Annotation:Lady Nelly Wemyss's Reel
X:1 T:Lady Nelly Wemyss's Reel M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig B:Robert Bremner - Collection of Scots Reels (1757, p. 13) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Amix B|Tc2 e- e(f/^g/a)|cAc Te2d|Tc2e- e(e/f/=g)|BGB d2B| Tc2e- ef^g|a^gf edc|dfd cac|BGB d2:| |:(f/^g/|a)cA ecA|acA ef^g|acA ecA|BGB d2 (f/^g/| a)cA ecA|a^gf edc|dfd cac|BGB d2:|]
LADY NELLY WEMYSS/WEMYES'S JIG. AKA and see "Jack Holmes Reel," "Lady Wemyss (1)," "Lady Nellie Wemyss," "Lady Nelly Wemyss," "Lady Nelly Wemyss's Reel," "Roving Quick Step (The)," "Stable Boys (The)," "Wait Awhile." Scottish, Jig (6/8 time). A Major/Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of this tune in print in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection (p. 13). Bremner's title, "Lady Nelly Wemyss's Reel", describes the dance this 6/8 tune accompanies, a title mirrored in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, fifer William Morris's c. 1776-77 music copybook where it appears as "Lady Nelley Wimsey Real." See also Francis O'Neill's version as "Wait Awhile."
"Lady Nelly Wemyss" also has enjoyed some minor currency among Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland musicians.
'Lady Nelly' was Lady Helen Wemyss, who, along with her sister Lady Walpole, had her portrait painted by Allan Ramsay of Kinkell (1713-1784). Portraitist Ramsay was the first of at least five surviving children of the Scottish poet and bookseller Allan Ramsay (1684–1758).
