BORDER MAIDEN, THE. Scottish, Air (4/4 time). G Minor ('A' and 'C' parts) & G Major ('B' and 'D' parts). Standard. ABB'CC. Composed by E. Berger.
**
A maiden sat 'lone in her green wood bow'r,
A sun beam fell on her golden hair,
And she sang as she wove the silken flow'r,
In the banner her own true love should bear.
The war cry ran through the morning grey,
O, bravely our lads of the Border fought,
And aye in the thick of the deadly fray,
Shone the silken banner the maiden wrought.
A knight on the moorland brown and bare,
Lies cold and dead, when the fight is done,
And the maiden will moan in her wild despair,
When the spearmen return at the set of sun.
For home must be guarded whatever betide,
Home must be guarded whatever betide,
And the brave lads of Yarrow must saddle and ride
When the beacon is lit on the border.
**
Signal fires, or beacons, were lit to signal to the countryside of the approach of an enemy. In Scotland, they stretched from Hume to Soutra, onward to Edinburgh, and across the Forth into Fife and Stirling, to call men to war. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 30, pg. 39.
BRAVE SCOTLAND. AKA and see "Scotland the Brave," "Scotland Forever."
BRAW (BRAVE) LADS OF JEDBURGH, THE. AKA and see "Newburn Lads." English/Scottish, Reel. England, Northumberland. G Major. Standard. AABB. Jedburgh is a city in the Lowlands region of Scotland which once featured a famous abbey. Hall and Stafford (Charlton Memorial Tune Book), 1974; pg. 7. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984, pg. 184.
CEASE NOT TO ROW BRAVE BOYS (Fhearaibh mo rùin na diultaibh iomairt). Scottish, Jig. C Major. Standard. AAB. This tune "was acquired from Dr. Morison, formerly mentioned as a native of Lews; the words describe a boat or vessel in imminent hazzard, and the hands overpowered with fatigue, whilst one of the number strikes up this ditty to cheer them up, and keep time,-- alluding to the knowledge and skill of their steersman, and the power of Providence to send them instant relief,-- the sure way to obtain which, was by every man performing his duty" (Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 197, pg. 82.
T:Cease not to row, brave Boys
T:Fhearaibh mo rùin na diultaibh iomairt
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Fraser Collection
K:C
C|CEE E2G|(EG)F EDC|(CE)E E2c|B>A^G A2c|(CE)E E2G|E(GF) EDC|
CEE Ece|dcB A2c:|
c>eg ceg|(c/B/c/d/)e/f/ gec|cec' (a/g/)f/e/d/c/|deg ~a2 c'|
c>eg ceg|(c/B/c/d/e/f/) gec|(f/e/)d/c/B/A/ GF/E/D/C/|DEG A2e|c>eg ceg|
(c/B/c/d/e/f/) gec|cec' (a/g/)f/e/d/c/|deg ~a2c'|ceg (e<c)e|(d<B)d c>de|
(CE)E (EA)c|B>A^G A2c||
DUSINBERRY MARCH, THE. AKA and see "The Jutenberry March." American, March (2/4 time). USA, southwestern Pa. C Major. Standard. AA'BB'. Bayard (1981) calls this one tune in a "presumptive tune family," by which he means a group of seemingly related tunes which may have been derived from one particular one, or developed from an ancestral version, or cognate with one another; it is, however, impossible to trace. The march here is similar to the today well known "Scotland the Brave" (also known as "Scotland Forever" or "Brave Scotland"). Other tunes that have a general resemblance, according to Bayard, are "The Tinware Lass," "Whistling Mike" and "Pewter Mug" (which he thought were closely related to Joyce's harp tune "The Ladies Dressed in Their Garments So Green"); also "The March of the Die Hards," the 57th Regiment Scots, and the Pennsylvania collected "Star of Bethlehem." Derivative seemed to him Smith's ("The Scotish Minstrel," Vol. VI, 1820; pg. 38) "Loch-na-Gar". The title given here is ambiguous, his source having pronunced it 'Dusinberry' in 1946 and 'Jutenberry' in 1960; he was clear that the had learned it from a great-uncle who had been wounded in the leg while playing it in some Civil War engagement, and said the bullet "stopped the tune and the fifer too." (pg. 256). Source for notated verison: Harry Queer (Westmoreland County, Pa., 1946) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 302, pg. 256.
