 1), and evidently did not know of the Bodleian MS. Samuel Bayard (1981) believes the piece to be a "recognizable version" of a tune family that includes "Lanigan's Ball," "Lumps of Pudding," "Kittly Alone," "Muirland Willie," and "O As I Was Kist Yestreen." Close variants of the "Bung Your Eye" strain of the family are: "Off to the Hunt", "The Antrim Lasses," "Tatter Jack," "The Boys of Carrigallen," "Mount Your Baggage," and "Bonnie Strathmore."
***
The term 'bung your eye' means to 'shut your eye', a meaning taken from the bung or cork used to stopper a hole in a cask, for example. In the song "The Bold Irishman," an early 19th century broadside sheet ballad which relates the perils of an immigrant in a new land, the phrase 'bung your eye' implies a threat to beat the protagonist until his eyes are shut:
***
A blustering bully with a head like a Turk
Says welcome from Ireland, sweet Paddy from Cork
Arrah turn you round Pat, for I've been a kin
For I never yet see a coat buttoned behind
***
A beef headed butcher was then standing by
Cries Paddy you rogue I'll bung up your eye
Such blustering words made my heart ache
For fear of my eyes not a word dare I speak
***
Paddy prevails in the end, turning the tables on the two bullies:
***
The bully that said he'd bung up my eye,
I tipt him a grinder as I passed by,
I let him to know as he lay in his gore,
That an Irishmans coat was buttoned before
***
See also note to "Lanigan's Ball." Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 21. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 26. Kennedy (Fiddler's Tune Book), Vol. 2, 1954; pg. 42 (appears as "Mary the Maid"). Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909/1994; pg. 58. Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976, pg. 50.
T:Bung your Eye
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Gow - 1st Repository
K:A Minor
E|ABA c2d|e(dc) B2A|GAG B2c|dge dBG|ABA c2d|edc Bcd|e2A AB^G|A3 e2:|
|:B|c>de/f/ g2a|gec gec|G>AB/c/ d2e|dge dBG|c>de/f/ g2a|gec de^g|a2A AB^G|A3 e2:|

CARRICK'S/CARRACK'S REEL/RANT. AKA and see "Berwick Lasses," "Bonny Lass" (Kennedy), "Mary Scott," "The Smith's a Gallant Fireman." English, Reel; Scottish, Strathspey. Scotland, Lowland region. England, Northumberland. D Major. Standard. AB (Honeyman, Seattle/Vickers): AA'BB' (Athole). Seattle (1987) classifies "Carrick's Reel" as one of a family of tunes using the same melodic material in different meters. He finds it resembles "The Smith's a Gallant Fireman," and cites comparisons with printings of the melodies in MacDonald's Skye Collection (pg. 44); Kerr, Vol. 1 (pg. 4); Hunter's Fiddle Music of Scotland (No. 1112); and the tune "Mary Scott the Flower of Yarrow" in Bewick's Pipe Tunes (1986, No. 6), where it appears alongside versions of "Sir John Fenwick," another member of the family. In fact, the comparison between "Carrick's" and "Mary Scott" is not new; there has been a strong suggestion that the former was derived from the latter, for a note in Gow's publication remarks, "The old Scotch Song of Mary Scott is taken from this Tune." Other writers record that Hector Macneil's lyric "Dinna think, bonnie lassie" is likewise set to the melody. John Glen (1891) finds the tune first in print in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection (pg. 94). A variant called "Berwick Lasses" is to be found in a MS collection by fiddler Lawrence Leadley (1827-1897) of Helperby, Yorkshire. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 3. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; pg. 10 (appears as "Carrick's Rant"). Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 315. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 104.
T:Carrick's Rant
L:1/8
M:C
R:Strathspey
B:The Athole Collection
K:D
A,|D3F A/A/A A>F|A>Bd>A F/F/F F>D|1 E2 D>F B/B/B B>A|d>fe>d B<A B>d:|2
G<BG<B F<AF<A|E>DE>F B/B/B B||
c|:d2 d>f d/d/d d>A|B>Ad>A F/F/F F>D|1 e3f e/e/e e>f|g>f e<d B/B/B Be:|2
G<BG<B F<AF<A|E>DE>F B/B/B B||

CAM' YE BY ATHOL? Scottish, Air (6/8 time). D Major. Standard. One part (Neil): AB (Kerr). The words to the tune were by James Hogg, while the music was by Nathaniel Gow's son Neil Jr. (Niel Gow's grandson), born about 1795. Neil remained with his father in Edinburgh and was reported to have been a musician of excellent talent (another famous composition is his "Flora MacDonald's Lament"). He entered the medical profession, but unfortunately died quite young, at age 28.
**
"Cam' Ye by Athol?" was selected by Queen Victoria for John Wilson's (who was the most widely acclaimed singer of Scottish songs in his day) recital during her visit to Taymouth Castle in 1842; this shows how much wounds had healed in 100 years of Scottish/English relations, for the tune is a 'gathering song', written about recruiting Highlanders for the 1745 Jacobite rebellion in the cause of Bonnie Prince Charlie against the united Hanoverian throne of England and Scotland. Neil (1991) states that the song "belongs to the Atholl district of Perthshire and in particular the Murrays, who played a leading role in the insurrection," though he remarks that althought the tune was inspired by Highlands sentiments, the song's origin was in the Lowlands of Scotland. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 3; No. 408, pg. 45. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 114, pg. 152.

CROOKED REEL (An Ríl Cam). AKA and see "Follow me down (to Carlow)," "Miss Murphy," "Bonnie Annie." Irish, Reel. A Dorian. Standard. AB. The song "Follow me down to Carlow" is sung to this air. The "Miss Murphy" title is found in the Goodman Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. In Scotland the tune is known as "Bonnie Annie" and can be found in Aird (No. 548) and the Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music, pg. 23). There is also a jig version of the melody. Source for notated version: accordionist Sonny Brogan (County Sligo/Dublin, Ireland) [Breathnach]. Breathnach (CRE I), 1963; No. 107, pg. 45.

DUCHESS OF MANCHESTER'S FAREWELL TO THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND, THE. AKA - "Honest Men and Bonnie Lasses" (Gow's title). Scottish, "Pastoral--March" (4/4 time). B Flat Major. Standard. AAB. Thought to be one of the most celebrated and best compositions of William Marshall (1748-1833) according to both Collinson (1966) and Emmerson (1971); it appeared in his First Collection (1781). Niel Gow republished the tune in 1809 in his Fifth Collection under the title "Honest Men and Bonnie Lasses," without author credit. The Duchess of Manchester was Lady Susan, third daughter of the 4th Duke (1743-1827) and Duchess of Gordon, who departed the family estate in 1793 to marry William Montague, 5th Duke of Manchester, inspiring Marshall's tune. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 46. Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1822 Collection, pg. 4.
T:Dutchess of Manchester's Farewell to the Highlands of Scotland.
L:1/8
M:C
K:B_
d/c/|B>cBB, DFFd/c/|B/A/B/c/ BB, ~C2 Cd/c/|B>cBB, D<F f>g|f<d c>d ~B2B:|
d/c/|B/c/d/e/ f/d/b/d/ B/c/d/e/ f/d/b/d/|B/c/d/e/ f/d/b/d/ c2 c/d/|B/c/d/e/ f/d/b/d/ B/c/d/e/ f>g|
f<d c>d ~B2 Bd/c/|B/c/d/e/ f/d/b/d/ B/c/d/e/ f/d/b/d/|eg/e/ df/d/ ~c2 cd|F>^EF>G F>GB>g|
f<d c>d [B,2F2B2] B||

DUMBARTON'S DRUMS. AKA and see "Scotch Tune." Scottish, Scottish Measure and Air. F Major/D Minor. Standard. AABB. Emmerson (1972) characterizes this (and other Scottish Measure tunes) as a "slightly different style of Scottish double hornpipe air." The melody was first published in England as a generically-titled "Scotch Tune" in John Playford's Apollo's Banquet (Sixth Ed., 1690). In its native Scotland the song and tune proved durable and popular; it earliest appears in the Skene Manuscript from the early seventeenth century (c. 1615-1630) and subsequently was published in over 20 sources before 1793. The Gow's printed it in their Repository, Part Second, 1802. Robert Burns referred to it as a "West Highland" air in his manuscript notes. It appears in O'Farrell's Vol. III (1810/20) pg. 55.
***
"Dumbarton's Drums" is the oldest tune played for a march-past in the British army, i.e. when a regiment passed in review in front of an inspecting officer on formal occasions. In 1881 all the British army infantry regiments were ordered to submit for appraisal by the Horse Guards (the headquarters of the army) all the tunes used for such occasions. The Royal Scots Regiment (who used "Dumbarton's Drums") did not obey, and to this day the march, which continues to be used, has never been officially approved.
***
It was the Celtic population of Scotland that gave the name Dun Breattan (now Dumbarton), 'the fort of the Britons', to the stronghold of that people on the Clyde (Matthews, 1972). In more modern times Dumbarton has long been a county town on the north side of the Forth of Clyde, about fifteen miles from Glasgow, and is the principle town of the county of Dunbartonshire. It featurs a castle on the drumlin known locally as Dumbarton Rock. See note for "Dumbarton Castle" for more information on Dumbarton.
***
An early version of the song begins:
***
Dumbarton's drums beat bonnie, O
When they mind me of my dear Johnie, O;
How happie am I
When my soldier is by,
While he kisses and blesses his Annie, O!
'Tis a soldier alone can delight me, O,
For his graceful looks do invite me, O;
While guarded in his arms,
I'll fear no war's alarms,
Neither danger nor death shall e'er fright me, O.
***
Emmerson (Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String), 1971; No. 19, pg. 125.

