Hello! Ask me (almost) anything about traditional music.
Annotation:Craigellachie Bridge
X:1 T:Craig Ellachie Bridge C:by Mr. Marshall M:C L:1/16 R:Strathspey B:James Davie - "Mrs. Gordon of Cairness Waltz" (4 page folio with 8 tunes, c. 1822) N:Davie (1783-1857) was a music seller and violinist who had a shop in Aberdeen. He was N:also a church choir master at St. Andrew's. Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D A,2|DD3 F3A dcBA F3D|E3=C c3E G2 GA/B/|A3DF3D dcBA F2D2|Ee3 c3A d4 d2f2:| dd3f3a d2a2f2a2|=cg3e3f g4 g2ab|ad3f3d a2d2f2b2|a3df2d2 (3f2g2a2 {g}f4| dd3 f3a|d3af3a|gfed =c3e g4 g2ag|fa3e3f df3Bd3|AF3d3F A4 A2|| Bc|dcBA GFED dcBA GFED|E=C3 c3E G4 G2FE|DEFG ABcd DEFG ABcd| Dd3 Fd3 (B2A2)(G2F2)|Dd3Ed3 Fd3Dd3|=C2c2c3E G4 G2FE|Dd3ee3 Ff3Gg3| A3g fedc d4d2f2||dd3f3a d2a2f2a2|=cg3e3f g4 g2ab|ad3f3d a2d2f2b2| a3df2d2 (3f2g2a2 {g}f2|dd3f3a d3af3a|gfed =c3e g4 g2ag|fa3ef3 df3Bd3|AF3d3F A4 A2||
CRAIGELLACHIE BRIDGE. Scottish, Strathspey. D Major/Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Marshall): AAB (Kerr): ABCD (Hunter, Johnson/2003, Martin): AABCD (Athole, Gow, Johnson, Lowe). This double-tonic tune was composed by biography:William Marshall (1748-1833) on the occasion of the opening in 1815 of a new bridge constructed of iron by Thomas Telford over the Spey River at the modern village of Craigellachie, Moray, Scotland--one side is anchored to the abase of one of the two outcroppings of rock known as 'Craigellachie.' His enthusiasm for the structure has been noted by Alburger who cites the mention of the bridge in an 1814 letter from Marshall to one of his sons (Alburger, 1983; p. 88). Marshall's stake in the bridge was also personal-his daughter Jane was married to John McInnes of Dandaleith who was involved in the building of it. It was thought by Collinson (1966) and Puser (1992) to be one of Marshall's best compositions ("outstanding" "one of his very best"), and Emmerson (1971) says the tune was among his particularly celebrated tunes. Hunter (1988) also praises the melody, calling it "perhaps the finest in the whole repertoire."
James Davie (1850) was the first to note (in his Caledonian Repository, book first, second series) the similarity between Marshall's melody and an older tune entitled "Grey Daylight (1) (The)," which was originally published in Robert Petrie's Second Collection (1796) as "Mr. Anderson's Strathspey" and in a c. 1799 collection by Perth publisher John Anderson as "Grey Daylight (1) (The)." John Glen (1895) says there is no doubt of a resemblance between the tunes in the first part, but opines Marshall's air is "immeasurably the better of the two," and concludes the composer is likely not guilty of musical plagiarism. Marshall was not the first to publish his tune, which must have been in circulation prior to Marshall's Scottish Airs (1822). The Gows included it in their Complete Repository Part 4 (Edinburgh, 1817) and it was published by James Davie in Aberdeen around the same time as Marshall issued his 1822 volume.
