Annotation:Cheap Mutton
Back to Cheap Mutton
CHEAP MUTTON (Coille an Togail). AKA and see "Coilantogle," "Ewie Wi' the Crooked Horn (1) (The)," "Carron's Reel." Scottish, Strathspey. G Aeolian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Surenne): AAB (Gow), AABB (Williamson). Composed by Niel Gow (1727-1807), appearing in the Gows' Fourth Collection (1800), but the theme is really a simple variation on the traditional tune "Ewie wi' the Crooked Horn." "Coille an Togail" or "Talk:Coilantogle" is the alternate name given by Gow. It is the name of a ford on the river Teith, at the foot of Ben Ledi in Perthshire, and was a key point on the ways to the North. Sir Walter Scott refers to it as such in his poem "The Lady of the Lake."
Printed sources: Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 22. Gow (Fourth Collection of Niel Gow's Reels), 2nd ed., originally 1800; p. 31. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 188. Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; pp. 98-99 (appears as "Coilantogle"). Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; p. 63 (appears as "Coilantogle").