HECTOR [MACDONALD] THE HERO. Scottish, Lament ("with intense sadness," 6/8 time). A Major. Standard. AAB (Hunter): AA'BB (Perlman): ABC (Martin, Skinner). Composed by the great Scots fiddler and composer J. Scott Skinner (1843-1927) in honor of the famous Major-General Sir Hector MacDonald (1857 - 1903), one of the most famous Victorian-era British military figures. MacDonald was born in the Black Ilse and at the age of thirteen enlisted in the 92 Gordon Highlanders. He came up through the ranks, serving as a color-sergeant in the Afghan War, until he was promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant at the end of those hostilities. Transferred to South Africa, he was mentioned in dispatches in the 1st Boer War, and in 1885 he led a military expedition up the Nile to Sudanese territory. In 1888 he took part in the Battle of Sunkin and a year later won the Distinguished Service Order for his service in Sudan. He remained in the Sudan for the next decade, seeing action in the Battle of Tokar (1891), and leading the 2nd Infantry Brigade in the Dunglen Expeditionary Force, by which time he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General. During the next two years he took part in the battles of Khartoum and Omdurman, with which he ended his Sudan service. He subsequently served as the Aide de Camp to Queen Victoria and as a Major General with the Highland Bridgade in South Africa during the Boer War. In 1901 he was knighted and the next year was stationed as Major General with British forces in Ceylon, however, in 1903 he was accused of being a homosexual and, feeling disgraced, he committed suicide.
***
Though the charge of homosexuality was probably true it was popularly believed by all levels of society in Scotland at the time that MacDonald had been framed. Soon after the incident Edward VII made his first visit to Scotland, though the atmosphere was decidedly chilly.
***
This ballad was composed in the soldier's honor:
***
HECTOR THE HERO
***
Lament him, ye mountains of Ross-shire;
Your tears be the dew and the rain;
Ye forests and straths, let the sobbing winds
Unburden your grief and pain.
Lament him, ye warm-hearted clansmen,
And mourn for a kinsman so true
The pride of the Highlands, the valiant MacDonald
Will never come back to you.
***
O, wail for the mighty in battle,
Loud lift ye the Coronach strain;
For Hector, the Hero, of deathless fame,
Will never come back again.
***
Lament him, ye sons of old Scotia,
Ye kinsmen on many a shore;
A patriot-warrior, fearless of foe,
Has fallen to rise no more.
O cherish his triumph and glory
On Omdurman's death-stricken plain,
His glance like the eagle's, his heart like the lion's
His laurels a nation's gain.
***
O, wail for the mighty in battle,
Loud lift ye the Coronach strain;
For Hector, the Hero, of deathless fame,
Will never come back again.
***
O rest thee, brave heart, in thy slumber,
Forgotten shall ne'er be thy name;
The love and the mercy of Heaven be thine;
Our love thou must ever claim.
To us thou art Hector the Hero,
The chivalrous, dauntless, and true;
The hills and the glens, and the hearts of a nation,
Re-echo the wail for you.
***
O, wail for the mighty in battle,
Loud lift ye the Coronach strain;
For Hector, the Hero, of deathless fame,
Will never come back again.
***
Perlman (1996) notes that the melody is currently played on Prince Edward Island as a lament at funeral services. Source for notated version: Sterling Baker (b. mid-1940's, Morell, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island; now resident of Montague) [Perlman]. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 29. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle), Vol. 2, 1988; pg. 24. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 208. Skinner (The Scottish Violinist), pg. 49. The Bothy Band (1st album). Dougie MacDonald - "A Minor." Green Linnet GLCD 1189, John Cunningham - "Celtic Fiddle Festival: Encore." Greentrax CDTRAX 096, "Tony McManus" (1995).
T:Hector the Hero
C:James Scott Skinner
Z:Juergen.Gier@post.rwth-aachen.de
L:1/4
M:3/4
K:A
A,|{B,}C>>B,A,|{E}F>>EC|{D}E3|~E2A,|{A,B,}C>>B,A,|{E}F>>EC|\
{A,}B,3|~B,2A,/<B,/|{B,}C>>B,A,|{E}F>>EC|{D}E2A,|{A,}[A,2A2]{AB}A/F/|\
E<<A,{B,}C|{D}B,2=G,/<A,/|A,3|~A,2||A|{AB}c>>BA|{A}f>>ec|e3|e2A|\
{AB}c>>BA|{A}f>>ec|{A}B3|~B2A/<B/|c>>BA|{A}f>>ec|{c}e2A|\
{ABcdefg}a2{ab}af|e<<A{B}c|{Bd}[E2B2]{Bd}[E/B/][E/A/]|[E3A3]|\
[E2A2]c/<[c/e/]||[d2f2][~df]|[c2a2]g/<f/|[A3e3]|[A2e2]c/<[c/e/]|\
[d2f2]{fg}e/<c/|e<<AB/<c/|[E3B3]|[E2B2]c/<[c/e/]|[d2f2]f/{gfef}>g/|\
[c2a2]a/{bag}>f/|e<<AB|c<<a{ab}a/f/|e<<AB/<c/|\
{Bd}[E2B2]{Bd}[E/B/][D/A/]|[E3A3]|[E2A2]|]
IRISHMAN'S TOAST, THE. AKA and see "Scotland the Brave." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard. AB. The note for the tune in Darley & McCall says it was adapted to the Fenian ballad "General Burke's Dream." Source for notated version: from a MS of Mr. James Corrigan (Clara, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland) [Darley & McCall]. Darley & McCall (The Darley & McCall Collection of Traditional Irish Music), 1914; No. 42, pg. 18.
LOCH NA GAR [1]. Scottish; Strathspey or Highland Strathspey. D Major. Standard. AB. Similar to "Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine," said Bayard in his 1944 volume. In his 1981 work he speculates that this and several other Scottish(??) tunes are "interresebled," cognate with one another, or derivative or some ancestral tune, referencing such tunes as "Pewter Mug" (Ford), "The Tinware Lass" (Coles), "Whistling Mike" (O'Neill's), "The Ladies Dressed in Their Garments So Green" (Joyce), "Dusinberry March" (Bayard), and perhaps "Scotland the Brave." Bayard (1981) also sees his Pennsylvania collected "The Star of Bethlehem" as a member of this tune family. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 124. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 2; No. 214, pg. 24. Smith (Scottish Minstrel), Vol. 6, pg. 38. White's Excelsior Collection, pg. 70.
MACALISDRUM'S MARCH ("Máirseáil Alasdroin" or "Máirseáil Alasdruim"). AKA and see "Alastrum's March," "Alasdruim's March," "The Church Hill," "Kitty the Rag, I'm in Love with You," "MacDonnell's March," "Ollistrum Jig" (O'Neill). Irish, Scottish; March (6/8 time). Ireland, Munster. D Major. Standard. AABBCC (Bunting): ABCD (O'Neill).
