Annotation:Yetts of Muckart (1) (The)

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YETTS OF MUCKART [1], THE. Scottish (originally), Canadian; Reel. Canada; Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Athole, Little, Perlman, Shears, Skye): AABB' (Kerr). The word yett is an Old English variation of 'gate', and when applied geographically means a pass running between hills. The Yetts of Muckart are located in the Ochil Hills, but there is also a village called Yetts of Muckart in Clackmannanshire parish of Muckhart, where (according to the Gazetteer of Scotland) "A tollhouse was established here in the early 19th Century on a road used by cattle drovers and coaches." This "Yetts" reel was composed by James Stewart-Robertson, editor of The Athole Collection. Cape Breton fiddlers made sound recordings of the tune relatively early: Angus Allan Gillis cut it in 1935 on 78 RPM (paired with “Miller of Drone (The)”).

Source for notated version: Peter Chaisson, Jr. (b. 1942, Bear River, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman].

Printed sources: Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 3), c. 1880’s; No. 104, p. 13. Little (Scottish and Cape Breton Fiddle Music in New Hamphire), 1984; p. 33. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 13 (set as a strathspey). Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 97. Shears (Gathering of the Clans Collection, vol. 1), 1986; p. 44 (pipe setting). Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 40.

Recorded sources: Marquis 81245 2, David Greenberg & Doug MacPhee – “Tunes Until Dawn: Traditional Fiddle & Piano Music of Cape Breton” (2000). Rounder 7003, John Campbell – “Cape Breton Violin Music” (1976). Rounder 7015, Various Artists – “The Fiddlers of Eastern Cape Breton” (1997). Rounder Records 7052, Buddy MacMaster – “The Cape Breton Tradition” (2003). Rounder 7059, Alex Francis MacKay with Gordon MacLean – “Gaelic in the Bow” (2005).

See also listings at:
Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]