Annotation:Miss Abercromby's Reel (1)
X:2 T:Miss Ambercromby’s Reel [1] L:1/16 M:C| S:Marshall – 1781 Collection Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Cmin (E2D2C2)(D2 E2F2)G2E2|F2B2F2B2 D2B,2F2D2|(E2D2C2)(D2 E2F2)G2c2|BG3 F3D CCC2 C4:| (e2d2c2)(d2 e2f2)g2e2|(d2c2B2)(c2 d2e2)f2d2| (e2d2c2)(d2 e2f2)g2e2|d3cB2d2 ccc2 c2| (e2d2c2)(d2 e2f2)g2e2|(d2c2B2)(c2 d2e2)f2d2| g2e2f2d2 e2c2d2B2|GB3 F3D CCC2 C4||
MISS ABERCROMBY'S REEL (--OF BIRKENBOG) [1]. Scottish, Reel. C Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Athole, S. Johnson): AABB' (Marshall). Composed by William Marshall (1748-1833), first printed in his 1781 collection. The title refers to the daughter of Sir Robert Abercromby of Birkenbog near Portsoy, Banffshire, according to Moyra Cowie (Life and Times of William Marshall, 1999). The Abercrombys were friends with the 4th Duke and Duchess of Gordon, and through this relationship would have had contact with Marshall, who was employed as the Duke’s Steward of the Household. Cowie points out that Banff was a favorite wintering place for the well-to-do of North-East Scotland, many of whom maintained town-homes there, spending the season visiting and socializing. Birkenbog was a farm house south of Cullen and was a well-developed and substantive property. A variant, set as a slow strathspey in the key of G Minor, appears in the William Sidney Mount [1] (1807-1868) music manuscripts under the title “Mrs. Abercrombys of Glupas Reel.”
