Annotation:Lady Carnegie of Southesk’s
X:1 T:Lady Carnegie of Southesk’s M:C L:1/16 R:Strathspey B:Archibald Duff – Collection of Strathspey Reels &c. (1794, p. 3) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Gmin d3c|B3AG3A B3c {e}d2cB|A2F2c2F2 d2F2c2F2|B3AG3A B3c {e}d2cB| A2F2 (dcBA) B2G2G2:|d2|g3ab2g2 d2{^f}g2 G2g2|=f3g {g}f2ed (cBAG) F2d2| g3ab2g2 d2^f2g2b2|a2=f2d2^f2 Tg4 G2d2|g3ab2g2 d2d2g2d2| f3g (fdcB) (ABcB) A2F2|(B3G)(c3A) (d3B)(e3c)|(dBAG) (^FdAc) B2G2G2||
LADY CARNEGIE OF SOUTHESK'S STRATHSPEY. Scottish, Strathspey (whole time). G Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The Carnegie family, baronets and earls of Southesk, were patrons of Archibald Duff, and supported many other causes, including Gaelic schools in the Highlands and support for mothers in childbirth. During Duff's time the family was headed by Sir David Carnegie of Pitarrow (1753-1805), 4th Baronet earl of Southesk, and his wife Agnes Murray Elliot (1763-1960). David was a Whig politician and Member of Parliament for the Montrose Burghs and later Forfar from 1784 until his death. Agnes Elliot's father had been Lieutenant Governor of New York through the American Revolution, and had a considerable estate in what is now Philadelphia, which was confiscated at the end of the war. Elliot, however, managed to hold on to the esteem of many of the leading adversaries during the conflict, and received complimentary letters from George Washington, General Knox, and other prominent men when he departed American for England in 1783 at the conclusion of the Peace. His daughter married Sir David Carnegie that same year. The union produced nine daughters before the steadfast Lady Carnegie birthed two sons: Christian Mary (1784-1860), Elizabeth (1784-1884), Jane (1785-1859), Mary (1788-1834), Eleanore (1789-1855), Agnes (1790-1875), Mary (1793-1877), Emma (1794-1882), Madeline (1796-1858), James (1799-1849) and John (1802-1879). Lady Carnegie survived her husband by over fifty years. Many of the Carnegie daughters remained unmarried, and only a few had children. Carnegie was succeeded in Parliament as representative of Forfar by the William Maule of Panmure.
At the time Duff published his collection (1794) the Carnegie daughters were still children; the eldest, Christian Mary, was but ten. Thus, all the tunes Duff wrote for the daughters, including their "favorites", were addressed to young women who he may have been instructing in dance and/or music.