BRAES OF LETTERFOURIE, THE. Scottish, Strathspey. A Major. Standard. AA'B. Composed by Alexander Walker, born 1810, Rhynie, Strathbogie, Aberdeenshire. Emmerson (1971) calls it the best-known of his earlier compositions, while according to Paul Stewart Cranford (1991) it still has currency among Cape Breton fiddlers. Once employed (as a gardener) and patronized by Sir Charles Forbes of Castle Newe, Walker emmigrated to the United States at age 51 to join his brother in Vermont, and later in Williamstown, Mass., where he "was still going strong in 1898 as a farmer and land surveyor". He published 200 of his melodies before he left Scotland, and a further 180 in America (of which the latter appear lost). Walker (A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Marches, &c.), 1866; No. 11, pg. 4.