ATHOL HIGHLANDERS JIG. See "The Atholl Highlanders."
ATHOLL HIGHLANDERS, THE. AKA - "Athol Highlanders Jig." AKA and see "Lord Athlone's March," "The Three Sisters" (Shetland). Scottish (originally), Irish; Pipe March (6/8 time) or Jig. Scotland, Perthshire. Ireland, Donegal. A Major/Mixolydian (Brody, Hinds, Martin, Neil, Songer, Sweet): G Major (Kerr). Standard. AABB (Kerr): AABB' (Neil): AABBCC (Brody): ABCD (Sweet): AABBCCDD (Hinds, Martin, Songer). The name Athole (or Atholl) derives from the Gaelic ath Fodla, generally translated as New Ireland, and stems from the first invasion of the northern land by the Irish tribe the Scots in the 7th century (Matthews, 1972). The tune, described sometimes as a Scottish warpipes melody, is dedicated to the private army of the Duke of Atholl, the last private army still legally existing {albeit on a token level} in the British Isles (Boys of the Lough). Musically, the tune contains a characteristic melodic cliché in Scottish music in which a figure is followed by the same or a related figure on the triad one tone below or above (Emmerson, 1971). The original Athole Highlanders (and the ones associated with the tune) were the old 77th Highland Regiment, raised in 1778 and commanded by Colonel James Murray. The 77th served in Ireland and was not engaged in active service, though its garrison services were apparently useful in freeing other units for the conflicts with America and France. They were disbanded in 1783 after those conflicts ended (though the disbanding may have come about because of a mutiny). The tune was later taken up as a march past by the 2nd Battalion of the Cameronians, the 90th Light Infantry, who over the years had shed their Scottish origins. However, when pipers were introduced in 1881 they recollected their Perthshire origins and chose to play "The Atholl Highlanders" (also known in pipe literature as "The Gathering of the Grahams"). Susan Songer notes that when played for contra dances once through the tune is twice through a dance. Source for notated version: the tune was first brought to the Portland, Oregon, area by Seattle accordion player Laurie Andres and Olympia fiddler John Culhane in 1989 when playing at the first Spring Festival, and subsequently entered contra dance repertoire in that region [Songer]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 27. Hinds/Hebert (Grumbling Old Woman), 1981; pg. 20 (appears as "Athol Highlanders Jig"). Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 3; No. 265, pg. 29. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle), Vol. 1, 1991; pg. 23. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 117, pg. 155. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997, pg. 21. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964; pg. 37. Banff SBS5406, "Graham Townsend, Champion Folk Fiddler." Green Linnett GLCD 3090, Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh & Frankie Kennedy - "Ceol Aduaidh" (1983/1994). Nimbus NI 5320, Ciaran Tourish et al. - "Fiddle Sticks: Irish Traditional Music from Donegal" (1991). Philo 1042, Boys of the Lough- "Piper's Broken Finger" (1976). Tradition 2118, "Scottish Dances: Jigs, Waltzes and Reels" (1979). Transatlantic 341, Dave Swarbrick- "Swarbrick 2." "Bob Smith's Ideal Band, Better Than an Orchesta" (1977).
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.
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"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.
GATHERING OF THE GRAHAMS, THE. AKA and see "The Atholl Highlanders."
HEIDS O VIGON, THE. AKA and see "The Atholl Highlanders Farewell to Loch Katrine." Shetland, Yell.
HIGHLANDER'S REEL. American, Reel. A Major. Standard. AA'BB'CC'DD'. A reel adaptation of the Scottish jig "The Atholl Highlanders," by Todd Silverstein of Salem, Oregon. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 97.
