Bob of Fettercairn (The)

BOB OF FETTERCAIRN, THE. AKA and see "Braw Lads o' Jethart," "Braw Lads of Jedburgh," "Come Kiss with Me Come Clap with Me," "Had I the Wight," "Highland Hills," "I'll Kiss the Lass," "I'll Kiss the Lass She Bad Me," "I'll Kiss the Wife," She Bad Me," "She Bade Me," "Kail and Knockit Corn" (Shetland), "Mrs. Reneau's Reel" (Canada), "Newburn Lads/Newburn Lasses." Scottish (orig.), Canadian; Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Fettercairn, Aberdeenshire, is a village north of Brechin approached by a wooded valley along which MacBeth is believed to have retreated after his defeat at Dunsinane. It was the site of Kincardine Castle, whose history goes back to the 10th century. A turreted arch commemorating the 1861 visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert survives at the entrance to the village. A bob in Scottish dialect has several meanings, including a tassell or a patch of grass or a plot of grain, a slight blow, the best-dressed lad or lass; or, as in the context of the title "Bob of Fettercairn", a dance [1]. Alexander Laing used the term in this context in his Wayside Flowers (1878) in the verse "Willy's Weddin'" (no 113)

Hey! the rant o' Tullibardine,
Hey! the jig o' Ballangeich,
Hey! the bob o' Fettercairn;
Hey! the kindly come-agen.

The tune is often played in Scotland in a medley with "Caber Feidh/Caper Fey." See "Highland Hills" for an early version of the melody, printed in the Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (1768).

In Northumberland the tune has been embroidered with arpeggi and re-titled "Newburn Lasses." Lisa Ornstein finds variants in Quebec fiddler Joseph Allard's "Reel de Madame Renault," and the eastern Kentucky old-time tune "Dr. Humprey's Jig/Humphrey's Jig (1)" (in the repertoires of Jilson Setters {J.W. Day} and Ed Hayley, among others). See also the related Cape Breton reel "Beul Iosait," and the Scottish "A' bean an gabh thu fidhleir" (Woman take you the fiddler). Great Highland bagpipers sometimes play a four-part strathspey version of the tune.

Printed source: Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 4), 1796; No. 73, p. 30. Cairngorm Collection, Book 3. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 236. Gordon Highlanders Collection, vol. 1. Gow (Third Collection of Niel Gow's Reels), 3rd ed., originally 1792; p. 34. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; pg. 13. Howe (Musician's Omnibus), 1864; p. 119. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; pp. 82 & 134. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 1; No. 3, p. 24. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 99. Scots Guards-Standard Settings, vol. 1. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 163.

Recorded source: Philo 2001, "Jean Carignan."

X:2 T:Bob of Fettercairn B:Scots Guards - Standard Settings Z:Nigel Gatherer M:4/4 L:1/8 K:D B | d>B G>B d>B G>B| d>B d>g f2 d>f|e>c A>c a>c A>c|e2 e>f g>a g/f/e | d>B G>B d>B G>B |d>B d>e f2 e/f/g|a/g/f g>f e>d e/f/g |Bd>g B>g d>g B>g| d>B d>g f2 d>f |e>a ca cf g>a g/f/e| e>a ca ce f2 e/f/g |a/g/f g>f e>d e/f/g| Bd/B/B d<G B>A G>B|de g2 eA2 e>A c>B A>c|e2 e>f g>a g/f/e|d/B/B d<G B>AG>B| de f2 e/f/g|a/g/f g>f e>d e/f/g |BB<G d<G B<G G/G/G|B<G d<G f2 dA2| e>A cA ca g>d |B<G d<G B<G G/G/G | B<G d<G f2 e/f/g |a/g/f g>f e>d e/f/g | B

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X:1
T:Bob of Fettercairn, The
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
B:Stewart-Robertson - The Athole Collection (1884)
Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion
K:G
B/c/|dBGB dBGB|dBdg f2df|ecAc ecAc|edef gage|dBGB dBGB|
DBdg f2df|aefd edBg|A/A/A Bd e2g2||dgBg dgBg|dgBg f2df|
ea^ca eaca|edef gage|dgBg dgBg|dgBg f2 df|aefd edBg|A/A/A Bd e2g2||

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Engraver Valerio M. Pelliccioni