Annotation:Welcome Whisky Back Again

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WELCOME WHISKY BACK AGAIN. AKA - "Whiskey Welcome Back Again." Scottish (originally), Canadian; Strathspey. Canada, Cape Breton. B Flat Major (Gow, Skye): A Major (Skinner): C Major (Hardings): D Major (Little): G Major (Williamson). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Cranford): AAB (Little, Skinner, Skye): AABB (Hardings, Williamson). "Alluding to permitting whiskey to be distilled in the year 1801. It is a merry dancing tune" (Gow). Composed by famed Perthshire fiddler-composer Niel Gow (1727-1807). In many collections (beginning with the Gow family’s Fifth Collection, 1809) it is paired with Gow's "Farewell to Whiskey (1)", lamenting the ban on whiskey making in the late 18th century. It has been set in several keys, however, the composer set it in B flat major.

Source for notated version: Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford].

Printed sources: Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 229 (appears as "Whiskey Welcome Back Again"). Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 103, p. 43. Gow (Fifth Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1809; p. 36. Hardings All Round Collection, 1905; No. 28, p. 9. Little (Scottish and Cape Breton Fiddle Music in New Hampshire), 1984; p. 10. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 136. Skinner (Harp and Claymore), 1904; p. 96. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 291. Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; p. 67.

Recorded sources: Breton Books and Records BOC 1HO, Winston “Scotty” Fitzgerald - “Classic Cuts” (reissue of Celtic Records CX 44). Rg Recordings, The Albanach Guitar Duo - "Weave" (2012). SmiddyMade Records, Pete Clark - "Even Now" (2012).

See also listings at:
Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
See J. Scott Skinner's handwritten music notation for the strathspey at the Univ. of Aberdeen's site [3]