COILSFIELD HOUSE. Scottish, Strathspey ("Slowly") or "Pastoral" Air (4/4 time). G Major. Standard. AAB. The air was composed by Nathaneil Gow (1763-1831), named after Colonel Hugh Montgomery's (1749-1819), Earl of Eglinton's, Ayershire home in the parish of Tarbolton. Neil (1991) explains the name "Coilsfield" apparently derives from the grave of King Coil, reputed to lie somewhere near the mansion house. Coil, or sometimes Coilus or Coel, was a British king in the Roman or post-Roman era who was linked to the Strathclyde area. The property was once known as "Quillisfield" and was so named in the charter of John De Graham, who assigned the property to the monks of Melrose. Around 1640 it was acquired by James Mongomery, 4th son of Alexander, 6th Earl of Eglinton, and remained in the family for 250 years. His descendent Colonel Hugh Montgomery (or Montgomerie) was himself an amateur fiddler and Scottish music enthusiast and also was honored as the dedicatee of Niel Gow's Fourth Collection. The mansion was well-known to the poet Robert Burns when he dwelt at Lochlea, for it was where he went to meet his Highland Mary, Mary Campbell, then residing as a dairymaid at Coilsfield Housse. It is where "Summer first unfaulds her robes," and where "they langest tarry," said he. His romance was short-lived however, for while they were lovers in the Spring, by October, 1786, Mary had died of a fever caught while waiting on a sick boy, her brother. Sources for notated versions: Cape Breton style fiddler Harvey Tolman (Nelson, N.H.) [Little]; Peter Chaisson, Jr. (b. 1942, Bear River, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]. Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1983; Ex. 82, pg. 133. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 23. Gow (Collection). Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 5. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician's No. 10: Airs and Melodies of Scotland's Past), Vol. 10, 1992; pg. 4. Little (Scottish and Cape Breton Music in New Hampshire), 1984; pg. 30. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 100, pg. 135. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edwards Island), 1996; pg. 205. Iona Records IR002, Ossian - "Seal Song" (1981).
T:Coilsfield House
M:4/4
L:1/8
C:Nath. Gow
Z:Transcribed by Toby Rider
R:Slow Air
K:G
(G/2A/2)| BD GB, G,3 (A/2B/2)| c>A BG F<A D>c| c/2B/2A/2G/2 G/2F/2E/2D/2
G2 EC| B,G A,F GG, G,:|!
(B/2c/2)|d>B dB {cd}e2 AB/2c/2| dGFG A/2G/2F/2E/2 DB/2c/2| d>edB (c/2d/2
e) (e/2f/2g)| f/2g/2a/2g/2 f/2d/2e/2f/2 g2 G g/2a/2|!
bgdB (c/2d/2e) AB/2c/2|dGFG A/2G/2F/2E/2 Dc| BGDB, CD/2E/2 A, D/2C/2| B,
G A,F GG, G,||