EARL OF MOIRA'S WELCOME TO SCOTLAND. AKA and see "Countess of Loudon's Strathspey," "Loudon's Bonnie Woods and Braes." Scottish, March (4/4 time). F Major. Standard. AABCCD. Composed by Duncan MacIntyre and used by the weaver-poet Robert Tannahill for his song "Louden's Bonnie Woods." Little is known about the expatriate Scot D. MacIntyre except he was a dancing master in London around the year 1795, and later spent some years in India, probably around the same time as Earl Moira, who was Governor-General of the subcontinent in 1816 (John Glen {1895} thinks Duncan may have served as a Master of Ceremonies to the Governor-General's Court). Tannahill's words are thought to commemorate the parting of the Earl from his young wife at the time he left to assume the post. Arranged as a rondo for piano by an Austro-Hungarian, Christoff Schertky, who wrote in the Scottish style and published in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1823. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 111, pg. 149.

FLEE OVER THE WATER. Scottish, Reel ("Slowish"). A Major. Standard. AAB. A reference undoubtedly to Bonnie Prince Charlie and Scotland's Wild Geese (expatriots). Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 255.

FLORA MACDONALD'S ADIEU TO THE PRINCE (Tha mi fodh ghruaim). Scottish, Slow Air (6/8 time). F Sharp Minor. Standard. AAB. This air "is attributed, the editor knows not with what truth, to the celebrated Miss Flora MacDonald, on bidding adieu to Prince Charles. There is a degree of virtue, highly honorable to the national character for sincerity and integrity, perceptible in the universal disregard of the high rewards offered for delivering up the Prince" (Fraser). In fact, Flora Macdonald (b. c. 1721) was a celebrated heroine of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, instrumental in saving Bonnie Prince Charlie after the battle of Culloden. Flora was born on the Hebridean side of South Uist, to which isle Charlie fled to, hotly pursued by the English forces who had offered a reward of the staggering sum of 30,000 pounds for his capture. The island was patrolled by warships and 2,000 Hanoverian troops were combing the countryside looking for him. Flora was persuaded to his cause and helped him elude his pursuers by dressing him as her Irish maidservent under the alias 'Betty Burke'. For three days she travelled with him under the constant fear of capture until he was able to make his way to Skye and then Inverness, where he was eventually rescued by a French ship which transported him to safety in Brittany. "Before leaving Portee, Flora and the Prince said their goodbyes. He was most grateful to her for risking her life for him during the three eventful days, and for looking after him with great tenderness and affection during the many dangers that had beset them. He presented her with his own portrait in miniature and after thanking her, expressed the hope that they might meet again" (Neil, 1991). They apparently never did, for Flora returned to Skye and five years later married Macdonald of Kingsburgh, with whom she had five sons and two daughters. The family soon found themselves in North Carolina, where Macdonald served with the Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment in the years prior to the American Revolutionary War. They returned to Scotland in the early 1770's and were visited by Dr. Johnson and Boswell on Skye in 1773. Flora was aged 51 at the time and was described by Johnson as "a woman of middle statue, soft features, gentle manners and elegant presence", and by Boswell as "a little woman of genteel appearance and uncommonly mild and well-bred." Flora died in 1790. Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 219, pg. 98 & No. 219, pg. 90. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 162, pg. 209.
T:Flora Macdonald's Adieu to the Prince
T:Tha mi fo ghruaim
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Fraser Collection
K:A
F|AFF F>ED|d>ed c<e z/ c|Bce f>ea|f>ed (c<B) z/F|AFF F>ED|
d>ed c<ez/||c|Bce f>aa|fed e>dc|d>ed c>ea|f>ed (c<B)z/||

GALA WATER. AKA and see "Coming Thro' the Broom." Scottish, Air (4/4 time). D Major. Standard. One part. This air is quite old and was first published around 1783 under the title "Coming Thro' the Broom". Gala Water is a tributary of the River Tweed, which forms the border in the east between Scotland and England. "It rises in Midlothian and follows the course of a beautiful winding valley, characteristic of the Border country and, after passing through the heart of Galashiels, it flows into the Tweed near Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott" (Neil, 1991). The song is played and sung each year at the festival of the 'Braw Lads Gathering', held at Galashiels. The earliest known verses are thought to be:
***
Braw, braw lads of Gala Water,
O! braw lads of Gala Water,
I'll kilt my coats aboon my knee,
And follow my love through the water.
Sae fair her hair sae brent her brow,
Sae bonnie blue her een, and cheerie,
Sae white her teeth, sae sweet her mou',
I aften kiss her till I'm weary.
***
Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 56, pg. 76.

GRANT OF SHEUGLIE'S CONTEST BETWEEN HIS VIOLIN, PIPE AND HARP. AKA - "Mairi nighean Dheorsa." Scottish, Slow Air (2/4 time). A Major. Standard. AB. "Grant of Sheugly, in Glen Urquhart, supposed composer of the verses to this beautiful ancient air, was himself a performer on the violin, pipe, and harp, and, it would appear, a poet, in the like manner. In appreciating the qualities of each instrument, he supposes they had quarrelled, and that he was called upon to decide the contest. In addressing a verse to his pipe, he observes 'how it would delight him, on hearing the sound of war, to listen to her notes, in striking up the gathering, to rally round the chief, on a frsoty spring morning, whilst the hard earth reverberated all lher notes, so as to be heard by the most distant person interested.' To the harp he says, --'The pleasure which thy tones afford are doubled, whilst accompanying a sweet female voice, or round the festive board, inspired by love or wine, I reach beyond my ordinary capacity, and feel the pleasure of pleasing.' But to his violin, which he calls by the literal name of the air, 'Mary, George's Daughter,' and seems to have been his favourite, though held cheap by the other combatants, he says,--'I love thee, for the sake of those who do,--the sprightly youth and bonny lasses.--all of whom declare, that, at a wedding, dance, or ball, thou, with thy bass in attendance, can have no competitor,--thy music having the effect of electricity on those who listen to it,'--and on thus receiving their due share of praise, their reconciliation is convivially celebrated. The editor's grandfather acquired this air from a successor of the composer, who was his contemporary" (Fraser).
***
Sanger & Kinnaird (Tree of Strings, 1992) report that Sheuglie, or Shewglie as they give his name, was Alexander Grant of Shewglie, born around 1675 who died in captivity in London in July, 1746. Shewglie's branch of the family were supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and though he did not take part in the battle of Culloden, Shewglie did write verses in support of the rebellion. Denounced by loyal members of the Grant clan, Shewglie was arrested along with his eldest son and the Rev. Mr. John Grant. Although the son and the minister were later released to return to their homes, the reprieve came too late for Shewglie, who, being elderly and having undergone great hardship in prison, contracted a fever and died. In addition to being a poet, Alexander was a skilled musician on some combination of the harp, bagpipe and fiddle; when he could find time, that is, as he reputedly fathered 14 sons and six daughters! The original Gaelic words to the song have been lost. Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1814; No. 3, pg. 2.
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T:Mairi nighean Dheorsa
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a>g f2|e<c e2|f<c a2|B2 AF|A2 a2|(e2 e/)d/c/B/|A2 AB|A2 FE||

