Braes of Bushbie (2)
BRAES OF BUSHBIE [2]. AKA - "Braes of Busbie." Scottish, Slow March (4/4 time) or Strathspey. A Dorian (O'Farrell): G Minor (Cole, Hardie): G Dorian (Cranford). Standard tuning (fiddle). ABC (Cole, Hardy): AABBCC (O'Farrell): ABABCCD (Howe): AABBCCD (Cranford). In lowland Scots dialect, a brae is a hillside. Busby is a district in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The melody may have been composed by John Bowie, and first appears in his Collection (1789). A note in Nathaniel Gow's Sixth Collection (1822) says that it was favorite of Niel Gow's, and that it is "Old". Reworked as "Dowd's Favorite," the tune is played as a reel and was famously recorded by Sligo/New York City fiddler Michael Coleman. Piper Willie Clancy had a reel time setting of the tune, called "Braes of Busby," in a major tonality.
Source for notated version: Cape Breton strathspey setting is from fiddler Bill Lamey via Jerry Holland (Inverness, Cape Breton) [Cranford]; McFadyen's Repository (1795) [Henderson].
Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 128. Cranford (Jerry Holland's Collection vol. 1), 1995; No. 187, p. 53. Gow (Sixth Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1822; p. 27. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; p. 85. Henderson (Flowers of Scottish Melody), 1935. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; p. 134. McFadyen, Repository of Scots and Irish Airs, vol. 1 (c. 1795). O'Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. II), c. 1806; p. 140 (appears as "Braes of Busbie"). Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 167 (strathspey setting).
Recorded source: Jerry O'Sullivan - "O'Sullivan meets O'Farrell" (2005).
X:2
T:Braes of Bushbie, The
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Strathspey
N:"Slowly"
N:"A Favorite of Niel Gow."
B:Gow - Sixth Collection of Strathspey Reels (1822)
Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion
K:Gmin
F|D<G"tr"G>A B>AG>F|(C<F)"tr"F>G A<c (B/A/)(G/F/)|G>A B>c {Bc}d>cB>d|c/B/A/G/ FA BGG:||:
A|"tr"B>cdB fBdB|Acfd "tr"c>A FA|B>cdB fBd>B|"tr"c>A F>A BGG:||^f|~G2 dg dg/a/ bg|
"tr"f2 {=ef}cf cf/g/ af|~g2 d>g d>cB>d|(c/B/)(A/G/) FA BGG ^f|~g2 dg dg/a/ bg|"tr"f2 {=e/f/}cf cf/g/ af|
~g2 d>g d>cB>d|(c/B/)(A/G/) FA BGG||A|B<dG>B GB/c/ dB|A<cF>A FA/B/ cA|B<dG>B GB/c/ dB|
"tr"c>A F>A BGGA|B<dG>B GB/c/ dB|A<c F>A FA/B/ cA|B>dfb f<dBd|(c/B/)(A/G/) FA BGG||
X:1 T:Braes of Bushbie, The C:John Bowie, 1789 R:strathspey Z:Transcirbed by Juergen Gier M:C L:1/8 K:Gdor F/|D<GG>A ~B>AG>F|C>DF>G A<c B/A/G/F/|G>AB>c ~d>cB>d| c/B/A/G/ F>A B<GG3/::A/|B>cd>B f>Bd>B|A<cf>d c/B/A/G/ F>A| B>cd<B f>Bd>B|~c>AF>A B<GG3/::B/|~g2d>g (3dga (3bag| f2c>f (3cfg (3agf|~g>fd>g ~d>cB>d|c/B/A/G/ ~F>A B<GG3/:|A/| B<dG>d (3GBc (3dcB|A>cF>c (3FAB c>A|B<dG>d (3GBc d>B| ~c>AF>A B<GG>A|(3Bcd G>d (3GBc (3dcB|A>cF>A (3FAB (3cBA| B>df<b f>dB>d|c/B/A/G/ F>A B<GG3/|]
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