Annotation:Gossip Joan (2)
X:1 T:Gossip Joan [2] T:Brisk Robin Sure in Hairst N:”Very Old” M:3/4 L:1/8 R:Air B:Alexander Mackay – A Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Slow Tunes… B:Chiefly composed by Alexander Mackay, Musician Islay (c. 1822, p. 7) 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 d>BA>F {F}E2 |E>ee>B cA|d>BA>F {F}E2|D>dd>F E>D:| |:d>fc>e B2|B>ee>B cA|d>fc>e B2|D>dd>F E>D:|]
GOSSIP JOAN [2]. AKA - "Brisk Robin Sure in Hairst." Scottish, Air (3/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The air appears as "Gossip Joan" in Islay fiddler-composer biography:Alexander Mackay's Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Slow Airs, printed for him in Glasgow in the early 19th century. Dates of the publication vary: Gore gives is as c. 1802, Glen as c. 1822, and J. Murdoch Henderson found a watermark in the volume he studied dated c. 1832. The volume was dedicated to Lady Elinor Campbell of Island and Shawfield.
The tune is musically unrelated to James Oswald's "Gossip Joan (1)," nor is the alternate title MacKay gives, "Brisk Robin Sure in Hairst" related to other tunes by that title (or the various title variations). David Young's "Rob Shear'd in Her'st", for example, is a different melody, although it shares a 3/4 time signature. Mackay's tune may also have been used as a vehicle for the song.