HIGH ROAD TO FORT AUGUSTUS, THE (Coir'-a-Ghearraig). Scottish, Reel. B Minor. Standard. AB (Fraser, Neil): AAB (Athole). Captain Simon Fraser, compiler of the famous collection of Highland melodies, writes in his note to this tune: "The words associated with this air give annecdotes regarding that stupendous work, the road cut in traverses, by General Wade, down the face of a mountain, in forming a communication betwixt Fort Augustus and Garvamore. By this road old Lord Lovat was carried, when on his last journey to London, on a litter,--and here he was met by the late Governor Trapaud, of Fort Augustus, then in the Duke's army, who requested to have Lovat's face uncovered, that he might have a look of 'the old fox.' Lovat heard all this, but pretended to be sound asleep. Whenever he found Trapaud examining his phiz, he started up, and with the vigour of youth, made a snappish bark at him, like that of a terrier, which so thunderstruck the governor, that he fell backwards with terror, to the no small amusement of the party. Another anecdote, not less worthy of notice, occurs regarding this place. Hugh Fraser, Esq. of Dell, a most extensive drover and grazier, in returning from the southern markets, was benighted here, as he came on a fine frosty November evening to the foot of the traverses, when all of a sudden, as he ascended, a most furious driving of snow come on; he kept forward as long as he could, thinking it might cease,--but in vain,--he lost his way. He had an appointment for next day to pay large sums of money, in his custody,--which, if he was lost, would bring ruin on many persons. If he sat down, he knew he must have inevitably perished with cold. In this state, a thought occurred to him worthy of being universally known,-- and the cause of the present mention of it,--that he should make for the highest pinnacle of the hill and there form a circular path and ride and walk by turns round it till morning came. This he according did, and hailed the morning cry of the grouse as the sweetest music ever he heard. When day-light came, he could not distinguish one object known to him, nor find the road; and, even at sunset, in place of being near Fort Augustus, he reached a hut, entirely in a different direction, within three miles of his own house, unable to go further, and found he had rode over morasses and lakes that would have swallowed him up, but for the intenseness of the frost. He, however, perfectly recovered in a day or two. The presence of mind displayed by him, in preserving life during the night, as a lesson to others, will apologize for the length of this note."
***
The ancient name of Fort Augustus, "Kilchuimen" (sometimes Kilcumein), or 'Church of Saint Cumine.' It was named after Saint Cumine (sometimes Cumein), a monk of Iona who became 7th Abbot of the island and who gained fame for his life of Saint Columba. The Fort that gives Fort Augustus its name was one of a series of forts built by the Hanoverians to secure the Great Glen of Scotland. There was Fort George near Inverness, Fort Augustus in the heart of the Glen at Loch Ness, and Fort William at the southern end. All were named after members of the Hanover royal family; Augustus was the name of George II's son, William Augustus, the Duke of Cumerland. Cumberland is infamous for his part in the battle of Culloden and its aftermath, so much so he was known as 'Butcher Cumberland'. Following the defeat of the Highland forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie he took up residence in Fort Augustus, and remained oblivious to the depredations of his troops upon the local population and the suffering of the Highland people during the harsh winter of 1746. General Wade, referred to by Fraser in the passage above, built the fort in 1730 along with a network of roads and bridges, and he is recognized today as a great engineer. In later years Fort Augustus passed into the hands of Lord Lovat, who bought it in 1867 as a shooting lodge, and whose son donated it to monks in the mid-1870's. The old fort was transformed into a Benedictine Abbey which survived until the present day, although it recently has been closed.
***

HIGHLAND SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND, THE [1] (An Comunn Rioghail Gaidhealach). Scottish, Slow Strathspey. A Major. Standard. AAB. An editors note in Fraser says the Highland Society was "rather an association of the 1745 (the date of Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat). "Though this air appears complimentary to the Highland Society, it was originally composed for an association in the 1745, in favour of the Pretender, which assumed the name of the Highland Association" (Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 5, pg. 2.
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T:An Comunn Rioghail Gaidhealach
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F>DE>C A2 A||

HONEST MEN AND BONNIE LASSES. AKA and see "The Duchess of Manchester's Farewell to Scotland." Scottish, Slow Air (4/4 time). B Flat Major. Standard. AAB. The melody under the above title appears in Gow's Fifth Collection (1809), unattributed. It earlier appeared as "The Duchess of Manchester's Farewell to Scotland" by William Marshall (1748-1833) in his First Collection of 1781. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 545.

JOHNNY COPE [1] (Seanin Ua Copa). AKA and see "Fye to the Coals in the Morning," "General Coope." Scottish (originally), Canadian; Reel, Hornpipe or March: American, March (2/4) or Polka. Canada, Prince Edward Island. G Mixolydian/Minor (Gatherer, Johnson, O'Neill/1915): B Minor (Miller & Perron). Standard. AB (Bayard): AABB (Miller & Perron, O'Neill/1850, Perlman, Roche, Winstock): AABBCCDD (Gatherer): AABB'CCDDEEFFAABB' (Johnson). The tune is still played by Scottish regiments as their reveille. It is a satirical melody which commemorates the 1745 Jacobite rebellion when Sir John Cope (d. 1760) and the English were defeated by the Scots under Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Battle of Prestonpans, on the 22nd of September, 1745. In 1745, when Prince Charles landed in the highlands, Sir John was commander in chief in Scotland and he bravely resolved to march into the Highlands to oppose him. Cope was ill-prepared and outnumbered however, and soon retreated in the face of opposition in order to regroup. The rebels meanwhile secured Edinburgh and when they learned that Cope was marching to the city's relief they marched to meet him. Both armies neared each other at Prestonpans late in the day, separated by marshy ground, and it was resolved to wait until the next day to begin hostilities. During the night however, Prince Charlie was appraised by one of his troops that a passage or ford was to be had through the marshy ground and the rebels resolved to filter through at night and take the English forces by surprise in the morning. This was effected and the surprise was complete. Half awake and utterly bewildered, Cope's troops could make no effective resistance, and in a few minutes were in headlong flight. Only one round of ammunition was fired, and not one bayonet was stained with blood. Few except the cavalry made good their escape, the whole of the infantry being either killed or take prisoners. A later court of inquiry was convened to look into the debacle, though the result was that the common troops were blamed for the rout and Cope and all his officers were exhonerated.
***
The song lyrics and perhaps the music (the song is sung to the first two parts of the instrumental version) were written by Adam Skirving, an extremely literate East Lothian cultivator whose fields were tramped by the passage of the armies on the day of the battle. [There is a story that one of Cope's English officers took offense to Skirving's verses and desired to challenge him to a duel; Skiriving's comment on hearing the threat was "Let him come up here. If I can fecht him, I will. If not, I'll rin awa' just like he did."] Johnson (1983) notes the tune was unknown prior to 1750, but Bayard (1981) identifies "Johnny Cope" as a version of the older tune "Fye to the Coals in the Morning." The tune appears with variations by an anonymous but skilled local composer in the Gillespie Manuscript of Perth in 1768, and also in the McLean and Trotter manuscripts. A song by the title "Johnny Cope" is found in James Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion, published in London in 1760 with the alternate title "John Cope Trode the North Riding" (the North Riding is a section of Yorkshire). It appears in O'Farrell's, Vol. III (1810-20), pg. 51. O'Neill reports that a footnote in Wood's Songs of Scotland states that this old air originally consisted of one strain which was subsequently elaborated by the addition of a chorus or burden of a silly song; adapted to it was the first strain repeated an octave higher. Bayard (1981) agrees with Graham, and notes (similaryly with Wood) that the first part was the original strain added to in the second strain in instrumental versions by one melody, and in vocal versions usually by a strain resembling the Scots tune "Balquhidder Lasses." O'Neill snidely suggests that althought it was "claimed as Scotch, is in the Irish style and known all over Ireland;" the veracity of this is highly questionable for the tune closely follows "passamezzo antico" form, which was a particular style of stock chord progression imported from 16th century Italy and popular in England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries. Bayard (1981) sees some resemblance between the first part of "Johnny Cope" and the second of the American tunes "Tennessee Wagoner," "Keep Off the Grass," and "Mississippi Sawyer;" he wonders if they are derivations. Similarly he sees resemblance between the second strain and the American collections of "Paddy on the Handcar." He also sees some resemblance between a "simple, fundamental strain" of Cope and some elaborated Irish hornpipe tunes, notably "The Groves" and "The Drunken Sailor" (they use the "Balquhidder" strain version plus some added parts). There is a legend that has been collected among Protestant Irish and fifers in Pennsylvania (Bayard, 1981) that has (falsely) the person of Johnny Cope a drummer boy in the Orange Irish forces who falls asleep on his watch on the very night of a surprise attack by the Catholic army. He was awakened just in time to sound the alarm by some birds pecking at some crumbs scattered on his drumhead--Bayard astutely points out that this story parallels the legend of the Capitoline geese, whose cackling awakened the Roman sentries in time to repel an ancient attack. As late as the mid-twentieth century these lyrics, based on the Scots words, were to be heard in American folk tradition sung to the tune:
***
Hey Johnnie Cope, are ye wakin' yet,
And are ye're drums a-beatin' yet? (Bayard)
The Scots chorus goes:
Hey Johnie Cope are ye wauking yet,
Or are ye sleeping I would wit;
O haste ye get up for the drums do beat,
Of fye Cope rise in the morning. (Robert Burns)
***
Beethoven arranged the melody for string quartet to accompany a vocal version of the tune around 1800. Sources for notated versions: McLean Collection (1772, pg. 23) [Johnson]; The Repository of Scots and Irish Airs (1799) [O'Neill]; Hiram Horner (fifer from Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pa., 1960) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 396, pg. 378. Buchan (101 Scottish Songs). Gatherer (Gatherer's Musical Museum), 1987; pg. 14. Johnson (Scottish Fiddle Music in the 18th Century), 1984; No. 38, pg. 97. Kohler's Violin Repository (1881-1885). Miller & Perron (101 Polkas), 1978; No. 42. Oxford Song Book, Volume 2. Winstock (Songs and Music of the Redcoats), 1970.
X:1
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|: z | cc/c/ cc/c/ | ce g>c | Bc d>d | Bc d>d |
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N:play slowly
B:Cape Breton's Magazine no. 43 (1980s)
Z:Paul S. Cranford
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2 Bdgd edBG|A4 A2||

