Annotation:Braes of Tullymet (1) (The)
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BRAES OF TULLYMET, THE. AKA and see "Barrack Street Boys (The)," "Birnie-Bouzle," "Brides Away," "Bride to Bed (The)," "Bride(s) to Bed," "British Naggon," "Cheese It," "Corney is Coming," "Crawford's Reel (1)," "D. Dick's Favourite," "Honeymoon Reel (2) (The)," "I saw her," "Kelly's Reel," "Miss Grant of Grant (1)," "Miss Wilson," "Merry Bits of Timber," "My Love is in America," "My Love is in the House (1)," "Shannon Breeze (2)," "Six Mile Bridge." Scottish, Strathspey or Highland Schottische. G Minor/Dorian (most versions): E Minor (Kerr vol. 1, Surenne); D Minor (S. Johnson). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Surenne): AAB (Athole, Cranford, Gow, Honeyman, Hunter, Kerr, Martin, Milne, Skye): AABB (S. Johnson, Petrie, Williamson): AABB' (Kerr, vol. 2): ABCD (Campbell): ABCDEFF (McGlashan). The braes, or hillsides, referred to in the title lie in Perthshire. Robert Petrie (1767-1830) is often credited with the composition of this tune, though he himself did not claim it when he printed it in his Fourth Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Jiggs & Country Dances (Edinburgh, 1805, p. 3). Alburger (1983), doubting the ascription, notes that it was published before his birth. Petrie was born in Kirkmichael in Perthshire, where he garnered the local reputation as a profligate and fiddler (a not uncommon combination). As a young man he won either a prized silver bow in a fiddle contest at Edinburgh or a cup at a competition in Aberdeen in 1822, or both. He published four collections of reels and strathspeys and country dances between 1790 and 1796. "It is an interesting aside that (Petrie's birthplace) Kirkmichael was famous for the number of its ghosts, spirits, and fairies. Many places with the word "michael" in the name were so noted, probably because the early Christians were in the habit of building churches to that saint on the site of the confluence of ancient druidical lines of force. These were called "ley lines" or "dragon lines," and St. Michael was often represented with his foot on a dragon's neck. The Spauldings, the lairds of Ashintully at Kirkmichael, died out entirely from the effects of a death curse put upon them by a tinker they had hanged for trespassing" (Williamson, 1976). Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of the tune in print in Neil Stewart's 1761 collection (p. 64), and another early printing is in McGlashan's 1780 Collection. The Braes of Tulliemet is the name of a Scottish country dance from Selkirkshire, one of the fifteen or so either wholly or in part in strathspey tempo (Flett, 1964). "D. Dick's Favourite" was listed as an alternate title in Robert Petrie's Fourth Collection (c. 1805).
Sources for notated versions: Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford]; Neil Stewart's collection (1761) [Henderson]; Robert Petrie's 4th Collection, 1805 [S. Johnson].
Printed sources: Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1983; Ex. 36, pp. 59-60. Joshua Campbell (A Collection of New Reels & Highland Strathspeys), Glasgow, 1789; 19. Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 159, p. 63. Gow (Complete Repository, Part 1), 1799; p. 8. Henderson (Flowers of Scottish Melody), 1935. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; p. 26. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 167. Johnson (Kitchen Musician No. 10: Airs and Melodies of Scotland's Past), 1992 (revised 2001); p. 16. S. Johnson (A Twenty Year Anniversary Collection), 2003; p. 20. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1880's; No. 2, p. 19 (Highland Schottische, appears as "Braes of Tulimet"). Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 2), c. 1880's; No. 210, p. 23. Köhlers’ Violin Repository, Part Third, p. 261. McGlashan (Collection of Strathspey Reels), c. 1780/81; p. 29. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 134. Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling), 2002; p. 130. Milne (Middleton’s Selection of Strathspeys, Reels &c. for the Violin), 1870; p. 32. Petrie (Fourth Collection of Strathspey, Reels, Jiggs and Country Dances), c. 1805. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 185. Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; pp. 12-13. Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; p. 64 (appears as "Braes of Tullimet").
Recorded sources: Greentrax CDTRAX 9009, John 'Dancie' Reid (1869-1942) - "Scottish Tradition 9: The Fiddler and his Art" (1993). Odyssey ORCS 1051, Jerry Holland - "Fiddler's Choice" (1998. Holland cites Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald for his source). Rounder RO7023, Natalie MacMaster - "No Boundaries" (1996). WMT002, Wendy MacIsaac - "That's What You Get" (1998?).
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]