Annotation:Miss Grace Menzies

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MISS GRACE MENZIES. Scottish (originally), Canadian; Strathspey. Canada, Cape Breton. F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Marshall): AAB (Cranford). Composed by Biography:William Marshall (1748-1823), renowned for his strathspeys. Marshall was Steward of the Household to Alexander, the 4th Duke of Gordon, an enthusiastic supporter and patron of Marshall’s music. Moyra Cowie (The Life and Times of William Marshall, 1999) finds that Grace Menzies was born at Gordon Castle where her father was cashier and was presumably overseen by Marshall who had responsibility for the entire household. Mr. Menzies kept meteorological records at Gordon Castle which still survive (and record, among other items, the severe flooding on the estate in 1829).

"Miss Grace Menzies" is a popular strathspey among Cape Breton fiddlers, frequently recorded.

Source for notated version: Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford].

Printed sources: Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 147, p. 59. Köhler’s Violin Repository, Book One, 1881; p. 79. Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1845 Collection, p. 4.

Recorded sources: Atlantica Music 02 77657 50222 26, Jerry Holland - “Atlantic Fiddles” (1994). Fiddlesticks Music CD1, Jerry Holland - “The Fiddlesticks Collection” (1992. Learned from a home tape of Winston Fitzgerald). Rounder 7059, Alex Francis MacKay with Gordon MacLean – “Gaelic in the Bow” (2005).

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]