Annotation:Miss Grace Abercromby of Birkenbog's Strathspey
X:1 T:Miss Grace Abercromby of Birkenbog's Strathspey M:C| L:1/8 R:Strathspey B: John Morison - A Collection of New Strathspey Reels, with a few favourite Marches (Edinburgh, c. 1797, No. 41) N:Organist and fiddler Morison (1772-1848) was from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, the easternmost point in Scotland, on the North Sea. Alburger notes that failing fortunes forced him to diversify: he also organized balls and ran a ship's chandlery. F:https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Collection_of_New_Strathspey_Reels_wit/Vo-EymUbJkYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22john+morison%22+%22new+strathspey+reels%22%C2%A0&pg=PP1&printsec=frontcover K:Gmin F|DGG>A B>c {Bc}dB|AFcA F>AcA|DGG>A B>c {Bc}dB|BG F/G/A/B/ AGG:| g|Tg>a {fa}ba gdd=e|Tf>g {fg}ag fccg|Tg>a {fa}bg fcdf|cFcA AGGg| Tg>a {fa}ba gdd=e|Tf>g {fg}ag fccg|faga fcdf|cFcA AGG||
MISS GRACE ABERCROMBY OF BIRKENBOG'S STRATHSPEY. Scottish, Strathspey (cut time). G Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. "Miss Grace Abercromby of Birkenbog's Strathspey" was composed by John Morison (1772-1848), a fiddler and, for a time, organist at St. Peter's Chapel, Peterhead. Morison was from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, the easternmost point of Scotland and a port town on the North Sea. He had a small fiddle band for playing dances, but he supported himself, as many musicians did, with diversification. Alburger notes he also organized balls and ran a ship's chandlery; he also tuned pianos and organs and copied out music, but eventually he went bankrupt (at least once). Morison published two collections; the first around 1797 and the second in 1815.
Grace Abercromby (1790-1876), was a child of Sir George Abercromby (1750-1831), 4th bt. of Birkenbog and Forgone and his wife, Helen Abercromby of Tullibody (likely a cousin). Grace was baptised at Forglen, 18 March 1790, and was about age 7 when Morison issued his collection; perhaps she was received music tutelage from him. She later married, in June, 1823, at Forglen, Joseph Murray (1786-1876) of Ayton (Fife).
