Central Scotland Fiddlers
by Charlie Gore
In a round-up of the principal characters among the fiddler-composers who typify the Golden Age of Scotland’s fiddling tradition, it would be easy to leave out some key figures. I deliberately omitted direct coverage of the main Gow collections, William Marshall, Captain Simon Fraser and Skinner because most people seem to know a bit about their history. I never intended to make this a comprehensive survey; more an exploration of the less known. There are plenty more, their beautifully produced collections – most of them never republished – still gathering the dust of ages, waiting to be rediscovered!
From Perth, John Bowie (1759-1815) and his brother Peter (1763-1846) are remembered by gravestones in the old kirkyard at Tibbermore (just south of Perth off the A9) and by a small volume of music apiece. John’s music is fairly widely known, because Glen wrote him up, alluding particularly to some harp pieces which he published. Miss Murray Lintrose is a well-known dance tune, but the slow strathspey Orchill House (not to be confused with Nathaniel Gow’s tune) has never been republished. He published tunes by Miss Magdalina Stirling of Ardoch (composer of The Perthshire Hunt and other good tunes) and John MacDonald (1760-1831) a dancing-master in Dundee. Peter achieved a first (and last?) with Miss Hope…in imitation of Portuguese music! Still in Perth, John Clark (of whom Glen says memorably, “We have been unable to discover anything about this musician, further than he published his collection in Perth….”) dedicated his collection of 44 of his own dance tunes (1795) to The Musical Society of Perth and adds this cautionary note, “NB. Such copies who are not signed and numbered by the Cpmposer’s own hand write, are a Forgery and will be strictly Looked after.”
Daniel McLaren published a small edition in 1794 in Edinburgh, but he is somewhere described as ‘of Taymouth’, so he qualifies as a Perthshire chiel, with a light, inventive touch. Moving east to Dundee, Charles Duff (1760-1822) was a music-seller and teacher who published (c1790) a collection of his own and more of the dancing –master, John MacDonald’s music. He stayed ten years in Montrose from whence a namesake, Archibald Duff (born c1770) issued a collection in 1794 and another in 1812, titled ‘First Part of a choice Selection…..’ but the second part never appeared. Alexander Leburn (1767-1836) lived in Auchtermuchty and published a small, now rare, collection of his own and other music. An obituary in The Fifeshire Journal could have been written for a distinguished 20th century inhabitant of the town, “….unostentatious, his heart kind, his integrity incorruptible…. Much respected by all ranks…” He was also a mathematician and a magistrate of the burgh. In the Royal Burgh of Dysert, by Kirkcaldy, James Walker (1760-1840) was a fiddle player and personality, son of a Dysert shoemaker, who published two collections (1795 & 1799) now severely neglected but containing a wealth of good music of his own and others. The slow strathspey Dunnikeer House and Gooden Well or Mr Buist’s Frolic (published two years later by Malcolm MacDonald as Mrs. Robertson of Lawers Reel) are just a couple of examples. Duncan McKerracher (1796-1873) was born at Inver, by Dunkeld actually acquired and lived in Niel Gow’s cottage there in later life. Here, accordion to contemporary accounts, any similarity between ‘Famous Niel’ and his successor, the so-called ‘Dunkeld Paganini’ (as Emmerson described him) ends, but notoriety continues to surround his memory. When he performed at concerts (which he did right up to the year of his death) he sometimes donned Masonic regalia to play his favourite encore (guess what?) The Mason’s Apron! He published two collections, their quality clearly enhanced by compositions of one Captain Daniel Menzies. Some authorities would have it that ‘most’ of the work was not McKerracher’s, but Menzies’.
The National Library of Scotland has originals of all of these. Other information from Charlie Gore.
Box and Fiddle
September 2002
From Perth, John Bowie (1759-1815) and his brother Peter (1763-1846) are remembered by gravestones in the old kirkyard at Tibbermore (just south of Perth off the A9) and by a small volume of music apiece. John’s music is fairly widely known, because Glen wrote him up, alluding particularly to some harp pieces which he published. Miss Murray Lintrose is a well-known dance tune, but the slow strathspey Orchill House (not to be confused with Nathaniel Gow’s tune) has never been republished. He published tunes by Miss Magdalina Stirling of Ardoch (composer of The Perthshire Hunt and other good tunes) and John MacDonald (1760-1831) a dancing-master in Dundee. Peter achieved a first (and last?) with Miss Hope…in imitation of Portuguese music! Still in Perth, John Clark (of whom Glen says memorably, “We have been unable to discover anything about this musician, further than he published his collection in Perth….”) dedicated his collection of 44 of his own dance tunes (1795) to The Musical Society of Perth and adds this cautionary note, “NB. Such copies who are not signed and numbered by the Cpmposer’s own hand write, are a Forgery and will be strictly Looked after.”
Daniel McLaren published a small edition in 1794 in Edinburgh, but he is somewhere described as ‘of Taymouth’, so he qualifies as a Perthshire chiel, with a light, inventive touch. Moving east to Dundee, Charles Duff (1760-1822) was a music-seller and teacher who published (c1790) a collection of his own and more of the dancing –master, John MacDonald’s music. He stayed ten years in Montrose from whence a namesake, Archibald Duff (born c1770) issued a collection in 1794 and another in 1812, titled ‘First Part of a choice Selection…..’ but the second part never appeared. Alexander Leburn (1767-1836) lived in Auchtermuchty and published a small, now rare, collection of his own and other music. An obituary in The Fifeshire Journal could have been written for a distinguished 20th century inhabitant of the town, “….unostentatious, his heart kind, his integrity incorruptible…. Much respected by all ranks…” He was also a mathematician and a magistrate of the burgh. In the Royal Burgh of Dysert, by Kirkcaldy, James Walker (1760-1840) was a fiddle player and personality, son of a Dysert shoemaker, who published two collections (1795 & 1799) now severely neglected but containing a wealth of good music of his own and others. The slow strathspey Dunnikeer House and Gooden Well or Mr Buist’s Frolic (published two years later by Malcolm MacDonald as Mrs. Robertson of Lawers Reel) are just a couple of examples. Duncan McKerracher (1796-1873) was born at Inver, by Dunkeld actually acquired and lived in Niel Gow’s cottage there in later life. Here, accordion to contemporary accounts, any similarity between ‘Famous Niel’ and his successor, the so-called ‘Dunkeld Paganini’ (as Emmerson described him) ends, but notoriety continues to surround his memory. When he performed at concerts (which he did right up to the year of his death) he sometimes donned Masonic regalia to play his favourite encore (guess what?) The Mason’s Apron! He published two collections, their quality clearly enhanced by compositions of one Captain Daniel Menzies. Some authorities would have it that ‘most’ of the work was not McKerracher’s, but Menzies’.
The National Library of Scotland has originals of all of these. Other information from Charlie Gore.
Box and Fiddle
September 2002