Annotation:Garth's Fire-Side

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GARTH'S FIRE-SIDE. Scottish, Reel. G Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Composed by Robert Petrie (1767-1830), a native of Kirkmichael, Perthshire, who was employed as a gardener at Troup House. He was an excellent fiddler and had a reputation as a profligate and non-conformist, but is reputed to have won either a 'silver bow' or a cup (depending on the story) at a competition at Edinburgh in 1822. There is no evidence that the prize ever appeared in Kirkmichael, however. Petrie composed many tunes and published four collections in his lifetime. "Garth's Fire-Side" appears in his Fourth Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Jiggs and Country Dances (Edinburgh, 1805). The title perhaps refers to Garth House, a mansion on the left bank of the River Lyon, at the eastern end of Glen Lyon in Perth and Kinross. It was the birthplace of Major-General David Stewart (1772-1829), Governor of St. Lucia and author of Sketches of the Highlanders, and later owned by Sir Archibald Campbell (1769-1829). After Petrie's day, in 1838, it was rebuilt into a gothic style mansion.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: S. Johnson (A Twenty Year Anniversary Collection), 2003; p. 21.

Recorded sources:

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