Annotation:Lady Mary Ramsay (1)
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LADY MARY RAMSAY('S) [1]. AKA and see "Mary Ramsay," "Sailor Ower da Raft Trees" (Shetland), "Auld Toon o' Edinburgh." Scottish, Shetland, Canadian; Strathspey or Reel. Canada, Cape Breton. D Major (most versions): G Major (Huntington): E Flat Major (Athole, Gow). Standard or ADae (in the Shetlands) tuning (fiddle). AB (Cole, Honeyman, Surenne): AAB (Gow, Howe, Hunter, Kerr, Martin): AABB (Huntington): AABB' (Skinner, Stewart-Robertson): AABB'CCD (Skye). Lady Mary Ramsay was the daughter of George Ramsay, 8th Earl of Dalhousie, and married James Hay in 1801 (later the High Sheriff for Devon). Her brother was William Ramsay Maule (see "Annotation:Mr. Maule’s Frolick"). The tune is generally considered to have been composed by Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831), and is attributed to Gow in the Fourth Collection (1800) and in Part 4 of his Complete Repository. An excellent tune, it is one of his best-known compositions. However an alternate claim is mentioned by Keith Norman MacDonald in his Skye Collection (1887): "This tune...(appears) in James Porteous's Collection and having his initials attached it is possible he may have been the composer of it". Porteous's name for it was "Auld Toon o' Edinburgh."
The name of the strathspey was shortened by Shetland fiddlers (as "Mary Ramsay") and played as a reel. This occurred when the tune first circulated on the islands, via [J. Scott Skinner's] gramophone records, the play-back was at a faster tempo than the original performance and it was assumed that it was a reel. The Shetlanders had no knowledge of strathspeys in the country districts (Alburger {1983} quoting the late Shetland collector and fiddler Tom Anderson). "Lady Mary Ramsay" was also printed in Joseph Lowe's First Collection (1844), and was entered into the c. 1833 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian small piper Lionel Winship [1]. The reel appears in Newcastle, Northumberland, fiddler-composer Abraham Mackintosh's early 19th century collection A Collection of strathspeys, reels, jigs etc. as "Lady Mary Ramsay's Favorite", identified as "an old Reel."
In Ireland the tune was a popular Highland fling and reel, going under such titles as "Four Provinces Flings (3)," "Queen’s Shilling (The)," and "Jamie Duffy's Highland" (see "Lady Mary Ramsey (2)"). A version in Boston, Mass., publisher Elias Howe's Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) is to be found under the title "Forget Me Not (3)."
Sources for notated versions: : Jean-Ann Callender (Aberdeen) [Martin]; Hector MacAndrew [Martin]; the 1800-02 music manuscript collection of ship's fiddler William Litten [Huntington].
Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 127. Cooke (The Fiddle Tradition of the Shetland Isles), 1986; Ex. 19a, p. 69. Gow (Fourth Collection of Strathspey Reels), 2nd ed., originally 1800; p. 15. Henderson (Flowers of Scottish Melody), 1935. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; p. 31. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; p. 134. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 106. Huntington (William Litten's), 1977; p. 22. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 1; Set 14, No. 1, p. 10. Laybourn (Köhler’s Violin Repository, Book One), 1881; p. 55. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 34. Mackintosh (A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Jigs, etc.), n.d.; p. 2. Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling), 2002; pp. 127 &134. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 166. Skinner (Harp and Claymore), 1904; p. 88. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 88. Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; pp. 26-27.
Recorded sources: Beltona 2103 (78 RPM), Edinburgh Highland Reel and Strathspey Society (1936). Canadian Broadcasting Corp. NMAS 1972, Natalie MacMaster - "Fit as a Fiddle" (1993). Topic 12TS379, Aly Bain & Tom Anderson - "Shetland Folk Fiddling, vol. 2" (1978). Ron Gonella - "A Tribute to Niel Gow."
See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [2]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [3]