Annotation:Mr. H.R. Duff's Favorite
X:1 % T:Mr. H.R. Duff's Favorite M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Country Dance Tune C:”by a Gentleman.” B:William Morrison - Collection of Highland music, consisting of B:strathspeys, reels, marches, waltzes & slow airs (c. 1813, p. 33) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Eb (E/F/)|:O GEEG|FDDF|EC (c/B/)A/G/|(A/G/)F/E/ (D/c/)B/A/| GEEG|FDD E/D/|C(c/B/) B,(B/A/)|(G/A/)(F/A/) E:| |:G/A/|BGG e/c/|dBB c/d/|e/d/c/B/ e/g/ G/B/|A/G/F/E/ FG/A/| BGG e/c/|dBB c/d/|(e/d/)c/B/ (d/c/)B/=A/|B/e/d/c/ B/A/G/A/:||
MR. H.R. DUFF'S FAVORITE. Scottish, Country Dance Tune (2/4 time). E Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune is "by a Gentleman", printed in William Morrison's c. 1813 collection. Since Morrison signed his compositions, it was composed by another, perhaps Duff himself (Duff declined to put his name to his published volume of ancient letters, The Culloden Papers). Major H.R. (Hugh Robert) Duff was born in 1771 and served in the 35th Dorsetshire Regiment and the 37th Hampshire Regiment in the wars with France in the 1790's. He was captured and interred in the basement of a church for a year before being paroled, and it was said after his release he never entered a church again. He was interested in literature and archeology
In July 1798 Duff married Sarah Louisa Forbes, reputed to have been a great beauty, and the only daughter of and the couple had eleven children, five sons and six daughters. He died at Muirtown in August, 1832, outliving his wife by three years.