HUNDRED PIPERS (An A', An 'A), THE/A. AKA - "One Hundred Pipers," "Wi' a Hundred Pipers." AKA and see "Durham Reel," "The Hair Fell Off My Coconut." Scottish (originally), English, Canadian, American; Jig or Waltz. USA, New England, Pennsylvania. A Major or A Mixolydian (most versions): G Major (Sweet). Standard. AABB (Kennedy, Kerr, Raven, Songer, Sweet): AA'BB (Miller & Perron): AABB' (Cranford/Fitzgerald): AB (Karpeles). The title comes from words written to the tune and generally credited to Lady Caroline Nairne (1776-1845) and published in 1851, though it has been said to have been a Jacobite song and that the music was an old Scotttish 'catch'; the whole only adapted by Lady Nairne. Some writers also credit the soprano Elizabeth Rainforth (1814-1877) (who performed the song) solely or in conjunction with Lady Nairne. Musically, it is an example of the form Scotch Jig, or a jig in Scotch measure rhythm (see Emmerson, 1971, pg. 159), however Cape Breton and Irish fiddlers have employed it as a waltz. The 'A' part resembles the tune "The Mill Mill O," which Bayard (1981) says he cannot for sure say if it was an ancestral melody or not. Fuld (1966) believes the first part of the melody to be very similar to "The Lee Rig," published in Oswald's 1758 The Caledonian Pocket Companion (vol. VIII, pg. 20) and Johnson's 1787 The Scots Musical Museum (vol. I, pg. 50). The Jacobite origins of the song are based on the tale of Bonnie Prince Charlie's entry into Carlisle on the march south after his victory at Prestonpans, preceded into the city by the famed 100 pipers and followed by an army of 2,000 Highlanders. They crossed the stream with water up to their shoulders and "the pipers struck up, and they danced reels until they were dry again" (quoted in Fuld). More than a tale, the van of pipers is documented in the Chronicles of the Atholl and Tullibardine Families (vol. 3, pg. 95), which contains the entry, "Monday, the 18th November 1745: His Royal Highness made his entry into Carlisle seated on a white charger and preceeded by no less than a hundred pipers" (Collinson, 1975). Since then a mass of one hundred pipers playing the "Hundred Pipers" is a mark of distinction for an event, as, for example, when such a group played it at the 1955 opening of the Canso Causeway (joining Cape Breton Island with mainland Nova Scotia). In County Kerry the tune is sung as "The Hair Fell off My Coconut (So How Do You Like Me, Baldy?)" Source for notated verison: Hiram Horner (fifer from Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pa.) [Bayard]; Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 546, pg. 488. Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 217, pg. 86. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes); No. or pg. 16. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 9 (appears as "Durham Reel"). Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 2, 1954; pg. 36. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 8, pg. 31. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler's Repertoire), 1983; No. 42. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 104. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 103. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 24. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 21. F&W Records 2, "F&W String Band 2." Folkways FW8827, Arbuckle, Mikkelson & Clifton - "Old Time Couple Dances" (1961). Kicking Mule KM216, Arm & Hammer String Band - "New England Contra Dance Music." Wild Asparagus - "In Season" (1985).
T:Hundred Pipers, A
L:1/8
M:6/8
K:A
c2E EFE|F2A A2f|e2c cBA|BcB BAB|c2E EFE|F2A A2f|e2c BcB|1 A3 A2B:|2 A3 c2d||: e2e ece|f2a agf|e2c cBA|BcB Bcd|e2e ece|f2a agf|e2c BcB|A3 A2B:|
LADY DOROTHEA STEWART MURRAY'S WEDDING MARCH. Scottish, Pipe March (6/8 time). A Major. Standard. AABCCD. Composed in 1895 by Aeneas Rose (1832-1905) or Kingussie, who was pipe major of the Atholl Highlanders for some forty years. Source for notated version: Highland West-coast fiddler Angus Grant of Fort William (Scotland) [Hardie]. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 119.
LORD ATHLONE'S MARCH. AKA and see "The Atholl Highlanders."
THREE SISTERS, THE. AKA and see "The Atholl Highlanders." Shetland. Shetland, Yell.