Annotation:Miss Chalmers (1)

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MISS CHALMERS [1]. Scottish, Jig. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by Biography:Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831). In the Beauties of Niel Gow, published in 1819 in Edinburgh by Alexander Robertson, "Miss Chalmers' Jig" is appended "Mrs. Pringle of Clifton." This reveals that Miss Chalmers was Anne Elizabeth Chalmers, daughter of Robert Chalmers, an Edinburgh solicitor, who in 1795 married Mark Pringle (1754-1812) of Clifton and Haining, Selkirkshire, later adding the Rutherford estate of Fairnilee. He was an MP for Selkirkshire from 1786-1802, and held various offices in Scotland. The couple had two sons and one daughter. She died in November, 1838.

Anne is the "sweet Anne Page", a pet name, of Mrs. Cockburn's (Mrs. Alison Rutherford, her aunt) letters. Mrs. Cockburn appears to have had a hand in the marriage:

She was always anxious for her nephew the laird to marry,had troops of young ladies at Haining for the purpose of providing him with a wife, and among them Anne Chalmers. Mrs. Cockburn's "sweet Anne Page" at last captivated "Don Mark." [Tytler & Watson, The Songstress of Scotland, 1871, p. 191]

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 351. Gow (Third Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels), 1792; p. 17 (3rd ed.). Gow (Beauties of Niel Gow), 1819; p. 32.

Recorded sources:

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