Two tunes about Border reivers from the be-reived point of view

The Twa Corbies / The Border Widow's lament

Two tunes from Henry Atkinson's manuscript; these are tunes common to Northumbria, the Scottish Lowlands  and Banffshire. Henry Atkinson's MS is from Northumberland, c.1695; the first tune appears in a extended range fiddle version in Margaret Sinkler's Glasgow MS c.1710 and the second tune, with the title Wot ye What I gaot Late Yestree? is on eof the 4 'bagpipe' tunes in George Skene's 1717 MS. Atkinson's versions, though they require flat thirds [here using a right hand thumb hole], are clearly pipe settings, and IMHO the better of the two options.

Saw ye not my Meggy + Crudds and Whey

The Canaries, as notated [more or less] in the lute/mandora manuscripts of Straloch, c.1615 and Skene, c. 1630. Skene has several versions; this one, the second theme here, is essentially that of Negri [1602] and Praetorius [1612]. There is a setting of the Canaries in the Leycester MS, c. 1640, for bass viol tuned 'the bagpipe way'.

Canaries from  early 17th century Scotland

five strains for a setting of Fergusson's poem 'Elegy on the death of Scottish Music'

elegy on the death of robert fergusson

From Patrick MacDonald's 'Collection of Highland Vocal Airs' (1784)
played on Scottish smallpipe chanter and cello

Sister Of Loves -  Phiùrag nan gaol

A smallpipe arrangement of Nathaniel Gow's air 'Mrs Hamilton of Pencaitland' recorded in Mrw Hamilton's back garden played on scottish smallpipes made by Julian Goodacre of Peebles

Mrs Hamilton of Pencaitland

Form the Skene MS (c. 1620) in response to an invitation from Rob McKillop; a one-take attempt at this tune on a scottish smallpipe that lacks that important high b;

Flowers Of The Forest

Two settings of one of the most widely published Scottish songs of the 17th & early 18th centuries. The first is from the Straloch Lute MS., c. 1627; the second is from William Dixon's MS., 1733

An Thou Wer Myn Ain Thing

A rough recording made as a demo of the mode typical of some of Dixon's tunes, the persistent g -C# interval

Hey For New Bigging

Another rough recording of a Dixon tune, for comparison with the previous

Golden Locks

Wm Dixon's tune specially recorded by Bridghe Chaimbeul; uploaded with her permission

Hacky Honey, Bridghe Chiambeul

A hastily recorded performance (14th october, 2016) of the tune in Aird' Airs, Glasgow, c. 1780

Pete Stewart 3

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