ROSEWOOD. Scottish, Irish, Canadian; Jig (6/8 time). Canada, Cape Breton. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Bain): AABB (McNulty): AABB’CC (Perlman). Composed by the great fiddler-composer James Scott Skinner (1843-1927) in honor of his concert agent, George Rosewood of Aberdeen. J. Scott Skinner
The tune began to transition to Irish traditional music repertory after the 1960's, perhaps picked up from Glasgow-based piper Pat McNulty's 1965 volume Dance Music of Ireland or from the playing of Belfast fiddler Sean McGuire (who recorded it in the mid-1960's). It can also be heard played for contra dancing and has been recorded numerous times by Cape Breton/PEI musicians.
Additional notes
Source for notated version: - Reuben Smith (b. 1931, Blooming Point, Queens County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman].
Printed sources : - Bain (50 Fiddle Solos), 1989; p. 42. McNulty (Dance Music of Ireland), 1965; p. 21. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 144.
Recorded sources: - Avoca AV 139, Sean McGuire with the Four Front Star Quartet - "Music of Ireland" (1965?). Hall FHR-024, Fennig's All-Star String Band - "Fennigmania" (1981. Learned from the McCusker Brothers Ceili Band). Rounder Records, Buddy MacMaster – “Cape Breton Tradition.”
See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [2]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [3]
