Annotation:Mrs. Ferguson of Raith's Strathspey (1)

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 MRS. FERGUSON OF RAITH('S STRATHSPEY) [1]. Scottish, Strathspey. F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The melody appears in Robert Petrie's 1st collection of c. 1790. The estate of Raith is near Kinkcaldy, Fife, and Raith House stands on a five-hundred-foot-high hilltop (reputed to have been the site of one of Macduff’s castles), with a commanding view of the Firth of Forth to the south. Mrs. Ferguson may have been Jane, daughter of Ronald Craufurd, of Restalrig (and sister of Margaret, Countess of Dumfries), who married of Raith (d.1812). The family was one of painter Sir Henry Raeburn’s early patrons, and he painted several portraits for them (see Raeburn's protrait "William Ferguson and his son").  Source for notated version:  Printed sources: Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music), vol. 1, 1891; p. 37. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 190. Petrie (Collection of Strathspey Reels and Country Dances), c. 1790; p. 20.  Recorded sources:  See also listing at: Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Index

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