Annotation:Mrs. Hamilton of Wishaw’s Strathspey
X:1 T:Mrs. Hamilton of Wishaw’s Strathspey M:C L:1/8 R:Strathspey Q:"Very Slow" B:Gow – 3rd Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels, 3rd ed., p. 20 (orig. 1792) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A E|AAAA B>GEG|AAcA B3c|AAAF G>ABc|F>B (A/G/)F/E/ A2 A:|| f/g/|{g}a>e (a/g/)f/b/ {g}a>fec|.A.A ce fB Bf/g/|{g}a>e a/g/f/b/ {g}a>f ec|EE EF/G/ {G}A2 Af/g/| a>e (a/g/)f/b/ {g}a>fec|AAce fB Bc/d/|ceea dffb|EE EF/G/ {G}A2 A||
MRS. HAMILTON OF WISHAW'S STRATHSPEY. Scottish, Strathspey ("Slow when not danced"{Marshall}: "Very Slow"{Gow}). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by William Marshall (1748–1833). The first publication of the tune (without composer credit) appears in Malcolm MacDonald’s 2nd Collection (1789), dedicated to the Earl of Breadalbane. The Gows published it a few years later—again without composer credit—in their 3rd Collection (1792). A jig version of this tune was published as "Lady Belhaven's Delight" by the Gows in their Fourth Collection of Neil Gow's Reels (1800). The tune is perhaps named in honor of Penelope MacDonald (daughter of Ronald Macdonald of Clanranad and Flora Mackinnon), who in 1789 married the 7th Laird, William Hamilton of Wishaw (1765–1814). See also the melody for her spouse, “Mr. Hamilton of Wishaw,” and Marshall's companion reel "Mrs. Hamilton of Wishaw."
A cognate version of "Mrs. Hamilton of Wishaw's Strathspey" was entered in the mid-19th century music manuscript collection of flute player William Killey (Jurby, Isle of Man) under the title "Air in Oscar & Malvina" (No. 67), although no relationship with William Shield and William Reeve's opera Oscar and Malvina (1791) has been established.
