Annotation:Mr. Thomas Forbes
X:1 T:Mr. Thomas Forbes (Shannoch Breda) C:J. Scott Skinner M:C| L:1/8 R:Strathspey or Reel B:Skinner – Miller o’ Hirn Collection (1881, No. 117, p. 60) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Bb ^c|d>c{c}B>A G2- G>A|B>A G<d B<GG>^c|d>=cB>A G2- G>B|A>GF<f A<F F>^c| d>c{c}B>A G2-G>A|B>A G<d B<GG>A|B<G c<A d<B=e<c|f>d c<f A<FF|| [fa]|b>a{a}g>^f {f}g2 d>g|b<gd<g B<gd<g|a>gf>=e {e}f2 c>f|a<f=e<f c<fA<f| b>a{a}g>^f {f}g2 d>g|b<gd<g B<gd<g|a<fg<=e f<d=e<c|d<Bc<A B<GG||
MR. THOMAS FORBES. Scottish, Strathspey or Reel (cut time). G Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. "Mr. Thomas Forbes" was composed by Aberdeenshire fiddler-composer and Scottish dancing master wikipedia:James_Scott_Skinner (1943–1927), who indicated in his Miller o' Hirn Collection (1881) that it could be played as either a strathspey or reel. Mid-20th century Cape Breton fiddler Winston Fitzgerald’s version mixed the tonality between minor and major. In 1987, Paul Cranford (writing in Cape Breton's Magazine) said the tune was not often played by Cape Breton fiddlers.
Skinner named the tune for Thomas Forbes of Shannoch Breda, however no place-name is recorded called 'Shannoch Breda'. There is a Shannoch, Alford, Aberdeenshire, and the 1851 census lists a Thomas Forbes, farmer of 78 acres, married and head of a family of wife, five sons, two daughters, a widowed aunt and a farm hand.
