Annotation:Captain Campbell of Carphen
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CAPTAIN CAMPBELL OF CARPHEN. AKA – "Captain Campbell," "Captain Campbell's Strathspey." AKA and see "Cameron House." Scottish (originally), Canadian; Strathspey. Canada; Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island. A Minor or Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Hunter, Kerr, Martin, Perlman): AABB' (Athole, Carlin, Lerwick): AA'BB' (Little). The tune appears in M. McDonald's 2nd collection of 1789, a volume dedicated to the Earl of Breadalbane. Some see similarities with the Shetland tune "Up and Doon da Harbour." The strathspey is also popular among Cape Breton/PEI musicians.
See also Irish variants "Mo ceoil sibh a laochra," "George Gubbin's Delight," and "Humors of Schull (The)," and the Donegal Highlands "Molly Gharbu" or "Mullach Garbh Highland (The)."
Sources for notated versions: Cape Breton style fiddler Harvey Tolman (Nelson, N.H.) [Little]; Eddy Arsenault (b. 1921, St. Chrysostom, East Prince County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]; Jean-Ann Callender (Aberdeen) [Martin].
Printed sources: Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; p. 72, No. 108. Glen (Collection of Scottish Dance Music, vol. 1), 1891; p. 46. Hunter (The Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 70. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), Set 12, No. 6, p. 9. Lerwick (Kilted Fiddler), 1985; p. 29. Little (Scottish and Cape Breton Fiddle Music in New Hampshire), 1984; p. 34. Lowe's Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Jigs, book 5, 1844–1845; p. 16. MacDonald (A Second Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1789; p. 8. Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling), 2002; p. 131. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 194. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 51.
Recorded sources:
Culburnie Records CUL102c, Alasdair Fraser & Jody Stecher – "The Driven Bow" (1988).
Green Linnet GLCD 3105, Aly Bain – "Lonely Bird" (1996).
Tartan Tapes CDTT1004, Amy Geddes – "Heat the Hoose" (1998).
See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]