Annotation:Anderson's Rant (1)

Composed by the great Scots fiddle-composer William Marshall (1748-1833), and first published in his 1781 Collection, although, according to Glen (1895) it did not appear in his collective and posthumous works. Susan Cowie, in her book The Life and Times of William Marshall (1999), states the reel is dedicated to the Reverend John Anderson, a cleric who helped educate Marshall when he came to Gordon Castle as a young lad (Marshall was said to have only had six months of grammer school education prior to joining the castle staff as house boy). Anderson at one time held both the post of parish minister and commissioner upon the Gordon estates, but when this dual role was challenged by the General Assembly Anderson in 1819 opted to remain commissioner, the more lucrative of the two jobs.

Printed Sources: Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music), vol. 2, 1895; pg. 19. Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1781 Collection, pg. 7.