Annotation:Miss Ferguson of Raith's Strathspey (1)
X:1 T:Miss Ferguson of Raith's Strathspey [1] M:C L:1/8 R:Strathspey S:MacDonald – 2nd Collection of Strathspey Reels (1789) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Gdor c | BdGd Bdgd | fcdB A/B/c/A/ Fc | BdGd Bdgd | fc d/c/B/A/ BG G :| d | gbdg G(g/a/ b)g | facf F(f/g/ a)f | gbdg Gb/a/ bg | gc d/c/B/A/ BGGd | gbdg Gg/a/ bg | f>acf FA/B/ cA | B>dGd B>dgd | f>c d/c/B/A/ BG G ||
MISS FERGUSON OF RAITH'S STRATHSPEY [1]. Scottish, Strathspey. G Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The tune was first published (without composer credit) in MacDonald's Second Collection, reprinted in 1797, but was thought by some to have been composed by Niel Gow (1726-1806). Niel’s son Nathaniel claimed the composition for his father. Malcolm MacDonald was Nathaniel Gow's bass player at the time he published his collection and may have heard Gow play the melody; he perhaps did not know who wrote it. John Glen (1895), on the other hand, accuses the Gows of outright plagiarism in many instances, and questions the veracity of Nathaniel's claim. Similarities with "Miss Campbell's (3)."
Miss Ferguson was possibly a relation of William Ferguson of Raith and his wife, Jane Craufurd of Restalrig, who were contemporary with MacDonald. They were a landed Fife family, and early patrons of painter Henry Raeburn. William was devoted to his estate of Raith and it was he who laid out most of the park, made the lake, and planted the woods. He was also considered one of the leading men of his day in agriculture, and gave much consideration to the improvement of his farm-land. However, his only recorded progeny were two sons.