***
Alaster or Alexander MacDonnell, also known as Alasdair Mac Allisdrum/MacAllistrum or Colkittu (Colkitto), was a commander who was killed at the battle of Knockinoss (Cnoc na nDos, or Shrub Hill), near Mallow, County Cork, in the south of Ireland, in September, 1647. The famous martial hero was a Scotsman, a brave and skilful warrior who commanded Lord Antrim's Irish in Scotland under Montrose, and when Montrose's army was broken up he and his Irish returned to Ireland, joining the confederation of Catholics under Lord Taaffe in Munster. At the battle of Cnoc na nDos (Knockinoss) one account (quoted by Flood, 1906) gives that he was assassinated while parlaying with the English Parliamentary forces under Lord Inchiquinn, while Bunting (1840) states that "after the rout of the main body of the Irish, Macdonnell and his people held their ground till they were cut to pieces by the English. It is said that none escaped." MacDonnell's sword, which had a steel apple running in a groove on the back supposedly to increase the striking force, was in Bunting's time said to still have been preserved in Loghan Castle, County Tipperary. Bunting (1840) states Allisdrum was the son of Coll Kittogh (Ciotach) or Left-handed Coll, also a famous warrior whose name has been preserved by Milton in the lines:
***
Why, it is harder, Sirs, than Gordon,
Colkittor, or MacDonnall, or Galasp.
***
Flood (1906) states: "We may form some idea of the desperate courage which inspired these men from the impetuous energy and wild shrilly fervour of this strain, which is undoubtedly the same pibroach (pipe tune) that they marched to on the morning of their last battle...This march was played at his funeral by war-pipers when his remains were interred in the ancestral tomb of the O'Callaghans at Clonmeen (near Kanturk), County Cork, and ever since has been called "Máirseáil Alasdroim." Breathnach (1966) believes that Flood's statement that the piece was a death-march especially composed by the Irish warpipers at the time is almost certainly untrue, and notes Flood now has a reputation for repeating some extremely questionable facts.
***
In 1750 Dr. Charles Smith (in his History of Cork, volume II, pg. 159) noted the tune was "well-known in Munster...a wild rhapsody...much esteemed by the Irish and played at all their feasts" (Flood, 1906; Bunting, 1840). Despite its supposed age, however, the oldest appearance of the noted music is to be found in a MS collection from Lisronagh (near Clonmel), County Tipperary, dating from 1784, and Crofton Croker's 1824 Researches in the South of Ireland also contains a printing of the piece. According to O'Neill (1913), Croker acknowledged its popularity in the south of Ireland but thought that "Ollistrum's March" (as he called it) should not be considered an Irish air, but rather Scottish due to its stylistic similarity to the pibroch of that country. Again, Breathnach (1966) demures, saying that there is no good grounds for Croker's assertion that "Allasdrum's March" is not Irish. Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains seems to split the difference when he states the tune reflects the "rich fertilisation between Irish and Scottish harpers and pipers."
***
Croker goes on to say: "The estimation in which it is held in Ireland is wonderful. I have heard this march, as it is called, sung by hundreds of the Irish peasantry who imitate the drone of the bagpipe in their manner of singing it. On that instrument I have also heard it played and occasionally with much pleasure from the peculiar and powerful expression given by the performer." O'Sullivan (1983) notes the piece is printed by Bunting (1840) but that his version is only a section of a longer descriptive piece for pipers called "Máriseáil Alasdruim." It is a relatively complicated programmatic tune, in its entirety. Goodman, writing in 1861, described the piece as he heard it from Kerry pipers:
***
...(It) contains in addition to the March, the Gathering, the Battle,
the shouts on the fall of Allisdrum, and the cries, first of the mother,
the Munsterwoman, then that of his nurse, a Leinsterwoman, with
the lament of his wife, the Ulsterwoman, and the piece concludes
with the old jig 'Cnocán an Teampuill' which she is said to have
struck up so soon as she ascertained that her husband was really dead.
***
A variant of the piece is called "Sarsfield's Quickstep" and appears in Haverty's Three Hundred Irish Airs (1858-1859). Sources for notated versions: Bunting noted the piece from "a piper at Westport (Co. Mayo), 1802"; Willie Clancy (Miltown Malbay, County Clare), who had his version from an old piper, Mickey McMahon, who lived at Kilcororan (County Clare) and called it "Alexander's March" [Breathnach]. O'Neill (1913), pg. 124 (appears as "Allistrum's March"). Breathnach (Ceol II, 3), 1966. Breathnach (The Man and His Music), 1997; pg. 18. O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 112, pgs. 161-162. Claddagh CC17, Sean Keane - "Gusty's Frolics." Island ILPS9432, The Chieftains - "Bonaparte's Retreat" (1976). RCA 09026-61490-2, The Chieftains - "The Celtic Harp" (1993).
