Annotation:Lady Jean Hume's Reel

Back to Lady Jean Hume's Reel

---

LADY JEAN HUM(E)'S REEL. AKA and see "Lady Ann Hamilton's Rant," "Lady Home's Jig." Scottish, Country Dance Tune (12/8 or 6/8 time). C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody appears in the Drummond Castle Manuscript (in the possession of the Earl of Ancaster at Drummond Castle), inscribed "A Collection of Country Dances written for the use of his Grace the Duke of Perth by Dav. Young, 1734", and in the (James) Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (1768). John Glen (1891) found the earliest appearance of the tune in print only in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection, and was evidently unaware of it's inclusion in Young's MS.

Lady Jean Hume (1710-1770 or 1682-1751) was the youngest daughter of Sir Patrick Hume, afterwards created Earl of Marchmont, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland. In 1703 she married James Sandilands, 7th Lord Torphichen (d. 1753), and had three daughters, who died unmarried, and eight sons. His portrait and that of his wife, Lady Jean Hume, were long preserved at the family seat, Calder House, near Mid Calder, West Lothian. Percy, in his Reliques, attributes the initial publication of the Child ballad "Young Waters" to her efforts. William Hamilton dedicated his poem "The Braes of Yarrow" (from Poems on Several Occasions) to her.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Bremner (Scots Reels), c. 1757; p. 50. David Young (Drummond Castle/Duke of Perth Manuscript), 1734; No. 16.

Recorded sources:

---