Annotation:Smith's a Gallant Fireman (The)

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X:1 T:Smiths are Gallant Firemen M:C L:1/8 R:Reel B:Davie's Caledonian Repository (Aberdeen, 1829-30, p. 5) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D D3F A/A/A AB|ABdA GFED|E3F B/B/B Bf|gfed {c}B2 Bd| D3F A/A/A AB|ABdA GFED|GABG FGAF|EFGA B2 BA:| |:d3f d/d/d dA|BAdA GFED|e3f e/e/e ef|gfed {c}B2 Be| d3f d/d/d dA|BAdA GFED|GBGB FAFA|EFGA B2 Bd:||

SMITH'S A GALLANT FIREMAN, THE. AKA and see "Carrick's Reel/Carrack's Reel/Carrick's Rant," “More Luck to Us,” “Riley's Favorite.” Scottish, Air and Strathspey. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Kerr, Martin, Milne, Skinner): AAB (Skye): ABCD (Hardie). Bill Hardie (1986) remarks the title refers to the days when the village blacksmith would serve the populace not only by his trade, but would be called upon to extinguish fires in the event of an emergency. An earlier Scottish title is "Carrick's Rant." J. Scottt Skinner (1843-1927), the 19th/20th century "Strathspey King," declares his transcription to be from "J. Scott Skinner's Set" in his The Scottish Violinist (1900), while Bill Hardie (1986) styles it "After Charles Hardie's Set." Skinner subtitled the strathspey (which he called "an old air") "Wha wid eat wi' ither folk fan th[e]y hae meat at hame man" in his manuscript version, and directed it be played "Boldly."

Words to the melody were written by John Harrison of Forglen near Turriff (1814-1889) and presented to journalist and musician William Carnie of Aberdeen in 1862, who subsequently published them. They begin:

Wha's the King o' oor toon end
And sets the lads in awe man
Wha has lasses nine or ten
When some hae nane ava men
Wha can mak us daftly dance
Till we be like tae fa' man
Whene'er the music o' his pipe
Is heard in oot or ha' man.
Oh Rab's the man oor village smith
I winner that ye speer man
Whaur hae ye been a' yer days
That that ye didna hear man.
He's King o' War and Lord of love
And Knight o' a oor Shire man
At feast or fray by night or day
The Smith's a gallant fireman.

A Northumbrian version is known under the title “Sir John Fenwick," while an Irish variant is called "More Luck to Us."

Additional notes

Source for notated version: -

Printed sources : - John Anderson (Second Collection of New Highland Strathspey Reels), 1791. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1986; p. 15. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1880; Set 3, No. 1, p. 4. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 44. Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling). 2002; p. 126. Milne (Middleton’s Selection of Strathspeys, Reels &c. for the Violin), 1870; p. 9. Skinner (The Scottish Violinist, with variation), p. 16.

Recorded sources: - Rounder 7001, Joe Cormier - "Scottish Violin Music from Cape Breton Island" (1974). “The Caledonian Companion” (1975).

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index: [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
See J. Scott Skinner's handwritten manuscript of the tune for his Harp and Claymore collection (1904) at the University of Aberdeen's Skinner site [3]
Hear Harrison's song sung a capella by Aberdeenshire singer Willie Mathieson (1879-1958) at Tobar an Dualcais [4] [5]