Annotation:Miss Oswald of Dunnikeer (2)
X:1 T:Miss Oswald. Dunnikeer. C:James Walker (1771-1840), Dysart M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel B:James Walker - A Second Collection of Reels, Strathspeys, Jigs, &c. (c. 1798, pp. 8-9) N:Dedicated to Lady St Clair Erskine of Sinclair (Fife) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A AB|c2 ce f2 fa|fece fBBd|cefg afed|cAeB A2A2:| g|agaf g2 fe|fece fBBd|ceag fedc|Bfed cAAg| agaf g2 fe|fece fBBd|cedf eace|Bfed cAA||
MISS OSWALD. DUNIKEER [2]. Scottish, Reel (cut time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. "Miss Oswald. Dunkikeer [2]" was composed by biography:James Walker (1771-1840), a musician, fiddler-composer and music teacher of Dysart, Fife, Scotland. Walker dedicated his second collection to Lady St. Clair Erskine of Sinclair (née Harriet Bouverie), and his first collection to her spouse, wikipedia:James_St_Clair-Erskine,_2nd_Earl_of_Rosslyn (1762-1837), soldier, politician, and slave holder.
The tune is probably named for the daughter of Janet Grey of Skibo, Sutherland and her husband wikipedia:James_Townsend_Oswald (1748 - 1814), a wealthy merchant and politician of Kirkcaldy, Fife, whose estate was Dunnikier (spellings vary) House, built in 1790. In 1776 Oswald was elected MP for Fife until he resigned on being appointed Auditor of the Exchequer of Scotland on 2 July 1779. Together with the St Clair family, the Oswalds were the political powerhouses in Fife in the latter 18th century. Their only daughter, Elizabeth, married Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, in 1810, and had seven children. She died in Paris, France, in 1860. Daniel Dow also composed a tune for "Miss Oswald of Dunakeer (1)" included in his c. 1775 collection, but, if the same person, she would have been but a child at the time.