X:1
T:MacAllistrum's March
R:march
D:Chieftain's - Celtic Harp
Z:Michael Hogan
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:D
|:Fdd fee|fdd dBA|Fdd fee|fdd B2A:|
|:~F2E FDD|Fdd dBA|~F2E FDD|Fdd B2A:|
|:d2f e2f|ded dBA|d2f e2f|ded B2A:|
|~B2A B2E|~B2A BAF|(3Bcd B c2F|(3Bcd B cAF|
~B2A B2E|~B2A BAF|BdB c2F|Bdc BAG||
X:2
T:Máirseáil Alasdruim
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Breathnach (Man and His Music, 1997)
K:G
c|ABG AGF|G2g fdc|ABG AGF|Ggf d2c|
ABG AGF|Ggg fdc|ABB cBc|dgf d2c:|
|:Aff Agg|age fdc|Aff Agg|age (3dedc|
Aff Agg|bag fde|fef g3|age d2:|
MACPHERSON'S LAMENT. AKA and see "Antarctic Ice," "Macpherson's Rant," "Macpherson's Farewell," "McFarsance's Tes(ta)ment," "MacFossett's Farewell," "The Freebooter." Scottish (originally), English; Air or Lament. England, Northumberland. F Major (Gow, Neil): G Major (Hardie, Skinner): D Major (Lerwick): A Major (Carlin). Standard. AB (Skinner): ABCD (Hardie): AABBCCDD (Gow, Neil): ABCDEF (Lerwick). Though there is no proof, the melody is popularly thought to have been composed by one of Scotland's first so called fiddle composers, the legendary James Macpherson, "on the eve of execution, by Himself, 1700" (Skinner). It appears in a manuscript by an anonymous publisher, c. 1730, under the title "MacFossett's Farewell," and, still earlier, in the Margaret Sinkler Manuscript (1710) under the title "McFarsance's Tes(ta)ment." MacPherson was born in Banffshire about 1675, the son, it is said, of a beautiful gypsy woman and a Highland laird, MacPherson of Invershire, Inverness-shire. He was raised by his father who unfortunately died young, at which time he went to live with his mother (whose good looks he had inherited, though perhaps he acquired his immense physical presence and strength from his father). As MacPherson grew to adulthood he was lured to the wilder life and became the leader of a lawless gypsy roving band, and he developed a reputation as a freebooter who operated in the counties of Aberdeen, Banff and Moray. Highwaymen were not rare in Scotland, and once he was captured and condemned it is likely he would have been forgotten, but MacPherson insured his lasting fame with a grand gesture on the cold November morning of his execution (11/7/1700) on the scaffold at Market Cross in Banff.
***
Though various legends differ in the details the main thread has MacPherson, with his fiddle in his hand, stepping onto the platform whereupon he took up his bow and proceeded to play his last communication to the world, his rant (or sometimes three tunes: "MacPherson's Rant," "MacPherson's Pibroch" and "MacPherson's Farewell"). At the conclusion of his performance he offered his violin to the assembled spectators (or, as one version goes, "to anyone in the crowd who would think well of him"), but either no one was brave enough to take it from the hands of a condemned man, or he had no well-wishers in attendance, or no one wished to implicate themselves by receiving the instrument. He looked around scornfully, lifted the fiddle and broke it over his knee in a grand gesture of contempt, though (as if the shattering were not dramatic enough) some versions have him dashing the instrument over the head of his executioner and flinging himself headlong off the scaffold and into oblivion. At least one version has him throwing the pieces of the instrument into his awaiting grave, though the broken remains of the fiddle he supposedly played that day can be seen in the Macpherson Clan Museum at Newtonmore.
