Blue Ribbon Scottish Measure

 BLUE RIBBON SCOTTISH MEASURE. AKA and see "Blue Ribbon at the Bound Rod." Scottish, Scottish Measure or Strathspey ("Slowish"). F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune was later renamed by Niel Gow, but was originally published in the Skene MS., c. 1610, as "Blue Ribbon at Bound Rod." Robin Williamson speculates that the title may refer to a gathering staff for soldiers or a boundary road, and notes that the border at Berwick on Tweed was called the bound rod at one time. The melody was published by Gow in his Repository, Part Second, 1802, under the above title. It is correctly classified as a Scottish Measure, having the characteristic emphasis on the first three beats of the bar, with the phrase beginning on the up-beat. Printed sources: Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 12. Emmerson (Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String), 1971; No. 24, p. 127. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 2, 1802; pp. 4-5. Recorded sources: Flying Fish, Robin Williamson - "Legacy of the Scottish Harpers, vol. 2" (Skene version). Mill Records MRCD018, William Jackson - "Duan Albanach" (2003).

X:1 T:Blue Ribbon Scottish Measure M:C L:1/8 R:Scotch Measure S:Gow - 2nd Repository (1802) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:F cB|A2F2F2 GA|{A}c2G2G2 cB|A2 G>F F2ag|f4 c2 fg| (ag)fd (fd)cA|{A} d2G2G2 cB|BAGF a2 ga|f4 f2:| (ag)fe (fd)cA|{A}d2G2G2 cB|(BA)GF {F}a2 ga|f4f2:||
 * (3c/d/e/|(fe)dc defg|{fg}a2g2g2 (c/d/e)|(fe)dc defc|{B}A4 f3g|

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