Annotation:House of Skene (The)

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HOUSE OF SKENE, THE. Scottish, Slow or "Pastoral" Air (4/4 time). B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by James Davie (1783-1857) of Aberdeen, a music-seller, theater-player and teacher. The melody was first printed in his Davie's Caledonian Repository (1829-30).

Anciently, the lands of the Skene family were about ten miles west of Aberdeen. The House of Skene, Aberdeenshire, was built upon, and incorporates a much older structure, the tower of Skene which forms the west wing of the present large Scottish baronial mansion. The family and name of Skene, as lairds of Skene, after long possessing the lands in direct line, became extinct in 1827.

Source for notated version: Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford].

Printed sources: Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 218, p. 87. Davie (Davie’s Caledonian Repository), Aberdeen, 1829-30; p. 37. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; p. 94. Henderson (Flowers of Scottish Melody), 1935.

Recorded sources: Scots Disc SDL-001, Ron Gonnella - "Scottish Violin Music" (1966)




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