***
It seems the best legends are those that embroider true facts, and that a freebooter named MacPherson was hanged in Banff in 1700 is a matter of record. It is a matter of belief, however, that he composed and played the rant which now bears his name. Alburger (1983) finds that there is no contemporary evidence that the outlaw was a fiddler, much less a composer:
***
Turning to the trial records, published in 1846, one finds this sole reference
to MacPherson and anything musical: 'M'Pherson...wes one night in the
house at that tyme, and drunk with the res, and danced all night.' The only
musician mentioned in this account is Peter Broune, who 'went sometymes
to Elchies, and played on the wiol' and 'got money sometyms for playing on
the wiol...' (He may have been one of the 'Browns of Kincardine' referred to
later in this chapter as early strathspey players and composers.) Nor is the
earliest broadside helpful. 'The Last Words of James Macpherson, Murderer',
printed about 1705, contains nothing about the dramatic gesture with which
he is thought to have ended his life, and nothing about fiddling. Apparently
there is a later version, which adds to the title the words 'To its own proper
tune'. It is quite likely that the tune was written after the event to suit the
broadside, for it fits the words perfectly...It may be that over the years
tradtional memory fused MacPherson's story with the musical facts about
Peter Broune, who was on trial at the same time.
***
There is another legend also connected with the execution which states that the local powers that were, being cognisant that a reprieve was on the way, moved the town clock ahead one hour so that it would arrive only after the hanging. Neil (1991) reports that the magistrates of the town were punished for this perfidious act for many years in that they were forced to keep the town clock 20 minutes behind the right time, and remarks that even to this day jests are still made about the veracity of the time in Banff. Collinson (1966, pgs. 210-211) also gives a similar thorough treatment of the legend of the highwayman and his melody.
***
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. Robert Burns also wrote a famous song to the tune, called "MacPherson's Farewell," which begins
***
Farewell, ye dungeons dark and strong,
The wretch's destinie!
MacPherson's time will not be long
On yonder gallows-tree.
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntingly gaed he,
He play'd a spring, and danc'd it round
Below the gallows-tree.
***
D.K. Wilgus, in his article "The Hanged Fiddler Legend in Anglo-American Tradition," finds evidence of an earlier MacPherson in Ireland with an almost identical story. He cites a chapbook called The Lives and Actions of the Most Notorioius Irish Highwaymen Tories and Rapparees, from Redmond O'Hanlon to Cahier Na Gappul, printed in Dublin in the early 19th century which contains a section entitled "Some Passages of the Life of Strong John Macpherson, a notorious Robber." The chapbook relates that the Irish highwayman, at the age of nineteen inherited:
***
A pretty little income1/4which he made a shift to spend in the company of
pert women and gamesters, in less than three years, during which he was
always a leading man at hurlings, patrons, and matches of foot-ball1/4He
was accounted in his time the strongest man in the nation; he could hold
a hundred weight at arms' length in one hand, and would make little or
nothing of twisting a new horse-shoe round like a gad; yet nothwithstanding
all this activity he was soon reduced to poverty, and so, from one step after
another, brought to the gallows1/4He was never known to murder anybody;
nay he was very cautious of striking unless in his own defence; though in
his time he committed more robberies single handed by far than Redmond
O'Hanlon did, with whom he was acquainted, but with none of his gang.
However, he was at last taken by treachery, and after being tried and found
Guilty was despatched by the common finisher of the law about 1678. As
he was carried to the gallows, he played a fine tune of his own composing
on the bagpipe, which retains the name of Macpherson's tune to this day.
***
Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; No. 131, pg. 81. Gow (Complete Collection), Part 1, 1799; pg. 4. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 115. Lerwick (Kilted Fiddler), 1985; pg. 76-77. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 80, pg. 107. Skinner (The Scottish Violinist, includes the 'traditional' and 'unwritten' melodies), pg. 40.
