Annotation:Acharnac
X:1 T:Acharnac's Reel T:Ba'l nan Grantich M:C L:1/8 R:Strathspey or Reel B:Cumming - Collection of Strathspey or Old Highland Reels (1782, No. 5, p. 2) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D B|A>DA>F A>DA>F|A>DA>F B>EE>F|A>FA>F d>ef>e|d>B A/B/A/F/ AD D:| |:A|d>BA>F d>ef>e|d>BA>F e>BB>e|d>BA>F d>ef>e|d>B A/B/A/F/ AD D:| |:B|A>DA>F A>DA>F|A>DA>F B>EE>F|A>DA>F d>ef>e|d>B A/B/A/F/ AD D:| |:A|d>fe>f d>fe>f|d>fe>f e>EE>e|d>fe>f d>ef>e|d>B A/B/A/F/ AD D:| |:A|A,>D (G/F/E/D/) A>D (G/F/E/D/)|A,>D G/F/E/D/ B>EE>A|A,>D (G/F/E/D/) A>D (G/F/E/D/)|dB A/B/A/F/ AD D:| |:f|a>ba>f d>ef>d|e>fd>f e>EE>f|a>b a/g/f/e/ d>ef>e|dB A/B/A/F/ AD D:|]
ACHARNAC('S REEL). AKA – "Ba'l nan Grantich." AKA and see "Lady Mary Menzies." D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCCDDEEFF. The reel appears as "Acharnac's Reell" with the Gaelic title "Bail' nan Granndach" (Town of the Grants) in Angus Cumming's collection of 1782. Cumming (c. 1750-c. 1800) was from a long line of Speyside musicians. However, as William Lamb[1] points out, the word strathspey only appears in the title of his collection, and not with any of the tunes themselves; "the tunes were simply all 'Old Highland reels' to him." The boundary between what we think of as reels versus the syncopated strathspey was much more permeable to Cumming. Michael Newton, writing in his blog "The Origins of the Strathspey: A Rebuttal" [1] believes the correct Scots Gaelic title should be "Bail' (or Bàl) nan Granndach."
- ↑ William Lamb, "Reeling in the Strathspey: The Origins of Scotland's National Music", Scottish Studies, Vol. 36, pp 66-102, Jun 2013.