Annotation:Dunse Castle

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DUNSE CASTLE. Scottish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The melody appears in Abraham Macintosh's 1792 collection. Parts of Duns Castle, Berwickshire, date back to the 14th century when the Borders was a region-turned-battleground between Scotland and England. It was built around the ruins of a Pele tower given by King Robert the Bruce to the Earl of Moray. The castle itself has changed hands several times, but was eventually bought for William Hay of Drummelzier by his father the Earl of Tweedale in 1696. The Hay family have lived there in unbroken succession ever since. One of the members, Alexander Hay, was killed at Waterloo in 1815 and his ghost returned to Duns Castle where it appears occasionally. This may or may not be welcome to patrons of the castle, as the Hay family has opened it to the public for accommodations.

Source for notated version: Abraham Mackintosh, 1792 [Moffat].

Printed sources: Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music), vol. 1, 1891; p. 33. Moffat (Dance Music of the North), 1908; No. 41, p. 17.

Recorded sources:

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