Annotation:King's House (The)

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KING'S HOUSE, THE. Scottish, Retreat March (3/4 time). A Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Composed by Scottish bandleader Bobby MacLeod (attributed to him on his album, although, as Nigel Gatherer points out, it may be prudent to await further confirmation for certainty). Some note similarities to "When the Battle Is O'er", composed by Pipe Major W. Robb, to which words were set. Wm. Grattan Flood wrote in The Story of the Bagpipe (1911): "In an Irish poem on Tara by Cuan O'Lochain, written about the year 1015, there is reference to "the pipers and jugglers" who were privileged to enter the King's house and to drink his beer", although whether there is a connection to this passage and MacLeod's title is unknown.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Greentrax CDTRAX206, Jock Tamson's Bairns - "May You Never Lack a Scone" (2001). Bobby MacLeod (appears in set "The Mist of Glencoe", consisting of "Wives of the Glen", "The King's House" and "MacDonald's Awa' Tae the Wars").




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