Annotation:Mr. Davidson of Cantray’s Strathspey

Back to Mr. Davidson of Cantray’s Strathspey

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MR. DAVIDSON OF CANTRAY'S STRATHSPEY. Scottish, Strathspey. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The strathspey appears in Biography:John Pringle's first collection (1801). Although many of the tunes in his collection were composed by Pringle and self-attributed to him, this tune appears without composer credits.

The Davidson of Cantray family (Croy, Inverness) rose to prominence when the merchant David Davidson (son of William Davidson and Agnes MacKercher) purchased Cantray House and the surrounding estates of Cantray and Clava from the Dallas family in 1767. Davidson married Maria Cuthbert of Castlehill, and the couple produced a son and heir in 1788, also named David Davidson. The father was alluded to in the statistical account of 1842 as "a man of singular sagacity, of most active powers of mind, and practical good sense," and as "a liberal-minded and fatherly landlord."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Pringle (A Collection of Reels, Strathspeys & Jigs), 1801; p. 10.

Recorded sources:

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