Annotation:Muir o' Gellan (The)

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MUIR O' GELLAN, THE. AKA - "Gillen's Reel," "Gillian's Reel." Scottish, Strathspey. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The Muir o' Gellan is a farm in in Aberdeenshire, Scotland (thus individual's names like 'Gillian' for the tune are erroneous). The strathspey is the composition of Peter Milne [1] (1824-1908), one of J. Scott Skinner's teachers and, later, fiddling partner. Milne managed to make a living playing theater venues all over Scotland, but became addicted to opium in the drug laudanum, which he originally took as a pain-killer. Milne ended his life in reduced circumstances, busking on the ferry which crossed the Firth of Forth. When Milne was a boy in the 1830's he worked as a herd on the nearby Muir o’ Gellan.

Source for notated version: Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford]; "After (Scottish fiddler) J.F. Dickie's set" [Henderson].

Printed sources: Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 97, p. 41. Henderson (Flowers of Scottish Melody), 1935.

Recorded sources: Topic Records TSDL354, John Neil MacLean - "Cape Breton Scottish Fiddle" (various artists).

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [2]
See/hear the tune played by Ed Perlman in 2012 on youtube.com [3] (1st tune in medley).