LOCH LOMOND [1]. AKA - "The Bonny Bonny Banks o' the Lomond," "Yellow is the Rose." Scottish, Air. Apart from "Auld Lang Syne" it is the most famous and recognized Scottish melody ("Oh!, Ye'll tak' the high road and I'll tak' the low road..."). Although there allusions to older origins for the song, it apparently was first published in W. Christie's "Traditional Ballad Airs" (Edinburgh, 1881). Nevertheless, there are legends attached to the tune, one which has a Jacobite (sometimes un-named, sometimes identified as Donald McDonnell of Clan Keppoch) who, in 1746 and about to be executed for his role in the rising, said to his sweetheart (who had come from Scotland to say good-bye to him): "Ye'll take the high road, and I'll take the low road (i.e., the grave), and I'll be in Scotland afore ye." Some versions of the tale have McDonnell (or MacDonald) composing the song in Carlisle Castle, where he is imprisoned awaiting execution for his Moira who is safe in the highlands. After death, his spirit visits her a final time, and he makes love to her, though she can tell he is gone. A variant of the legend has two imprisoned Jacobites bidding farewell, one to be released to struggle home over the Highlands, one to be executed whose spirit will take the 'low road.' Lady John Scott and her husband are also supposed to have heard the piece sung by a boy in the street, and that it was she who popularized it about 1845. Fuld (1971) finds phrases in the tune similar to phrases in "The Bonniest Lass in A' the World" (Thompson, Orpheus Caledonius, 1733) and "Robin Cushie" (MacGibbon, A Collection of Scots Tunes, 1742), but believes "Loch Lomond" sufficiently different to be considered a distinct song. In America it was in the repertory of Buffalo Valley, Pa., region dance fiddler Archie Miller.
***
By yon bonnie banks
And by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright
On Loch Lomond
Oh we twa ha'e pass'd
Sae mony blithesome days,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks
O' Loch Lomond.
Chorus:
Oh ye'll tak' the high road
And I'll tak' the low road,
An' I'll be in Sctoland before ye',
But wae is my heart until we meet again
On the Bonnie, bonnie banks
O' Loch Lomond.
***
I mind where we parted
In yon shady glen
On the steep, steep side
O' Ben Lomon'
Where in purple hue
The highland hills we view
And the morn shines out
Frae the gloamin'
***
An' weel may I weep
For yestreen in my sleep
We stood bride and bridegroom together,
But his face and his breath
Were as cold as the death,
And his heart's blood ran red in the heather.
***
The wee bird may sing
An' the wild flowers spring;
An' in sunshine the waters are sleepin'
But the broken heart
It sees nae second spring,
And the world does na ken
How we're greetin'
***
Chrysalis Records, Run Rig (1988). The Corries - "Silver Collection."

LOCHIEL'S AWA' TO FRANCE (BUT HE'LL COME AGAIN). Scottish, English; Reel. England, Northumberland. A Dorian. Standard. AAB. "Old set." The title refers of Cameron of Lochiel, one of Bonnie Prince Charlie's chiefs who fought under his standard at the battle of Culloden (1746). After the defeat Lochiel was forced to flee with the Prince to France. Clan Cameron, however, was eventually pardoned and still retain substantial lands in Scotland. Breathnach (1976) finds the first part of this tune the same as the "The Gossan that beat his father" family of tunes, but that the second part is the same as that of "The Mountain Rose." MacDonald (1887) opines that the "modern set by Neil Gow (is) not so playable." Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; pg. 9 (appears as "Lochiel's Rant"). MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 49. Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 222 (appears as "Lochiel's Reel").
T:Lochiel's Awa' to France
L:1/8
M:C
S:Skye Collection
K:A Dorian
g|eA A/A/A e2 dc|B>G G/G/G (B<d)d<g|e>A A/A/A e2 dc|BGAB gee:|
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gd d/d/d (gd)dg|bgae degB|BA A/A/A (ge)e||

LOUDON'S/LOUDEN'S BONNY WOODS (AND BRAES). AKA and see "The Bundoran Highland," "Lord Moira('s Welcome)," "The Earl of Moira's Welcome to Scotland," "The Marquis of Hastings' Strathspey." Scottish; Strathspey or Highland Schottische. G Major (Kennedy, Kerr, Raven): D Major (Martin, Neil). Standard. One part (Neil): AB (Kerr): AABB (Martin): AABB' (Kennedy, Raven). The title comes from Tannahill's work, however, the tune was originally "The Earl of Moira's Welcome to Scotland" by Duncan MacIntyre, a Scots dancing master in London at the end of the 18th century. Little is known of him, save that the later spent some years in India, presumably at the same time as Earl Moira (who was Governor-General there in 1816), to whom the tune is dedicated. Robert Tannahill's (1774-1810) words go:
***
O, resume thy wanted smile.
O, supress thy fears, lassie,
Glorious honour crowns the toil,
That the soldier shares lassie.
Heaven will shield thy faithful lover,
Till the vengeful strife is over;
Then we'll meet nae mair to sever,
Till the day we dee, lassie.
'Midst our bonnie woods and braes
We'll spend our peaceful, happy days,
As blythe yon lightsome lamb that plays
On Loudon's flow'ry lea, lassie.
***
"They are thought to commemorate the parting of the Earl of Moira from his young wife, the Countess of Loudon, on his departure on foreign service" (Neil, 1991). Along with "Jenny's Bawbee" and "Niel Gow's Wife" this tune is part of the medley played by County Donegal fiddler Danny O'Donnell as "The Shamrock and Thistle Highlands." Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 2, 1954; pg. 18 (appears as "Lord Moira"). Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 6, pg. 19. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle), Vol. 1, 1991; pg. 50. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 112, pg. 150. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 178.

