Annotation:Lady Charlotte Bruce's Favorite
X:1 T:Lady Charlotte Bruce's Favorite M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Slow Air B:Gow - 3rd Collection of Niel Gow's Reels, 3rd ed., p. 2 (orig. 1792) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:F B|A2c (A/B/c).A|TB2d G2B|A2B {d}cAF|TE2F G2B| A2c (A/B/c).A|TB2d GAB|(cA).F (BG).E|[C3F3|[C2F2]:|| f|(e/f/g)e f2c|Td2e f2a|{a}gfg a2f|Te2f g2a| (e/f/g)e f2c|{B/c/}d2B Acf|(cA).F (BG).E|[C3F3] [C2F2]f| (e/f/g)e f2c|d2e f2a|{a}gfg a2f|e2f (ga)b| afc Td>ef|{d}cBA B>cd|(cA).F (BG).E|[C3F3][C2F2]||
LADY CHARLOTTE BRUCE'S FAVORITE. Scottish, Slow Jig or Pastoral Air. F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831), first appearing in his Third Collection of Strathspey Reels (1792). Lady Charlotte Matilda Bruce (1771-1816) was the third daughter of Charles 5th Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, and sister to Lord Elgin. In 1799 she married Admiral Sir Philip Durham (1763-1845), later a Member of Parliament for Devizes. Durham commanded HMS Defiance at the Battle of Trafalgar, and was a friend of naval heroes Lord Nelson and Collingwood. General William Dyott, an Aide-de-Camp to King George III, wrote in his diary in 1799:
I was acquainted with Lady Radnor at Weymouth, one of the pleasantest women I ever knew. I also go very intimately acquainted with Lady Charlotte Durham (Bruce she was) at Weymouth, one of the most delightful women in the world. She was on a visit to Lady Radnor, and therefore a cruel disappointment to me being confined at the time and unable to visit at Lord Radnor's whilst Lady Charlotte was there, though frequently asked.
Charlotte died without issued in February, 1816. See also other tunes composed in her honor, "Lady Charlotte Bruce," "Lady Charlotte Durham (1)" and "Lady Charlotte Durham (2)." Additional notes under Annotation:Lady Charlotte Durham (1).
