Annotation:Tweed Side
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TWEEDSIDE. AKA -- "Kilrush Air"(Irish), "Tweed Side." Scottish, English; Air (3/4 time). England, Northumberland. G Major (Geoghegean, Mulhollan, Neil): D Major (Livingston): A Major (OâFarrell). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Neil): AB (Mulhollan): AABB (Geoghegan, Livingston, OâFarrell). Tweedside refers to the River Tweed which rises at Hart Fell near a steep-sided valley called the 'Devil's Beeftub' and which, for much of its length, marks the border between England and Scotland. The tune, sometimes erroneously credited to James Oswald (it does appear in his Caledonian Pocket Companion of 1760) was an extremely popular vehicle for airs in ballad operas beginning with Allan Ramsay's The Gentle Shepherd (1725). It was also employed, to name just a few early works, for songs in John Gayâs Polly (1729), Henry Lintotâs The Footman (1732), Henry Wardâs Happy Lovers (1736), Thomas Gatakerâs The Jealous Clown, or the Lucky Mistake (1730), and two works by Scriblerus Secundus, the Genuine Grub-Street Opera (1731) and The Welsh Opera, or the Grey Mare the Better Horse (1731). Its popularity continued through the latter part of the 18th century.
As an instrumental piece, âTweed Sideâ also appears in numerous publications in England and Scotland, includingâto name some of the earlier appearancesâthe Scottish McFarlane Collection of 1740, Adam Craigâs Collection of the Choicest Scots Tunes (1730), Francis Peacockâs Fifty Favourite Scotch Airs (1762), and Englishman Daniel Wrightâs Compleat Collection of celebrated country Dances (1740). It apparently suffered from the vagaries of fashion, for we read in a 1755 Edinburgh concert program that "Tweedside" was "newly set in the Italian manner (for the sake of variety) by Signor Pasquali" (Emmerson, 1971), and it was included in the McLean Collection of 1772, in drawing-room style. âTweedsideâ can be found as well in many instrument tutorial publications of the period. The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he published c. 1800.
Like most popular airs, âTweedsideâ was imported to America and appears in several late 18th century and early 19th century publications, such as Rileyâs Flute Melodies, vol. 2 (1817), and the music manuscript copybook of Henry Livingston, Jr. Livingston purchased the estate of Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1771 at the age of 23. In 1775 he was a Major in the 3rd New York Regiment, which participated in Montgomeryâs invasion of Canada in a failed attempt to wrest Montreal from British control. An important land-owner in the Hudson Valley, and a member of the powerful Livingston family, Henry was also a surveyor and real estate speculator, an illustrator and map-maker, and a Justice of the Peace for Dutchess County. He was also a poet and musician, and presumably a dancer, as he was elected a Manager for the New York Assemblyâs dancing season of 1774-1775, along with his 3rd cousin, John Jay, later U.S. Chief Justice of Governor of New York.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Aird (Selections of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 4), 1796; No. 149, p. 57. Geoghegan (Compleat Tutor for the Pastoral or New Bagpipes), c, 1745-46; p. 24. McGibbon (Scots Tunes, book III), c. 1762; p. 68. Mulhollan (Selection of Irish and Scots Tunes), Edinburgh, 1804; p. 21. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 55, p. 75. OâFarrell (Pocket Companion, vol. II), c. 1806; pp. 158-159 (appears as âTweed Sideâ). James Oswald (Caledonian Pocket Companion, vol. 1), 1760; p. 28. Wright (Wrightâs Compleat Collection of Celebrated Country Dances), 1740; p. 59.
Recorded sources: