Annotation:My Brother's Letter

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MY BROTHER'S LETTER. Canadian, Reel. Canada; Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Composed by Cape Breton musician Vincent MacLellan, who was, according to Paul Cranford, "a carpenter, fiddler and amateur fiddle maker originally from the Margarees. Angus Allan Gillis was his first cousin. Vincent lived much of his life in the Mira area."

Source for notated version: Eleanor Townsend (Ontario, Canada) [Hinds]; Sarah Michaels [Phillips]; Dennis Pitre (b. 1941, St. Felix, West Prince County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman].

Printed sources: Hinds/Hébert (Grumbling Old Woman), 1981; p. 8. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 161. MacQuarrie (Cape Breton Collection of Scottish Melodies), 1940; p. 6. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 86.

Recorded sources: Brownrigg Productions BRG GMI 001, Cape Breton Symphony – "Fiddle, vol. 1" (c. 1970's). Celestial Entertainment CECS001, Brenda Stubbert (Cape Breton, N.S.) – "In Jig Time!" (1995). Brenda Stubbert – "Endless Memories" (2008). Fellside FE149, Mad Pudding – "Grand Hotel" (1999). Glencoe GMI-001, "Cape Breton Symphony." Shanachie Records 14001, "The Early Recordings of Angus Chisholm" (1978).

See also listing at:
Hear a clip of the tune from Brenda Stubbert's 2008 album at Cranford Publications [1]
Hear Angus Chisholm's 78 RPM recording at the Internet Archive [2] (2nd tune in medley, following the strathspey "Miss Lyall").
See notation for Chisholm's version at Cranford Publications [3]
See notation for Brenda Stubbert's version at Cranford Publications [4]

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