Annotation:Mrs. Hepburn Belches
X:1 T:Mrs. Hepburn Belches M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Country Dance Tune C:John Bowie B:John Bowie - "Collection of Strathspeys Reels and Country Dances &c." (c. 1789, p. 1) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Bb V:1 F|BFBF|cFcF|df (e/d/)c/B/ |AGFF|BFBF|cFcF|df f/e/d/c/|{c}B2z:| |:c|fcfc|gcgc|afg=e|f_edc|BfBf |cFcf|df (f/e/)d/c/|c2B:| P:Trio f2 gf|d2e2|f2-gz|f2-gz|f2 gf|(Bd).fz|{d}c2 (cd)|B2z2!fermata!:| V:2 F|DFDF|AFAF|[DF]F GG|C2C2|DFDF|AFAF|FDEF|D2z:| |:z|AAAA|eeee|fA BG|AGFE|DFDF|ADAF|F[DF]EF|E2-D:| |:d2 ed|B2c2|d2ez|d2ez|d2 ed|D-Bdz|{F}E2 EF|{E}D2z2!fermata!:| V:3 clef = bass z|B,,2B,,2|F,,2F,,2|B,,2E,2|F,2F,,2|B,,2B,,2|F,,2F,,2|B,,2F,,2|B,,2B,:| |:z|F,,2F,,2 |C,,2C,2|F,2C,2|F,,2z2|B,,2B,,2|F,,2F,,2|B,,2F,,2|B,,2B,:| |:B,,B,,B,,B,,|B,,B,,B,,B,,|B,,B,,B,,B,,|B,,B,,B,,B,,|B,,B,,B,,B,,|B,2B,,2|F,2F,,2|B,,2z2!fermata!:|
MRS. HEPBURN BELCHES. AKA - "Miss Hepburn Belches," "Mrs. Hepburn Belches of Invermey." Scottish, March and Country Dance (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB'CC. "Mrs. Hepburn Belches" was printed in John Bowie's A Collection of Strathspey Reels and Country Dances &c. (c. 1789, p. 1) along with figures for a country dance. 20th century recordings of the tune by Jimmy Shand, Adam Rennie, and others give the title as "Miss Hepburn Belches."
Invermay is an estate in the Strathearn area of Perthshire alongside the Water of May, a small river that runs out of the Ochil Hills and into the River Earn. Parts of the river run through a narrow and steep gorge clothed with silver birch trees, which, at the time of Bowie's c. 1789 publication, had paths and bridges providing extensive views of the Water of May. The narrowest part of the gorge is called the Humble-Bumble after the noise made by the water as it rushes through the gorge. Invermay House (Old House of Invermay) was built around a tower on a promontory overlooking the Water of May in 1633 by David Drummond and his wife Elizabeth Abercrombie. A small enclosed garden was created just to the south of the house. This was surrounded by yew, some of which remains today. The Belshes[1] family bought the property around 1740 and began construction of the new house which they completed in 1750. The name Hepburn Belsches was created in the late 1700s when John Belsches of Invermay in 1777 married Mary, daughter and heiress of Sir Patrick Hepburn Murray of Balmanna Castle, Perthshire, baronet, and assumed the names of Hepburn Murray in addition to Belsches. John was appointed a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Elgin Fencibles ("Lord Elgin's Regiment") when the home defense unit was raised in 1794. The unit was recorded as having been based in County Cork in 1797 and was disbanded in 1802 after the threat of invasion by France subsided.
See also "annotation:Birks of Invermay (The)" for further remarks.
- ↑ The family name seems correctly to be spelled Belsches, and John Bowie was not the only one to give it as 'Belches', a spelling that also exists in contemporary records.