Annotation:Bridge of Dye (The)

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X:1 T:Bridge of Dye, The M:C L:1/16 Q:"Slowish" R:Strathspey B:Archibald Duff – Collection of Strathspey Reels &c. (1794, p. 18) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D D6F2 A3AA2F2|BB3Bd3 GF3Fd3|D6 F2 AA3AF3|B3AB2d2 F6d2| D6F2 AA3AF3|BB3Bd3 A2F2F2d2|d3cTB3A TB3AF3A|TB3AB3d F4 F2f2|| a3ba3f g3fe3d|TB3AB2d2 A2F2 F2fg|a3ba3f g3fe3d|TB3ABd3 F6 fg| a3ba3f g3fe3d|B3AB3d AF3Fd3|D6F2 AA3AF3|TB3ABd3 F4F4||

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BRIDGE OF DYE, THE. Scottish, Strathspey (whole time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. In a pre-improvement landscape where roads were scarcely cart tracks and hill roads, such as that ascending the Cairn o'Mount between the old town of Kincardine (now gone) and Strachan on the Feugh, merely hill paths, the Bridge of Dye must have been a welcome and imposing sight.

Built in 1680 with a ribbed single arch thar harks back to late medieval times, this is one of the earliest bridges in the North-east. Its importance, and that of the north-south routeway on which it stands, are emphasized by an act of 1681 that permitted tolls to be levied for its upkeep.