Annotation:Loyal Clandonachie (The)
X:1 T:Loyal Clandonachie, The C:John Carr (Pitnacree) N:Pitnacree is in Lude, parish of Blair-Atholl, Perthshire M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel B:Seven Reels and Strathspeys (c. 1837, p. 1) N:”Printed and sold at Anderson’s Music Shop, Edinburgh” B: https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/118867572 N:”Humbly inscribed to the Laird and Lady of Lude” Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D E|D>DDE FEDF|EDEF BABc|dfdB AFdB|AFEF D2D:| (3A/B/c/|dfdB AFDF|EDEF BABc|dfdB AFdB|AFEF D2 D(3A/B/c/| dfdB AFDF|EDEF BABc|dfdB AFdB|AFEF D2D||
LOYAL CLANDONACHIE, THE. Scottish, Reel (cut time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. "Loyal Clandonachie" was composed by John Carr, a fiddler composer from Pitnacree, Lude, parish of Blair Atholl, Perthshire. The lands of Lude and Kirkmichael were “settled” by the Crown on Robertson of Struan before 1745, to form the Barony of Lude. The Robertson Clan had long running feuds with the Earls and Dukes of Atholl, mainly over boundaries, and over time with little income from the land, and high overheads, the estate, or what remained of it, was sold in 1820 to the McInroy family who had made a family fortune in the West Indies from trade in sugar and slaves. The old Lude House was demolished in 1823 and a new one, designed by architect Wiliam Burne, was completed in 1839, along with the extensive landscaping and walled garden.
The title refers to Clan Donnachaidh, many of whose members came out in the Jacobite risings; composer Carr felt it politic to remind that the clan members were, c. 1837, now loyal subjects of the crown. The widow Charlotte Robertson of Lude was a daughter of Lord William Murray, 2nd Lord Naime, and a cousin of the Duke of Atholl. She was a great admirer of Prince Charles Stuart and hosted him at Blair castle. She threatened to hang any of her tenants who refused to join the rebels. She had the honour of firing the first cannon at the siege of Blair castle. After the rising she moved to Edinburgh under the name of Mrs. Black and died in 1787.