MACCRIMMONS LAMENT [1]. AKA and see "Cha Till Mi Tuille" (Never More Shall I Return), "Cha Till MacCruinen (Macrimmon Will Never Return)." AKA and see "Cha Till MacCruimen." Scottish, (very) Slow Air (4/4 time). Scotland, Isle of Skye. A Dorian. Standard. AA'BB'. A note in Keith MacDonald's Skye Collection notes the setting of this tune is particular to the Island of Skye. Neil (1991) identifies the air (which originally was in Gaelic, though has a rhyming English version also) as a bagpipe lament and a pibroch (píobaireachd) theme which can be found in numerous versions, originally composed to honor the head of the legendary Macrimmon family. One story (related by Neil) goes that it was the work of a Macrimmon sister, written on the eve of her brother's departure for the camp of Bonnie Prince Charlie in the mid-18th century. Another story (from Pulver and Collinson, 1975) is that the MacCrimmons did not support the Jacobite cause and that "MacCrimmon's Lament" was composed by Domhnall Ban MacCrimmon when he left Skye, the chorus of the song predicting that he would never return. The luckless piper was the only person on either side killed at the rout of Moy in 1745, travelling with the MacLeods and Lord Loudon in the hope of capturing the Prince. Donald Báin was one of the two sons of Patrick Og MacCrimmon, the other being Malcolm MacCimmon, also a famous piper. So great was Donald Bain's reputation, however, that when he was captured by the Jacobites at the Battle of Inverurie, two months before his death, pipers in the Jacobite army (many of whom had been trained by Donald himself) went on strike and refused to play until he was given his freedom.
***
The Macrimmon family, through several generations, achieved the inherited position of pipers to the lairds of MacLeod of Dunvegan in the Isle of Skye, from 1570 to 1825. They were famous as composers and exponents of the art of pibroach playing, and some say the form originated with them, though the origins of piobraireachd are obscure. They were also associated with a school of piping whose founding has been credited to Patrick Macrimmon (Padruig Mor) around 1664, and which existed until 1770. It was situated in Boreraig in Skye (where the MacCimmons held land, just across the water from Dunvegan castle) and attracted pipers from all over the Highlands. The story is told that the course at one time lasted seven years (Collinson, 1975; Neil, 1991).
***
Source for notated version: Miss Jessie Macleod Gesto (Isle of Skye) [Skye]. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 182. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 160, pg. 207 (appears as "Cha Till MacCruimen").
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M:4/4
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g>feA g>feA| g>feA g>feA|1 g>edG g>edG| g>edG d>B A2:|2 G2 (3GBd e2 dB|G
2 (3GBd e2 dA||

MISS ADMIRAL GORDON'S REEL/STRATHSPEY. AKA and see "Glasgow Flourish," "Of a' the airts the wind can blaw." Scottish, Slow Strathspey ("Slow when not danced"). A Major. Standard. AB (most versions): ABCD (McGlashan). One of the first composed and most famous tunes (c. 1775) by Scots fiddler William Marshall (1748-1833) in honor of Margaret Gordon, daughter and only surviving child of Admiral William Gordon (d. 1769), Carmelite House, Banff; four other children died before adulthood. Margaret survived to marry Mr. Forbes-Seton of Aberdeen, and their daughter married Lord James Hay. Moyra Cowie (1999) points out that Banff was a social hub for the well-to-do of North East Scotland in the 18th century, many of whom retained town-houses there and who spent the season socializing. Cowie believes Marshall would have met many through his position as the 4th Duke of Gordon's Steward of the Household. The Admiral's Carmelite house, which he built, survives today and has been converted into a small hotel.
***
"Miss Admiral Gordon" was first published in Marshall's Strathspey Reels (1781, pg. 3). As was not uncommon, it was republished afterwards by Joshua Campbell, although unattributed and renamed "Glasgow Flourish" after that city's motto (Alburger, 1983). Niel Gow wrote a tune called "Major Graham (of Inchbrakie)," which has a similar motif, and there have been accusations by some (e.g. John Glen) of plagerism; it appears derivative in any case (as is the Gows' "Sir John Whitefoord's Strathspey," both published in their 1784 First Collection). Its popularity is due in part to the fact that Robert Burns wrote one of his best songs to it which begins: "Of a' the airts the wind can blaw." Burns' manuscript notes for the Scots Musical Museum contain the following -- "I have been told by somebody who had it from Marshall himself, that he took the idea of his three most celebrated pieces, 'The Marquis of Huntley's Reel,' 'His Farewell,' and 'Miss Admiral Gordon's Reel' from the old air, 'The German Lairdie'" (Emmerson, 1971). William Stenhouse maintains that Marshall fashioned the tune from the old melody of "The Lowlands of Holland" (by adding a second part), but John Glen (1891 & 1895) disputes this, saying that Stenhouse was in error and that "The Lowlands of Holland," especially as published by James Oswald in the Caledonian Pocket Companion, bears no resemblance. Nor does Glen credit Johnson (Scots Musical Museum) or Urbani (2nd Volume, 1794) who also published "The Lowlands of Holland" with originating "Miss Adimiral" for they were both published after Marshall published his tune. Burns wrote his lyric in honor of his bride-to-be, Jean Armour, while he was at Ellisland awaiting her arrival from Mauchline in Ayrshire, where he had first met her.
***
O a' the airts the wind can blaw,
I dearly lo'e the west
For there the bonnie lassie lives,
The lass that I lo'e best.
Tho' wild woods grow an' rivers tow,
Wi' mony a hill between,
Baith day and nicht, my fancy's flicht,
Is ever wi' my Jean.
***
The melody has been used for other songs, including a Canadian folksong, "The Scarborough Settlers' Lament" and a Scottish song "The Scottish Settlers' Lament" (see Stan Rogers' album "For the Family" and the Tannahill Weavers' album "Land of Light,", respectively.
***
Source for notated version: Marshall's Strathspey Reels, 1781; pg. 3 [Johnson]. Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1983; Ex. 64, pgs. 104-105. Emmerson (Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String), 1971; No. 61, pg. 150. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 5. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 147. Johnson (Scottish Fiddle Music in the 18th Century), 1984; No. 80, pg. 227. Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1781 Collection, pg. 3. Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1822 Collection, pg. 16. McGlashan (A Collection of Reels), c. 1786; pg. 4. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 62, pg. 86.
T:Miss Admiral Gordon's Reel
L:1/8
M:C|
S:McGlashan - Reels
K:A
E|A/A/A A<A A>E A<f|e<c B>A F2 F2|A/A/A A<A A>E A<f|
e>f a<c (e2 e>)f|e>f a<c e<cB<A|Bc d/c/B/A/ F2 F2|A/A/A A<A AE A<f|
e<c B>c A2 A||E|C>E A<E F<EA<E|c>e d/c/B/A/ F2 FE|C>E A<E F<EA<E|
c>d e/f/g/a/ (e2 e>)g|a>g f<e f<e d<c|B>c d/c/B/A/ F2 F2|A/A/A A<A A>E A<f|
e<c B>c A2 A||E|A/A/A A/A/A A<E A<f|f/e/d/c/ d/c/B/A/ F2 F2|
A/A/A A/A/A AE A<f|e>f a<c e2 e>f|e>fa>b e<cB<A|B/A/B/c/ d/c/B/A/ F2F2|
A/A/A A/A/A A<E A<f|e<c B>c A2A||E|C/E/D/E/ A/E/D/E/ F/E/D/E/ A/E/D/E/|
c/B/c/e/ d/c/B/A/ F2 F>E|C/E/D/E/ A/E/D/E/ F/E/D/E/ A/E/D/E/|
c/B/c/d/ e/f/g/a/ e2 df/g/|a<gf<e fed<c|B>c d/c/B/A/ F2F2|A/A/A A/A/A A>E A<f|
e<cBc A2 AE|C/E/D/E/ A/E/D/E/ F/E/D/E/ A/E/D/E/|c/B/c/e/ d/c/B/A/ F2 FE|
C/E/D/E/ A/E/D/E/ F/E/D/E/ A/E/D/E/|c/B/c/d/ e/f/g/a/ e2 e>g|
(3agf (3gfe (3fed (3edc|(3dcB (3cBA F2 F2|A/A/A A<A AE a<f|e<cB<c A2A2||

MY BONNIE LASS(IE). AKA and see "Scotland the Brave."

PLANXTY BROWNE (Pleraca Brunac). AKA and see "Maggie Brown's Favorite," "Peggy Brown," "Miss Margret Browne's Fancy." Irish, Air or Planxty (6/8 time, "lively"); New England, Jig. G Major. Standard. AB (O'Neill, Tolman): AAB (Spandaro). The tune is found in Scotland as the vehicle for the song "Twa Bonnie Maidens." Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 180, pg. 123 (appears as untitled tune). O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 243. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 692, pg. 127. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 43 (includes a harmony part). Tolman (Nelson Music Collection), 1969; pg. 20. Topic 313, "The Battlefield Band." Green Linet 1015, Eugene O'Donnell - "Slow Airs and Set Dances."

ROBIN ADAIR. AKA and see "Eiblin a Ruin," "Eileen/Aileen Aroon," "Ellen A Roon." Irish, Scottish; Air. The song was popularized in Scotland by the long-lived Irish harper Donnchadh a Haimpsuigh, also known as Denis O'Hampsey or Hempson (1697-1807), who had crossed over from Ireland a second time in 1745 to play for Bonnie Prince Charlie at Edinburgh (The collector Edward Bunting later noted several of Hempson's tunes). He played many Irish airs later claimed as Scottish, as this one was, according to Flood (1905, 1906). In fact, claims have been made by the Irish, Scots and English, for national origin of the piece.
***
The words of Robin Adair, to the tune of "Eileen Aroon," were written by Lady Caroline Keppell in the early 1750's about her lover, a surgeon named Robert Adair, to whom she was permitted to marry only several years later, in 1758, when she was twenty-one. She died in 1769 at the age of thirty-two. The song was first published under the "Adair" title in 1793 in The Edinburgh Musical Miscellany, volume II, pg. 304, and it was featured by Mr. Braham early in the 19th century.

SCONE PALACE. Scottish, Reel. F Sharp Minor. Standard. AABB'. Composed by Alexander Walker. Scone, Perth and Kinross, lies not far from the city of Perth, Scotland. It was the site of an abbey and the Stone of Destiny on which the Scottish kings were crowned since Kenneth I. Kenneth MacAlpin made Scone the capitol of his kingdom of Alba around the year 843 when he united the Picts and Scots. The abbey and Bishop's Palace were destroyed during the Scottish Reformation (1559). James, the Old Pretender, established his court there in 1716, and Bonnie Prince Charlie slept there in 1745. Since 1606 the palace has been the family home of the earls of Mansfield. Walker (A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Marches, &c), 1866; No. 163, pg. 56.

SCOTLAND THE BRAVE. AKA and see "My Bonnie Lass," "Brave Scotland," "Scotland Forever." Scottish, March (2/4 time); English, Morris Dance Tune. G Major (Brody, Wade): D Major (Reiner). Standard. AB (Wade): AABB (Brody): AA'BB (Reiner). Tune used for a polka step in the North-West (England) morris dance tradition, and a march in Scotland and Shetland. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 252. Reid, pg. 5. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1979; pg. 16 (includes variations). Wade (Mally's North West Morris Book), 1988; pg. 18. F&W Records 6, Fireside String Band--"Square Dance Tunes for a Yankee Caller." Front Hall 01, Fennigs All Stars- "The Hammered Dulcimer." Tradition 2118, Jim MacLeod & His Band - "Scottish Dances: Jigs, Waltzes and Reels" (1979).

SEVENTEEN COME SUNDAY. AKA and see "As I Roved Out." England, Ireland, Scotland; Air. The title is a maid's "most modest" reply to a question about her age in this popular British Isles song and air, which Albert L. Lloyd states (quoted in Cazden, et al, 1982) is a testimony to the permissive, almost pagan spirit surviving in British folkways that is probably the commonest and most popular folk song found in the British Isles today.
***
A portion of the tune is thought to be based on the old melody "Boyne Water," and though Lucy Broadwood traces the melody to the dance tune "The Collier's Bonnie Lassie," printed in William Thompson's Orpheus Caledonius (1725), Cazden finds the resemblance quite remote. The tune appears as the vehicle for a number of folksongs in the English-speaking world, including the Catskill Mountain (New York) collected "Where Are You Going, My Pretty Fair Maid?"

THIS IS NO MY AIN HOUSE. AKA and see "Colonel David Stewart of Garth's Reel." Scottish, Shetland; Reel or ("Very Slow" {Gow}) Strathspey. Shetland, Whalsay. D Major (Athole, Emmerson, Kerr): C Major (Dick, Emmerson, Thomson). Standard. AAB. Bonnie Prince Charlie danced to this tune at the house of Lude, near Blair, before the battle of Prestonpans, 1745 {he won that one} (Marshall monogram, 1845 Collection, and Winstock 1970). Country dance directions were recovered to the tune from the Holmain Manuscript from Dumfries-shire (c. 1710-1750). The earliest record of the tune, which appears to be a set of "De'il Stick the Minister," is from David Young's Duke of Perth Manuscript (AKA the Drummond Castle Manuscript) of 1734 (where it is listed as a country dance), and Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius, 1733. Gow published it twice, the second time in Sixth Collection, 1822, under the title "Colonel David Stewart of Garth's Reel," and it appears in James Aird's 1782 collection. It is now played as a strathspey in Scotland. Related tunes include "This is not my ain Lassie" and "Sean Trews/Triubhas." / Cooke (1986) prints the following text to this dance tune, collected in the Shetland Islands:
***
This is no me ain hoose
I ken by the tickin o it
Bread and butter were my door's cheeks
And pancakes were the tickin o it.
***
Aird (Selection), Vol. 2, 1782; No. 176. Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1983; Ex. 28, pgs. 49-50. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 225. Dick, No. 96. Emmerson (Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String), 1971; Nos. 12-13, pg. 131. Gow, First Collection, 1784. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; Set 13, No. 2, pg. 9. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 63. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 105. Thomson, Orpheus Caledonius, 1733; No. 32.
T:This is No' My Ain House
L:1/8
M:C|
R:Reel
B:The Athole Collection
K:D
A|FAAa f2 ed|B/c/d AF BEEG|FA Da f2 ed|B/c/d AG FDD:|
A|FAAd B/c/d AF|GBAF BEEG|F(AA)d B/c/d AF|GBAG FDDG|
FAAd B/c/d AF|GBAF BEEG|FADa gfed|B/c/d AG FDD||

WHEN THE KING ENJOYS HIS OWN AGAIN. AKA and see "World Turned Upside Down" [1]. English, March (4/4 time). G Major. Standard. AABC. This extremely popular tune was a Cavalier air and ballad by Mathew (or Martin) Parker which first appeared in 1643; political in nature, it supported Charles I, sang his praises and prognosticated his eventual victory in the civil wars (Merryweater, 1989). The song was circulated in secret during the commonwealth, although in the end the unfortunate Charles was, of course, beheaded and his cause lost. Ritson states the air "served afterwards, with more success, to keep up the spirits of the Cavaliers, and promote the restoration of his son--an event it was employed to celebrate all over the kingdom." As a Whig tune it was played in 1690 when the Irish (never ones to pass up a good tune, even though they learned it from the supporters of William the III) played it {in derision?} when they sacked Kilbrogan (Winstock, 1970; pg. 26). The Irish harper Denis Hempson (or O'Hempsey) was fifty years old when, on a second trip to Scotland in 1745, he played the tune for Prince Charlie in Edinburgh. Collinson (1975) reports it was played by bagpipers (in an altered form for the instrument) for Bonnie Prince Charlie upon the same occasion of his triumphal entry into Edinburgh. It was later played by Jacobite officers in a Manchester church as Bonnie Prince Charlies forces retreated to Scotland in 1745, feeling betrayed by the town whose former warm reception had turned hostile when the fortunes of the Prince waned (Winstock, 1970). Chappell (1859) says that, although the tune is sometimes claimed as Scottish, it is an English composition. He also states that it was not only a vehicle for numerous Jacobite songs, but that several written in support of the House of Hanover can be found. It appears in Musick's Recreation on the Lura-Viol (1652), Musick's Delight on the Cithren (1666), and Elizabeth Rogers' Virginal Book. Under the title "The King's Joy" it was printed in Richard Roberts' Cambrian Harmony (1829) and reprinted in Parry's Welsh Harper (1848), with the suggestion that it is an old Welsh tune "never before published arranged as they were originally performed by the Ancient Britons." Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), Vol. 1, 1859; pgs. 210-211.

WHERE/WHAR WAD OUR GUDMAN/BONNIE ANNIE LYE/LAYE? AKA and see "Red House." Scottish, English. The same tune ("Red House") is the ancestor to "John Peel." Aird (Selections), Vol. 1, 1778, No. 95. Gow (Vocal Melodies of Scotland), 1822; pg. 34. Johnson (The Scots Musical Museum), Vol. VI, 1787-1803, No. 324. Oswald (Caledonian Pocket Companion), Vol. 2, 1780?, pg. 22. Smith (Scottish Minstrel), Vol. VI, 1820-24, pg. 48.

