Annotation:Miss Stewart of Grantully (1)
X:1 T:Miss Stewart of Grantully [1] M:C L:1/8 S:Strathspey B:Stewart-Robertson – The Athole Collection (1884) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A e | AAc>A c/d/e c2 | B<=G B>c d/c/B/A/ G>B | AAc>A c/d/e c2 | A<ae>f c>AA :| || g | a>ea>e a/g/f/e/ a>e | =g>dg>d B<=GG>^g | a>ea>e a/g/f/e/ a>e | f>ea>e c>AA>g| a>ea>e a/g/f/e/ a>e | =g>dg>d B>=GG>B | AAc>A c/d/e c2 | A<ae<f c<AA ||
MISS STEWART OF GRANTULLY [1]. Scottish, Strathspey. A Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. A double-tonic tune composed by Niel Gow (1727-1806), in pipe style (range of nine notes, double tonic). Pulver (1992) says it “can be said to represent the quintessence of Scottish dance melodies.” Grandtully (pronounced ‘Grantly’) is situated on the River Tay in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Grandtully Castle was a stronghold of the Stewarts and dates from the 16th century. The tune is a strathspey setting of Gow’s “Miss Stewart (1)/Miss Stewart of Grantully (2)" and the title perhaps refers to Clementina or Grizel Stewart, daughters of Sir John Stewart, 4th Bart of Grandtully (d. 1797) and his wife Clementina Stewart (daughter of Charles Stewart of Ballechin), whom he married in 1749. Grizel became a minister’s wife, while Clementina (born around 1759) married in 1782 Alexander Moray, 14th of Abercairny.
Compare "Miss Stewart of Grantully [1]" with Angus MacKay's later pipe strathspey "Balmoral Castle (4)," which, if not cognate, was "highly informed" by Gow's composition.
