Annotation:Lord Banff's Strathspey

Back to Lord Banff's Strathspey

LORD BANFF('S STRATHSPEY). Scottish, Strathspey. E Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. "Very Slow" says Gow. The melody was composed by Biography:Issac Cooper of Banff (b. 1755, d. 1810/1811 or 1820), a multi-talented musician who taught and published several collections in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Collinson (1966) pronounced it "a good tune," while John Glen (1895) describes it as one of the excellent compositions from this composer. See also the Irish adaptation "Lord Banff's Reel."

Lord Banff was William Ogilvy, 8th Lord Banff (d. 1803), whose seat was Forglen House, Banffshire. The manor was built on the site of an ancient castle, replaced by Ogilvy with an elegant classical house in 1800. Ogilvy had been a soldier who served under the Duke of York as an officer in the Enniskillen (6th) Reg. of Dragoons, attaining the rank of Captain in 1780. He retired from the army in 1794. Upon William's death the title became dormant as he never married and there was no male heir.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Anderson (Anderson's Budget of Strathspeys, Reels & Country Dances), c. 1720; p. 19. Gow (Complete Repository), 1799, Part 1; p. 7. MacDonald (A Third Collection of Strathspey Reels), c. 1792; p. 12.

Recorded sources:

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]

Back to Lord Banff's Strathspey