Annotation:Mr. MacDonald—Gordon Castle

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MR. MACDONALD--GORDON CASTLE. Scottish, Slow Strathspey. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by William Marshall (1748-1833). Marshall served the Duke of Gordon for many years as his Steward of the Household, yielding the position to Daniel McDonald. Interestingly, McDonald too was said to be a “capital performer and composer” (Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, Saturday, January 1, 1848, p. 15), which must have been a prerequisite for the position, as the Duke frequently called upon his Steward and retainers "to perform [the composer's] music to his Grace's guests".

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Marshall, Fiddlecase Edition, 1978; 1822 Collection, p. 31.

Recorded sources:




Tune properties and standard notation