Annotation:Buck of the Cabrach (1) (The)

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BUCK OF THE CABRACH [1], THE. AKA and see "The Road to Berwick." Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by William Marshall (1748-1833). The original title appears to have been "Road to Berwick (The)." The Buck of the Cabrach is the name of a 2,368 foot peak in the Cabrach range with commanding views to Strathdon and Ben Rinnes. It is located on lands once owned by the 4th Duke of Gordon, for whom Marshall became Factor in 1794 with responsibility for the mountainous Cabrach region; perhaps a dubious honor for the region is notorious for the severity of its winters. Moyra Cowie (The Life and Times of William Marshall, 1999) says the name Cabrach comes from the same Gaelic root as does caber, or tree. Interestingly, the area around the mountain is now nearly treeless, she records, although at one time there was a great royal forest there, a hunting preserve of Alexander III. The story goes that after his victory over Haco, King of the Norwegians, Alexander celebrated by going hunting in the forest, and his wife, furious that he did not return to her, ordered it burned.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1822 Collection, p. 36. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 126.

Recorded sources:

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