Annotation:Captain Dougal Campbell Kilmartin's Strathspey
X:1 T:Captain Dougal Campbell Kilmartin's Strathspey M:C| L:1/16 R:Strathspey B:Alexander Mackay – A Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Slow Tunes… B:Chiefly composed by Alexander Mackay, Musician Islay (c. 1822, p. 27) B: https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/104487947 N:Dedicated to the Right Hon. Lady Elinor Campbell of Islay and Shawfield. N:Mackay was born c. 1775 and was a fiddler-composer from Islay. Many of his N:tune titles are reflect Islay settings. N:Printed in Glasgow by J. MacFadyen, 30 Wilson St. Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D F2|D3DF3A B2A2F2A2|B3AB3d e2E2E2F2|D3DF3A B2A2F2B2|A2B2d2e2 f2d2d2:| g2|f2e2d2e2 (fgag) f3d|d3B g3f e3EE3g|f2e2d2e2 (fgag) f2d2|(dcBA) B2c2 d2D2D2g2| f2e2d2e2 (fgag) f3d|B3AB3d e3de3f|d2f2{fg}a2f2 e2d2e2f2|(dcBA) B2c2 d2D2D2||
CAPTAIN DOUGAL CAMPBELL KILMARTIN'S STRATHSPEY. Scottish, Strathspey (cut time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. "Captain Dougal Campbell Kilmartin's Strathspey" is an unattributed tune in Islay fiddler-composer biography:Alexander Mackay's Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Slow Tunes (Glasgow, c. 1822). The subject of the title is perhaps Dugald Campbell (1779-1829)of Kilmartin, Argyll, who rose to the rank of Major in the Argyle Fencibles. He married Helen Lamont Campbell, the daughter of a Captain in the 42nd regiment. A family tale of "second sight" regarding an incident that occurred when Dugald was a young man was reported by Captain Douglas Wimberley in Memorials of Four Old Families (Inverness, 1894, pp. 44-45). It goes:
His old nurse came to Kilmartin House one day in great distress about him, stating that she was sure that he was lying ill or that some mischief had happened to him, and urged some of the family to go to Edinburgh, where he was, and see what was the matter. Finding that no one would act upon this, as they said they would be sure to have heard if something was wrong, she resolved to go herself. There were no public conveyances in those days; but she set off, and made her way, travelling a great deal on foot, to the Capital, where she found him lying with both legs broken above the ankle. It turned out that for a wager he had vaulted the gate a Pinkie House, and had come to grief in doing so. Under her care he made a good recovery.
He was apparently well-liked. The Fencibles presented him with a silver cup. He is mentioned in two stanzas of a Gaelic song, composed before he inherited Kilmartin (c. 1811). The English translation reads:
Yes! drink the heath of Major Campbell,
In every place where we may get a dram;
Yes, drink the health of Major Campbell
Heir of Kilmartin.
Early comes the Major to the town,
We shall be certain of our dram;
He will put the Colonel on his back
And his toes upwards.
