Annotation:Cam' Ye by Atholl?
X:1 T:Cam ye by Athol M:6/8 L:1/8 N:”Gaelic Air” B:Manson – Hamilton’s Universal Tune Book vol. 2 (1854, p. 116) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D F>ED D2B|A>Fd AFD|F>EE EFA|d>cB BAF| ABd e>dB|BAF ABd|F>EF dcB|ADF E2D:| |:d2A e2A|f>ed dAB|AFD D2 (d/e/)|f(g/f/).e/.d/ {f}e2d| d2A e>fg|f>ed (dc).B|A>BA ADE|FA{G}F E2D:|]
CAM' YE BY ATHOL? Cam' Ye by Atholl? AKA and see "Bonny Prince Charlie (2)," "Come Ye by Atholl". Scottish, Air (6/8 and 2/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Neil): AB (Kerr): AABB (Manson). The words to the tune were by poet James Hogg, while the music was by Nathaniel Gow's son Neil Jr. (Niel Gow's grandson, though note the difference in how the name is spelled), born about 1795. The tune was based on the older song air "Gala Water." Neil remained with his father in Edinburgh and was reported to have been a musician of excellent talent (another famous composition is his "Flora MacDonald's Lament"). He entered the medical profession, but unfortunately died quite young, at age 28.
"Cam' Ye by Athol?" was selected by Queen Victoria for John Wilson's (who was the most widely acclaimed singer of Scottish songs in his day) recital during her visit to Taymouth Castle in 1842; this shows how much wounds had healed in 100 years of Scottish/English relations, for the tune is a 'gathering song', written about recruiting Highlanders for the 1745 Jacobite rebellion in the cause of Bonnie Prince Charlie against the united Hanoverian throne of England and Scotland. Neil (1991) states that the song "belongs to the Atholl district of Perthshire and in particular the Murrays, who played a leading role in the insurrection," though he remarks that although the tune was inspired by Highlands sentiments, the song's origin was in the Lowlands of Scotland.
