Annotation:Fife Hunt (The)

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"A Meet of the Fife Hounds." 1833. Sir Francis Grant (1803 - 1878).

FIFE HUNT, THE. AKA and see "Moonlight Ramble (1) (A)." Scottish; Reel, Country Dance. C Major (most versions): D Major (Aird). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Surenne): AAB (most versions): AABB (Aird, Honeyman, Robbins, White). The name Fife derives from the name of an ancient ruler, Fib, who, as one of seven sons of a legendary Pictish king, inherited the region. The Fife Hunt (AKA The Fife Foxhounds) has a long history as a social organization for hunting, breeding of hounds, support of sporting events, and "convivial gatherings" such as the Fife Hunt Ball. It was founded by Alexander Scrymgeour Wedderburn in the mid-18th century whose family originated from the Scottish Borders. Wedderburn Castle, seat of the Wedderburns (cadets of the Home family) an elegant country house that replaced the original tower house, was built in the 1770's near Duns in Berwickshire to plans by famed architects brothers Robert and James Adam.

The reel was composed by renowned Scots fiddler-composer Niel Gow's eldest son, William (1751-1791), who was leader of the Edinburgh Assembly Orchestra until his death. "Fife Hunt" belongs, according to Bayard (1981), to a large and nebulous family group of tunes which includes "Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad" (Scot), "Drunken Hiccups (1)" (USA), "Such a Gittin' Upstairs" (USA), and others. It was used by Lady Nairne for her song "The Fife Laird." One of the oddest (and perhaps first) sound recording of "Fife Hunt" is on the barrel organ from the polar expedition of Admiral Parry of 1819. In place of a ship's fiddler (a common complement to a crew in those days), Parry introduced a mechanical barrel organ on board ship to provide entertainment and a vehicle to which the men could exercise (i.e. by dancing). "Fife Hunt" was one of eight tunes on barrel no. 5.

See also Québec musician J.A. Boucher's adaptation of "Fife Hunt" in his reel "Zwyska," published in 1933.

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - Matthew Betham music manuscript collection (1815, Towcett, Cumbria) [Offord].

Printed sources : - Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs), vol. 3, 1788; No. 408, p. 157. Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 4), 1796; No. 47, p. 18. Anderson (Anderson's Budget of Strathspeys, Reels & Country Dances for the German Flute or Violin), Joshua Campbell (A Collection of New Reels & Highland Strathspeys), Glasgow, 1789; p. 38. Edinburgh, 1820; p. 24. Thomas Cahusac (Twelve Country Dances for the Year 1792), 1792; Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 253. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 45. Corfield (Tunes from New Brunswick), 2024; p. 47. Joseph Dale (Dale's Selection of the most favorite Country Dances, Reels &c.), London, c. 1800, p. 4. Gow (First Collection of Niel Gow's Reels), 1784 (revised 1801); p. 9. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; p. 16. Jones [Ed.] (Complete Tutor Violin), c. 1815; p. 7. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1880; Set 23, No. 2, p. 14. J. Kenyon Lees (Balmoral Reel Book), c. 1910; p. 5. Joseph Lowe (Lowe's Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Jigs, book 1), 1844–1845; p. 15. John Offord (Bonny Cumberland), 2018; p. 11. Preston (Preston's Twenty-Four Country Dances for the Year 1793), No. 231, p. 96. Robbins Music Corp. (The Robbins collection of 200 jigs, reels and country dances), New York, 1933; No. 199, p. 64. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 74. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 72. Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; p. 18. White's Unique Collection, 1896; No. 44, p. 8. Wilson (Companion to the Ball Room), 1816; p. 50.

Recorded sources : - Saydisc SDL 234, Parry's Barrel Organ (vol. 11 of the Golden Age of Mechanical Music). Smithsonian Folkways Records, SFW CD 40507, The Beaton Family of Mabou - "Cape Breton Fiddle and Piano Music" (2004). WMT002, Wendy MacIsaac - "That's What You Get" (1998?).

See also listing at :
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Hear Albert Gerson's c. 1919 recording at Virtual Gramophone [3] (2nd tune in medley of reels)

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