WHISTLE OVER/O'ER (THE LAVE O'T). Scottish (originally), English; Rant or Strathspey. England, Northumberland. G Major (Alburger, Glen, Gow, Hall & Stafford, Kerr, Neil, Raven): E Flat Major (Emmerson). Standard. One part (Emmerson, Hunter): AAB (Kerr, Neil): AABB (Alburger, Hall & Stafford, Raven): AABCCD (Athole), AABBCCDD (Glen, Gow, McGlashan). The tune (and song, both extent in several versions) appears to be an early 18th century set of "De'il Stick the Minister," and has often been attributed to John Bruce of Dumfries (c. 1720-1785, born in Braemar), the poet Robert Burns being the first to do so. Others (e.g. Mayne) say the air was composed long before him, and Emmerson (1971) finds in all little evidence to support claims for Bruce. A colorful character, Bruce was a Jacobite, born in Braemar between 1700 and 1720, who was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle after the rising of 1745 and the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Reportedly his skill as a fiddler helped free him and he went to Dumfries where he became acquainted with Robert Burns (who called him "an honest man, though a red wud Highlander") before passing away in 1785 (Collinson, 1966/Alburger, 1983). Flood (1906) says the tune was originally an Irish air dating back to the 17th century called "Maggie Pickens," which the Scots appropriated c. 1715-1740 and set to the song "Whistle O'er the Lave O't" (whose words were so indelicate, according to Flood, that Robert Burns had to rewrite them in 1790. The tune was a favorite march of the Irish Volunteers (1774-1784).
***
"Whistle's" first printed appearance was in 1757 in either Robert Bremner's Scots Reels (pg. 56) {as Glen, 1891, finds} or James Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion where it appears in rant form. Alburger searched the Blaikie Manuscript (1692), as it had been reported by James Dick to be contained there, however she could not locate it in the Wighton copy. It is one of the "missing tunes" from William Vickers' 1770 Northumbrian dance manuscript, but is contained in the 1768 Gillespie Manuscript of Perth. Today, the version that was published by James Scott Skinner (1890) is commonly associated (along with "Gin ye kiss my Wife") with the Scottish traditional dance "Sean(n) Triubhas," which is performed in tartan trousers, not kilts, though other items of Highland dress remain the same. In fact, states Emmerson (1972) "Whistle" is so intimately associated with the dance that it is now commonly known as "Seann Triubhas" (see also note for "Seann Triubhas Willighan," the original tune for the dance).
***
The song "Whistle o'er the lave o't" was written in the 17th century and contains ribald lyrics which can be found in David Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs. "One of many Scots songs with indelicate suggestions," notes Purser (1992), "'fiddling' has long been a double-entendre and whistling a way of avoiding the overexplicit." Burns' words go, in part:
***
I am a fiddler to my trade
An' a' the tunes that e'er I play'd
The sweetest still to wife or maid
Was - Whistle owre the lave o't.
***
My mother sent me to the well,
She had better gang hersell,
I got the thing I dare nae tell,
Whistle o'er the lave o't.
***
The first verse of this version first appears in the Merry Muses where it is the chorus of "Let me ryke up to dight that tear,' while the 2nd verse is from Herd's book of Scots Songs (1769), referenced above. Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1982; Ex. 87, pg. 140. Dick, No. 250. Emmerson (Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String), 1971; No. 36, pg. 133. Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Music), Vol. 1, 1891; pg. 6. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 12. Hall & Stafford (Charlton Memorial Tune Book), 1974; pg. 1. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 53. Henderson, Flowers of Scottish Melody, 1935. Hunter (The Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 87. Johnson, Musical Museum, 1787. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; Set 16, No. 3, pg. 11. McGlashan (Collection of Strathspey Reels), c. 1780/81; pg. 31. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 96, pg. 129. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 180. Skinner, 1890 (Harp and Claymore). Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 172. "James F. Dickie's Delights" (1976). "The Fiddler's Companion" (1980).
T:Whistle O'er the Lave O't
L:1/8
M:C
R:Slow Strathspey
B:The Athole Collection
K:G
G>E E<G B>A B2|d<e B>g A>G E2|G>D E<G G>AB>g|G<G B>G A2G2:|
de/f/ g>f e>d B2| d>eB>g A>G E2|de/f/ g>f e>d B<g|G<G B>G A2 G2|
de/f/ g>f e>d B2|c>aB>g A>G E2|g>be>g d>g B<b|G<G B>G A2 G2||
|:G>BA>c B>GA>c|B>GA>F G>B, A,2|G,>B,A,>C B,>D G<B|
A>Bc>B A2 G2:|
G/A/B/c/ d<g e>cB>G|c>AB>G A>G E2|BA/B/ cB/c/ de/f/ g2|
G<G B>G A2G2|G/A/B/c/ d<g e>cB>G|ce/c/ Bd/B/ A>G E2|
g>be>g d>g B<b|G<G B>G A2 G2||

