On the Naming of the ‘ - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

On the Naming of the ‘Strathspey’: Toponymic Evidence from Early Fiddle Collections

Musica

Scotica

: Aberdeen

Will Lamb

27 April 2014Slide2

The strathspey appeared when Anglo and Gaelic culture came into their closest historical contactWe can see this when we map the placenames of Scottish music collectionsSlide3

Many Faces of the StrathspeyA rhythmic ‘meme’ permeating Scottish musical culture, esp Gaelic song

A type of

instrumental

dance music

, or ‘tune type’

A slow form of

‘listening’ music

A type of

danceSlide4

Strathspeys and Reels: Modern DefinitionsStrathspey: slow pointed tune in common time (4/4) with dotted notes and ‘Scots snaps’

Reel

: fast

round

tune in alla breve (‘cut time’: 2/2) with smooth, regular quaversSlide5

Timeline: first ‘strathspeys’

1700

1750

1780

1710

‘MacPherson’s Testament’

(

Sinkler

)

c 1697-1716

First ‘Scots snaps’ in ‘

Schots Air’

(Dutch ms: Rimmer)

Culloden

1745

‘A new strathspey reel’ (Oswald)

1747

Prince Charles sings ‘a strathspey-reel’

1757

First anonymous strathspeys (

Bremner

)

1759

First notated waulking song

(Oswald)

1780

Cumming’s Collection

✔Slide6

Angus Cumming’s collections

1780

A Collection of

Strathspey

, or Old Highland Reels

1782

A Collection of

Strathspeys, or Old Highland ReelsSlide7

Francis Peacock (1723

-1807

) said that the strathspey was found

across the Highland region.

Patrick MacDonald (1784): prints

strathspeys

from

N Highlands, Perthshire and HebridesSlide8

Cumming’s preface (1780)That species of musical composition called a Reel, and particularly the Strathspey Reel, is the catch,

the brisk and lively

song

,

of the

natives of Caledonia

Slide9

St Kilda c1780‘At the conclusion of the fishing season, when the winter store of this little commonwealth is safely deposited in a house, called

Tigh

-a-bharra

, its whole members resort thither, as being the most spacious room in their dominions, and hold a solemn assembly. There

they sing with gratitude and joy one of their best reel-airs

…’ (Ramsay)Slide10

’S ann an Ìle (strathspey)

Hugh Duncan, Islay

Strathspey followed by reel: normal speedSlide11

A Chur nan Gobhar às a’ Chreig (Reel)

Strathspey at normal tempo followed by 3rd part of reel, stretched to the same tempo

Hugh Duncan, IslaySlide12

Pretty Marion: Pipe Reel

Rona Lightfoot, South Uist

Strathspey (end of

Moneymusk

) in normal tempo

followed by 3rd part of reel (Pretty Marion), stretched to same tempoSlide13

Griogal Cridhe: Lullaby

Jessie MacKenzie, Lewis

Normal SpeedSlide14

14Griogal Cridhe cont

Sped up to strathspey tempoSlide15

In both the playing and singing of reels

and

slower work songs

one finds an underlying

‘strathspey’ feel,

when performed by Gaelic speakers

The

‘strathspey’ seems to be an underlying rhythmic matrix for Gaelic song associated with movementSlide16

Why was it called the ‘strathspey’?The strathspey first entered the written record in the 1740sAt this time, the Spey valley region was on the border between Anglo and Gaelic society

The rhythm was noticed by

violin playing nobility

, or musicians

employed by them

The strathspey - as we know it today - is likely to be a product of intercultural contact: a

culture graftSlide17

Place-names in Scottish Fiddle Collections (Gore)

Category

Proportion of total

place-names

Dedications to noble personage

54%

Geographical

features

/ settlements

19%

Baronial houses

7%

Other dedications

6%

Transportation (roads and bridges)

4%

Misc

10%

Ex. ‘Lord

Kinnaird

’; ‘The Duchess of

Argyll

’; ‘

Castle Grant

’Slide18

Place-names in Tune Collections 1700-1749Slide19

Place-names 1700-1749: Counties indicated

0 points in Hebrides,

Rosshire

,

Sutherlandshire

or Caithness

1 point each in Inverness-shire and ArgyllshireSlide20

Manuscript evidence 1616-1750

(data from Keith Sanger)

Data comes mainly from Highland estates (so covers less spread)

Almost all references before 1744 are within ‘intercultural zone’

Indicates instrumental culture was linguistically-divided

1744

1747

Violin or fiddle

Viol

1701

?Slide21

Place-names in Tune Collections 1750-1783

Intercultural zone much bigger

Many areas of the

Gaidhealtachd

still ‘off the map’

Ross-shire

Sutherland

The Hebrides (except Mull and Skye)Slide22

Around the world, instrumental dance music traditions are recognised as generally evolving from earlier dance song traditions (Sachs 1937: 181)“In all probability, the first songs to be instrumentalised are those for which

the words have been forgotten

” (ibid.)

Sachs

, Curt. 1937.

World History of the Dance

. New York: W W Norton.Slide23

Importance of Place-namesProvide us with evidence of intercultural contactShow that the Spey valley area was accessible to Anglo musical societyShows the

absence of such contact

in large swathes of the Highlands

The moniker - the ‘strathspey’

swallowed up earlier airs

featuring the memeSlide24

The underlying rhythm of the strathspey is so ubiquitous in Gaelic songs connected to motion, that it must have developed as part of that tradition As a ‘tune type’, it is a culture graft

: a product of contact between Anglo and Gaelic society

We must be attentive to the hybrid nature of this musical form

SummarySlide25

Main PositionsThe rhythm associated with the strathspey is ubiquitous in Gaelic ‘movement’ song It must have developed as part of that tradition

The

strathspey

, qua ‘tune type’ is a product of

cultural contact

Indicated by toponyms

in music collections and estate records Strathspey was a nexus point between Gaelic and Anglo culturesSlide26

GoalsMake connection between Gaelic song and the strathspey

Using sound

clips and textual evidence

Map the place

-names

in

early musical collections and relevant estate records

Showing which parts of Scotland were known to Anglo society in the 1700