Annotation:Miss Brandling of Gosforth's Reel
X:0 T: Miss Brandling of Gosforth's Reel C: Abraham Mackintosh M: C| K: A S: A. Mackintosh "A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Jigs &c." (after 1797) e|cA A/A/A eAcA|eagf fedc|dB B/B/B fBdB|fefg bagf| eA A/A/A aA cA|efga fedc|defg abaf|ecaf e2 A|] f|eAcA cecA|aAgA fAeA|fBdB dfdB|bBaB gBfB| eAcA aAcA|efga fedc|defg abaf|ecaf e2 A|]
MISS BRANDLING OF GOSFORTH'S REEL. AKA and see "Brandlings," "Colonel Rodney," "Fox (The)." Scottish, English; Reel (cut time). England; Northumberland. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. "Miss Brandling of Gosforth's Reel" was composed by biography:Abraham Mackintosh, son of the famous fiddler-composer and bandleader Robert "Red Rob" Mackintosh. Abraham lived and worked in Aberdeen much of his life, but toward the end of the 18th century (after 1797) he relocated to Newcastle-on-Tyne and established himself as a teacher of music and dancing. He apparently lost no time in attempting to secure patronage in his new locale, composing tunes in his undated collection (possibly published around 1805) for members of the gentry and elite.
The Brandlings of Newcastle were a wealthy family of merchants and land and coal owners in Newcastle and Northumberland, involved in the civic and political affairs of the city since the beginning of the 16th century. The estate of Gosforth was one of the seats of the family, and, at the time of Mackintosh's publication, was held by Charles John Brandling (1769-1826), Member of Parliament for Newcastle. However Charles and his wife (née Frances Elizabeth Hawksworth) had no children; perhaps the subject of Mackintosh's reel was a sister or aunt (Charles had seven sisters).