WHITE COCKADE, THE [1] (An Cnota Bán). AKA and see "The Duke of Buccleugh's Tune," "The Ranting Highlander/Highlandman," "Fiddler's Morris," "A Highland Lad My Love Was Born," "The Highland Laddie," "The Lad With the White Cockade," "O, An Ye Were Dead, Guidman," "The Rose in the Garden" (a Kings County, PEI title), "White Cock Head." Scottish (originally), Irish, English, Canadian, American; Scottish Measure, Reel, March, or Country Dance. USA; New England, New Hampshire, Maine, southwestern Pa., New York, Michigan. Canada, Prince Edward Island. G Major. Standard. AB (Bayard, O'Neill/1850, Skye): AAB (Linscott): AABB (Athole, Breathnach, Brody, Carlin, Hardie, Hunter, Johnson, Kennedy, Miller & Perron, Morrison, O'Neill/1915, Raven, Shaw, Sweet, Trim). The tune in its original form is properly catagorized a Scottish Measure. One of the first printings of the air is in Playford's Apollo's Banquet of 1687 where it was called simply a "Scots tune," and another early title seems to have been "The Duke of Buccleugh's Tune." Bayard (1981) dates the tune to the latter 17th century (apparently due to the Playford publication), but admits it might be older, although Flood (1906) more decisively (though without documentation) identifies it as a popular air and song of 1615-1630. Linscott (1939) finds a relatively late printing by Herd in 1776, by which time the air was thoroughly established.
***
A cockade was a ribbon in the shape of a rosette used as a decoration on hats, and thus was a convenient vehicle to display the wearer's loyalties in much the same manner as a button or a bumper sticker nowadays. It was used especially as a uniform decoration and to mark irregular troops in the 18th century and various colors represented different loyalties. A white cockade was associated with Jacobite rebels in 1715 and again for Bonnie Prince Charlie's uprising in 1745, in both Scotland and Ireland. The Americans, with a high percentage of both Scots-Irish and Irish in their ranks who identified with the earlier rebels, adopted the white cockade as their symbol during the Revolutionary War and when France entered the war they added the black cockade of that country's troops, forming the black and white "Alliance cockade" (Johnson, Scottish Fiddle Music in the 18th Century, 1984, and others). It is popularly though the title of the tune refers to a these Jacobite symbols. Jacobite associations to it dimmed by the end of the century, allowing the tune to be absorbed (like the Highlander's kilts) and used as a march in the British army in 1812 where it appears in a military musician's manuscript book of the period (Winstock). Other military citations include it as one of two stirring tunes (along with "St. Patrick's Day in the Morning") played by pipers attached to the Irish Brigade in the service of France which helped to turn the tide of battle against the English troops in the battle of Fontenoy on May 11, 1745 (O'Neill, 1913). Flood (1906) and O'Neill (1913) state it was probably the last appearance in battle of the Irish Piob mor (war pipes or great pipes, which did survive in Scotland) of any mention.
***
The title is from a Jacobite song from the 18th century written by Muiris mac Daibhi mac Gerailt (Maurice FitzDavid FitzGerald) perhaps after, it has been variously suggested, the fashion of wearing white ribboned plumes in men's hats of the time or possibly to the white cockade which Dublin ladies wore in their hair to show their support of the House of Stewart. Breathnach (CRE II) reports that Seán Ó Dálaigh wrote a note to this song stating that it refers not, as many think, to a military cockade but rather to bouquets of ribbons worn by the young women of Munster at weddings and other such occasions early in the 17th century. This custom is referred to in a verse Ó Dálaigh attributes to the period poet Muiris Mac Gearailt:
***
A chailín donn deas an chnota bháin,
Do bhuair is mheall mé le h-iomad grá;
Tair-se liom 's ná de/an me/ chrá,
Mar do thug mé greann dod' chnota bán.
***
Oh pretty brown girl of the white cockade,
Who grieved and charmed me with abundance of love;
Come with me and don't torment me,
Because I mocked your white cockade. [translation by Paul de Grae]
***
The Scots poet Robert Burns rewrote the lyrics as "A Highland Lad my Love was
Born," but the tune itself seems to have been more popular than even his song, and it was often used as a vehicle for various songs about love, topography, and drinking (see "The Ranting Highlander," "The Highland Laddie," "Fiddler's Morris"). {As an aside, Burn's originally specified his lyric be sung to the tune of the song "O, and ye were dead, Guidman," which was written to the melody of "Watson's Scotch Measure"}. "White Cockade" was commonly played at Orange County, New York, country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly). The tune is associated with a dance of the same name in New England, and one set appears in Linscott's Folk Songs of Old New England; Johnson also prints a Scottish contra dance to the tune. Burchenal (1918) gives the tune as commonly played in that region for the contra dance Camptown Hornpipe. It was listed in the repertoire of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham (the elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's). The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he published c. 1800. The English novelist Thomas Hardy, himself an accordion player and fiddler, mentions the tune in scene notes to his drama The Dynasts:
***
It is a June Midnight at The Duke & Duchess of Richmond's. A band
of stringed instruments shows in the background. The room is crowded
with a brilliant assemblage of more than two hundred of the distinguished
people sojourning in the city on account of the war and other reasons, and
of local personages of State and fashion. The ball has opened with 'The
White Cockade.'
***
The author of English Folk-Song and Dance (pg. 144) found the tune in the repertoire of fiddler William Tilbury (who lived at Pitch Place, midway between Chrut and Thursley in Surrey), who, in his young days, used to play the fiddle at village dances. Tilbury learned his repertoire from an uncle, Fiddler Hammond, who died around 1870 and who was the village musician before him. The conclusion was that "The White Cockade" and similar old country dance tunes survived in tradition (at least in southwest Surrey) well into the second half of the 19th century. A jig form of the tune is known as "A Hundred Pipers and A'."
***
Sources for notated versions: Dennis McClure (Willimantic, Conn.) [Linscott]; Clyde Lloyd (fifer from Indiana County, Pa., 1952), Hiram Horner (fifer from Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pa., 1960), Hogg (Pa., 1948), George Strosnider (fiddler from Greene County, Pa., 1930's) [Bayard]; flute and whistle Micho Russell, 1973 (Doolin, Co. Clare) [Breathnach]; Francis MacDonald (b. 1940, Morell Rear, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]; tin whistle player Micho Russell (Doolin, County Clare) [Breathnach]. Adam, 1928; No. 16. Aird (Selections), 1778 (1782?), Vol. 1, No. 1 (appears as "The Ranting Highlandman," a title G. Farquhar Graham thought Aird found more prudent than "The White Cockade" as sentiments from the rising of '45 were still strong). American Veteran Fifer, 1927; No. 13, pg. 7. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), No. 174A-D, pgs. 125-126. Blake (Ye Ancient Song and Fife), 1974; pg. 26. Breathnach (CRE II), 1976; No. 115, pg. 63. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 291. Burchenal (American Country Dances, Vol. 1), 1918; pg. 18 (appears as "Camptown Hornpipe"). Cahusac's Pocket Companion for the Flute, 1795?, Vol. 1, pg. 40. Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 466. Cazden, Jigs, Reels and Squares, Vol. 1, pg. 20. Creighton, 1933; No. 85, pg. 183. DeVille, 1905; No. 73. Emmerson (Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String), pg. 124. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 109. Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1816; No. 126. Gow (Vocal Melodies of Scotland), 1822; pg. 35. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 2, 1802; pg. 19. Graham, 1908; pg. 219. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 29. Harding Collection (1915) and Harding's Original Collection (1928), No. 18. Howe (School for the Violin), 1851, pg. 33. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 313. Huntington, (William Litten's), 1977; pg, 17. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes); No. or pg. 22. JEFDSS, Vol. 1, pg. 94 (2nd half). JFSS, Vol. IV, pg. 159 (2nd half). Johnson (The Scots Musical Museum), 1787-1803, Vol. 3, No. 272 (apparently the first printing in Scotland). Johnson (Twenty-Eight Country Dances as Done at the New Boston Fair), Vol. 8, 1988; pg. 10. Joyce (Ancient Irish Music), 1873, No. 80. Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Song), 1909; No. 112. Keller (Giles Gibbs Jr., His Book for the Fife...1777), 1974, pg. 28. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 60, pg. 29. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 2, pg. 23 & pg. 40. Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pgs. 117 & 120. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg 170. McDonald (The Gesto Collection), 1895; pgs. 6 & 126. McDonald (Highland Vocal Airs), 1784; pg. 33 (Dance No. 5). Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler's Repertoire), 1983; No. 105. Morrison (Twenty-Four Early American Country Dances, Cotillions & Reels, for the Year 1976), 1976; pg. 41. O'Daly, 1849, Vol. 1, pg. 50. O'Malley, 1919, pg. 41. O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 108, pg. 61 (includes variations). O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 1803, pg. 328. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 155. Preston, 1796, pg. 127. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 151. Ritson (Scottish Songs), Vol. II, pg. 430. Robbins, 1933, No. 82, pg. 26. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 80, pg. 29. The Scottich Country Dance Book, 1930-57, No. 5 (tune 11). Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 391. Smith (Scottish Minstrel), 1820-24, Vol. 1, pg. 21. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 147. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 32. Thompson (Scottish Airs for the Voice), 1805, Vol. 4, No. 188. Tolman (Nelson Music Collection), pg. 168. Trim (Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 6 (appears as "White Cock Head"). White's Excelsior Collection, 1907; pg. 72. Wilson (Companion to the Ballroom), 1840; pgs. 39 & 54. ALcazar Dance Series FR 204, Rodney Miller - "New England Chestnuts 2" (1981). Folkways FA 2381, "The Hammered Dulcimer as played by Chet Parker" (1966). Folkways FTS 31036, Roger Sprung- "Grassy Licks." North Star NS0038, "The Village Green: Dance Music of Old Sturbridge Village." Olympic 6151, The Scottish Festival orchestra- "Scottish Traditonal Fiddle Music" (1978). RCA 09026-60916-2, The Chieftains - "An Irish Evening" (1991). Transatlantic 337, Dave Swarbrick- "Swarbrick." Victor 20537 (78 RPM), Mellie Dunham (Me.), 1926 (appears as 2nd tune of "Medley of Reels").
T:White Cockade, The
L:1/8
M:C|
R:Country Dance
B:The Athole Collection
K:G
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YE BANKS AND BRAES (O' BONNY DOON). AKA and see "Bonny Doon," "Lost is my quiet," "The Caledonian Hunt's Delight." Scottish, Waltz. D Major. Standard. AB. The antiquarian William Chappell claims the tune is English on the strength of its being included in a Collection of English Songs by Dale (who published about 1780-1794) under the title "Lost is my quiet." However, the collector John Glen (1891) relates a delightful story of the tune's origins involving the great Scots poet, Robert Burns, who wrote to George Thomson in 1794:
**
Do you known the history of the air? It is curious enough. A
good many years ago, Mr. James Miller, writer in your good
own (Edinburgh), a gentleman whom, possibly, you know, was
in company with our good friend Clarke; and taling of Scottish
music, Miller expressed an ardent ambition to be able to
compose a Scots air. Mr. Clarke, partly by way of a joke, told
him to keep to the black keys of the harpsichord, and preserve
some kind of rhythm, and he would infallibly compose a Scots
air. Certain it is, that, in a few days, Mr. Miller produced the
rudiments of an air which Mr. Clarke, with some touches and
corrections, fashioned into the tune in question. Ritson, you
know, has the same story of the black keys; but this account
which I have just given you, Mr. Clarke informed me of several
years ago.
**
Miller's tune was first published under the title "The Caledonian Hunt's Delight" in Gow's 2nd Collection (1788), but Glen concludes that it is more likely that "Lost is my quiet" is a poor adaptation and nothing else. He also notes there is a tune having a supposed resemblance in Playford's Appollo's Banquet (1690) entitled "A Scotch Tune" (No. 68), but in the end he believes that "neither Chappell's arguments nor facts are strong enough to deprive Mr. Miller of his claim." Francis O'Neill (Irish Folk Music, pg. 56), taking up the Irish banner, reports that George Farquhar Graham, editor of Wood's Songs of Scotland, states there is an Irish claim to the melody which predates the Burns verses. A jig setting can be found in Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 4, pg. 28, as "Bonnie Doon."
**
The song begins:
**
Ye banks and braes O' Bonnie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chaunt, ye little birds,
And I'm sae wearyful O' care?
Ye'll break my heart ye warbling bird,
That warbles on the flow'ry thorn.
Ye mind me O' departed joys, Departed never to return.
**
In the United States an early printing appears in the Ira Clark Jr. Manuscript (pg. 55), from the year 1790. Mr. Clark resided in Simsbury, Connecticut. A variant can be found in the American Veteran Fifer.
**
Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 3, pg. 25.
T:Ye Banks and Braes
M:3/4
L:1/4
S:Kevin Briggs
K:D
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P:pause
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Ceolas > Tunes > Fiddler's Companion

The Fiddler's Companion

Ceolas > Tunes > Fiddler's Companion