Annotation:Maid of Craigmaddie (The)

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MAID OF CRAIGMADDIE, THE. Scottish, Slow Air or Jig. G Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. The air was composed by Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831).

In ancient times Craigmaddie, in the parish of Baldernock, Stirling, was part of the manor or Lordship of Cartenvenoch or Bardowie, and the ancient castle of Cragin or Craigmaddie formed the residence of the old family of the Galbraiths of Buthernock or Baldernock. In Nathaniel Gow's time it was owned by Glasgow's Lord Provost James Black, who purchased the estate and he caused a comfortable cottage to be built, later adding the mansion and tasteful grounds. Black had made a considerable fortune as a West India merchant and maintained residences both in Glasgow and at Craigmaddie. Today the house is a ruin. Whom the 'maid' was is unknown. Among other children, Black had a daughter Hannah, who married the late Rev. Dr. William Muir (of St. George's, Glasgow, and afterwards of St. Stephen's, Edinburgh), and a son who died at Craigmaddie in 1812 at the age of 17.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 346. Gow (Fifth Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1809; p. 29.

Recorded sources: