Annotation:McLauchlanes Scottish Measure

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McLA(U)CHLAN'S SCOTTISH MEASURE. AKA and see "Inverness Scots Measure." Scottish, Scots Measure. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Howe): AABB (Gow). Alburger (1983) states the tune could have been written by John McLaughlan (Johnson {1984} says it was), a fiddler working around Edinburgh at the end of the seventeenth century (he is known to have played violin in an orchestral concert in Edinburgh in 1695). Some of his violin sets can be found arranged for lute in the Balcarres MS (c. 1700), including "McLauchlan's Scottish Measure, a tune that also was printed by London publisher Henry Playford in his Original Scots Tunes (1700). It was included by James Gillespie in his 'Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (1768).

"McLachlan's Scottish Measure" was used by Robert Burns for one of his songs, "Nae gentle dames, tho' ne'er sae fair", from the Scots Musical Museum (1788, No. 117), although it is considered inappropriate for the verse as it has an extended compass and hard-to-sing skipping intervals.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 138. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 2, 1802; p. 3. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; p. 136 (appears as "M'Lachlan's Scotch Measure").

Recorded sources:

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