T:MacPherson's Lament
L:1/8
M:C
S:Gow - 1st Repository
K:F
(C/D/E)|F3G F2A2|GFGA {A}G2FE|F3G (AG)(FE)|{E}D4 D2 (C/D/E)|F3G F2A2|
{A}G>FGA {A}G2FE|F2 ED (GE)(FD)|C4 C2:|
|:d2|c2F2c2d2|c3A (GA)Bd|c2F2(c2d2)|D4 ~D2d2|c2F2c3A|{A}c3A (GB)AG|
F2 ED (GE)(FD)|C4 C2:|
|:(c/d/e)|f3g f2a2|{a}gfga {a}g2 fe|f3g (ag)fe|d4 d2 (c/d/e)|f3g f2a2|{a}gfga {a}g2fe|
f2 ed (ge)(fd)|c4c2:|
|:a>g|f2F2 (BA)(GF)|{AB}c2 F2F2 a>g|f2 F2 (c2d2)|D4 ~D2 a>g|
f>F (F2 {EF}A>)F (F2{EF})|{=B}c3A G2A2|F2 EF (GF)(ED)|C4 C2:|
MOLLY MACALPIN. AKA and see "Moll Halfpenny," "Poll Ha'Penny." Irish, Lament or Set Dance. The tune was attested by Flood (1906) to be the air that became known later in Scotland as "Gilderoy" (it should be noted that Donal O'Sullivan has said that nothing in Flood's account of the tune in his History of Irish Music is trustworthy). It was written after 1601, the year that five members of the MacAlpin (also called Halpin or Halfpenny) family were outlawed, leaving one of the ladies to mourn. O'Neill (1913) credits the composition of the melody to Laurence O'Connellan, an Irish harper born at Cloonmahon, County Sligo, in the mid-17th century, the younger brother of another famous harper, Thomas O'Connellan. After Thomas's death Laurence travelled to Scotland popularizing several of his dead brother's compositions. It was printed in 1719 by Thomas D'Urfey, who got it from an Irish actor, Thomas Dogget, about the year 1700. Irishman Matthew Conconnon selected it as the ninth air his version of The Jovial Crew in 1731. Thomas Moore wrote lyrics entitled "Remember the Glories of Brian the Brave," published in Bunting's collection of 1807.
MY BONNIE LASS(IE). AKA and see "Scotland the Brave."
SCOTLAND FOREVER. AKA and see "Brave Scotland," "Scotland the Brave." McDonald (The Gesto Collection), 1895; pg. 110.
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).
VOLT. AKA - "La Volta," "Levalto." English, Country Dance Tune (3/8 or 6/4 time). G Major. Standard. AABB (Raven): AABBCCDD'. The tune dates from 16th century, probably originating in Provence. Merryweather (1989) states the dance and tune were especially popular in France in the late 16th century, and was transplanted to the English court sometime before 1600 when Queen Elizabeth I was reputed to have favored the air. The dance involves the men lifting their partners into the air several times during the second part of the tune. It appears in Michael Praetorius's 1612 Dances from Terpsichore. Raven's version appears to be the middle parts of the one given by Merryweather. La Volta was a popular dance in Scotland (which tended to follow French fashions). La Volta tunes are also commonly found in early Scottish lute books. Michael Robinson finds reference to the dance in Thoinot Arbeau's 1589 volume Orchesographie, an important sources on Renaissance dance, in which it is stated:
**
After having spun around for as many cadences as you wish,
return the damsel to her place, when, however brave a face
she shows she will feel her brain reeling and her head full of
dizzy whirlings; and you yourself will perhaps be no better off.
I leave it to you to judge whether it is a becoming thing for a
young girl to take long strides and separations of the legs, and
whether in this lavolta both honor and health are not involved and at stake.
**
Merryweather (Merryweather's Tunes for the English Bagpipe), 1989; pg. 37 & 38 (two versions). Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 8.