Annotation:Borlum's Reel (1)

Back to Borlum's Reel (1)

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BORLUM'S REEL [1]. AKA - "Borlum's Rant," "Borlum's Strathspey." Scottish, Strathspey. F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Surenne): AABCD (McGlashan): AA'BBCC (Gow). Glen finds the earliest printing of "Borlum's Reel" in Alexander McGlashan's 1786 collection (p. 23), although clearly the tune appears in Robert Ross's 1780 collection under the similar title "Borlum's Rant."

A "Borlum's Reel" was printed by Glasgow publisher James Aird in 1782 in his Selections of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 1, and although it has some similarities, it is a different tune.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Gow (Complete Collection, Part 1), 1799; p. 26 (appears as "Borlam's Strathspey"). MacDonald (Skye Collection), 1887; p. 146. Robert Ross (Choice Collection of Scots Reels or Country Dances & Strathspeys), Edinburgh, 1780; p. 33 (as "Borlum's Rant"). Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; p. 141. Stewart (A Select Collection of Scots English Irish and Foreign Airs Jiggs & Marches), 1788; Part 2, p. 94.

Recorded sources:

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