ATHOL(L) HOUSE. AKA - "Athole House." Scottish, Reel. F Major. Standard. AAB. One of the most famous compositions of Edingburgh music teacher Daniel (or perhaps Donald) Dow (c. 1783). Little is known about Dow, who was born in Kirkmichael, Perthshire, but "his compositions were highly esteemed in their time and still live" (Emmerson, 1971). The tune was originally published as a country dance in the Edinburgh Magazine and Review in 1773. Originally printed without dotted rhythms, the Gows later added them in places to change the tune to a strathspey (Alburger says this may illustrate Niel Gow's up-driven bowing style). The piece first appears published by Dow (pg. 1) in his c. 1775 collection.
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Athole (or Atholl) House was the seat of the Duke of Atholl, who in the mid-18th century was the first patron of the famous Scots fiddler and composer Niel Gow, who besides his noted skill on his instrument, also possessed an earthy frankness and who was not intimidated by social standing. On one occasion when he was playing for dancing at Atholl, a portion of the invited party lingered in the ballroom, loath to forsake the dancing. Gow, not impressed with the fashionable indifference to the waiting supper, soon became exasperated and called out to the remaining crowd: "Gang doun to your supper, ye daft limmers, and dinna hand me reelin' here, as if hunger and drouth were unkent i' the land--a'body can naethin' done for you!" 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).
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Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1983; Ex. 60, pg. 97. Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music), Vol. II, 1895; pg. 25. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 31. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 151. McGlashan (A Collection of Reels), c. 1786; pg. 27. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 211.
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B:The Athole Collection
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GLOOMY WINTER('S NOW AWA). AKA and see "Reverend Mr. Patrick Macdonald of Kilmore," "Lord Balgonie's Delight," "Lord Balgonie's Favorite," "Mr. Nairne's Strathspey." Scottish (originally), Canadian; Strathspey and Air. Canada, Cape Breton. A Minor. Standard. AAB. Composition of the melody was claimed by Alexander Campbell (1764-1824) in his Albyn's Anthology (1815), who was supposed to have composed it about 1783 under the title "Strathspey, Rev. Mr. Macdonald of Kilmore." John Glen (1891) notes that there has been considerable discussion on the origin of the tune, which was inserted in Niel Gow's Fourth Collection (1800) under the title "Lord Balgonie's Delight" ('a very old Highland Tune'), and who thus has a rival claim. The antiquarian Stenhouse and Glen each researched the tune, with Stenhouse concluding it was an old one, tracing some resemblance between it and other tunes. In a collection published six years earlier than the Gow collection Glen found the melody under the title "Mr. Nairne's Strathspey" but could find no remarks on the age or antiquity of the melody. He reviewed Campbell's original music sheet and concluded that Campbell should be credited with authorship and that Gow's claim was unsupportable. In fact, the tunes origins may have been older than either source, as "Gloomy Winter" bears resemblance to "The Cordwainers' March," a trade tune of the shoemaker's guild, printed in Aird some thirty years before Gow. Purser (1992) is of the opinion that Campbell should be left with the composition, and sees no particular evidence to award it to the Gows.
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Lyrics were written by the famous Scots poet Robert Tannahill, who, like Campbell died in tragic circumstances (Tannahill drowned himself while Campbell died in miserable poverty). George Farquhar Graham notes in the Appendix to his Songs of Scotland (1853) that there is a letter he found that proves Tannahill obtained his tune from Gow's volume. In the last decade of the 20th century "Gloomy Winter" was used as the theme for the movie The Piano. Source for notated version: Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987) [Cranford]. Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 213, pg. 85. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; Set 9, No. 1, pg. 7. Winston Fitzgerald - "House Parties and 78's."
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.
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"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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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L:1/8
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S:McGlashan - Reels
K:A
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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|
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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/|
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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|
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MISS FERGUSON OF RAITH'S STRATHSPEY. Scottish, Strathspey. The tune was first published in McDonald's Second Collection, reprinted in 1797, but was thought by some to have been composed by Niel Gow. McDonald was Nathaniel Gow's bass player at the time he published his collection and probably heard Gow play the melody; he perhaps did not know who wrote it. John Glen (1895), on the other hand, accuses the Gows of outright plagerism in many instances, and sheds doubt on the veracity of Nathaniel's claim.
MISS GRACE GORDON'S STRATHSPEY. Scottish, Strathspey. The melody was composed by William Marshall (1748-1823) and published in his First Collection of 1781. The Gows republished the tune under the title "Hon. Miss Drummond of Perth's Reel" in First Collection, 2nd edition, of 1801 and ascribed it to Niel Gow.
TAIL TOD(D)LE. AKA and see "Lasses Gar Your Tail Toddle," "Gillie Callum." Scottish, Reel or Strathspey; Welsh, Reel. D Major {Kerr, Martin, Williamson}: A Mixolydian ('A', 'B', 'E' and 'F' parts) & A Minor ('C' and 'D' parts) {Gow}. Standard. AAB (Gow/Repository): AABB. Gow's note is "Supposed Welsh." "This tune was printed by the Scottish fiddler Niel Gow during the 1780's...It became very popoular in Scotland and was played there as a reel or a song. The song was a bawdy one, to be sung by a girl about how Tammy made her tail todle. I've included it in the Welsh section on Gow's recommendation, althogh the setting here is distinctly Scots. Tail Todle could be a garbled version of an original Welsh title" (Williamson, 1976). Despite Williamson's claim, Carlin, in his Gow Collection and presumably copied from the Gows, credits the tune to another Scottish composer, a laird called William of Nisbet. The melody appears with variations in the Drummond Castle Manuscript (in the possessin of the Earl of Ancaster at Drummond Castle), 1734, inscribed "A Collection of the best Highland Reels written by David Young, W.M. & Accomptant." John Glen (1891) also finds an early printing in James Aird's 1782 collection (Vol. 2, No. 97). Sometimes the following ditty is sung to the music:
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O tail toddle, tail toddle,
Tammy gars my tail toddle,
But and ben wi' diddle doddle
Tammy gars my tail toddle.
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Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 224 (strathspey version). Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 37. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 4; No. 71, pg. 10 (reel). Martin (Ceol na Fidhle), Vol. 1, 1991; pg. 43. Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; pg. 44 (Reel version). "Fiddlers Three Plus Two." Culburnie COL 113D, Aladair Fraser & Tony McManus - "Return to Kintail" (1999).