Annotation:Duncan Davidson
Tune properties and standard notation
DUNCAN DAVI(D)SON. AKA and see "Duncan Davie," "1812" (USA), "1812 Quickstep" (USA), "The Eighteen-Twelve (1812) March," "Gentle Ann," "Handy Andy's Highland Fling," "Maggy's Weame Is Fu I Trow," "Shakkin Trews," "Tibbie Inglis' Fancy," "Welcome Here Again," "The Wind That Shakes/Shook the Barley [1]" (Shetland), "Ye'll Aye Be Welcome Back Again." Scottish, Strathspey. E Major (Gow, Hunter): D Major (Athole, Cole, Gow, Honeyman, Kerr). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Cole, Honeyman). AAB (Gow Collection): AABB and variations (Gow, Hunter): AABB' (Athole, Kerr): AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJAABB (Gow, First Collection). Variations from the 18th century in the then-fashionable Haydenesque style (which Hunter identifies as "Italianate") appear in Carlin and Hunter's editions, composed by Nathaniel Gow (not Niel Gow, as is sometimes asserted). The confusion stems from the fact that the tune was published in Niel Gow's 1784 First Collection of Niel Gow's Reels -- the collection was edited and published by his son Nathaniel however, who added the variations). Glen (1891) believes its ancestral tune to have been "Strick Upon a Strogin" in the Leyden MS of 1692 (Bayard {1981} remarks, "he may be right, but I see no special reason for thinking so."). The most common names for the tune have been "Duncan Davidson" and "Ye'll Aye Be Welcome Back Again," of which the latter, according to Glen, is the older form (he also thinks Burns composed the David title). Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearances of the tune in print in Alexander McGlashan's 1780 collection (p. 14), and, as "Duncan Davie," in Joshua Campbell's 1778 collection (pg. 31). It also appears in Kirkmichael, Perthshire, fiddler and composed Robert Petrie's 2nd Collection of Strathspey Reels and Country Dances, 1796. See note for "Ye'll Aye be Welcome Back Again" for more information.
"Duncan Davidson" shows up in Ireland as the second tune in a medley of flings called "The Four Provinces." Another Irish title is "Donegal Lassies (3)."
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 46. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 128. Gow (Complete Collection), Part 1, 1799; p. 34. Gow (The First Collection of Niel Gow's Reels), 1784 (revised 1801); pp. 12-13 (includes variation sets). Graham (Popular Songs of Scotland), 1908; p. 205. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; p. 11. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 39. Johnson (Scots Musical Museum), vol. 2; No. 149. Jones [Ed.] (Complete Tutor Violin), c. 1815; p. 3. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 1; Set 28, No. 3, p. 17. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 168. Scot (Scottish Country Dance Book), Book 7, No. 4a (with references). Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884' p. 94. Wilson (A Companion to the Ball Room), 1816; p. 45.
Recorded sources: Regal Records, G6961, Peter & James Wyper [1] (melodeon and piano), recorded 1907.
See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [2]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [3]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [4]