Annotation:Mormond

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X:1 T:Mormond C:William Christie (1778-1849) N:Christie was a dancing master, fiddler N:and composer from Cuminestown, Aberdeenshire. M:C L:1/16 R:Strathspey Q:"Slow" B:Christie - Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Hornpipes, B:Waltzes &c. (Edinburgh, 1820, p. 9) K:A F2|E3FA3c {c}TB3AB2c2|{F}E3FA3c {c}B2ed {d}c4 {BAGF}|E3FA3c {c}TB3AB2c2| cf3 e3c {c}TB4 {AB}A2:|f2|(ec3) a3c' {c'}b2a2b2c'2|(ec3) a3c' {c'}b2ab {ab}c'4| (ec3) a3c' {c'}Tg3ab2c'2|(ae3) (fc3) {c}TB4 {AB} A3f|(ec3) a3c' {c'}Tb3ab2c'2| (ec3) a3c' {c'}b2ab {ab}c'2 zd'|{c'}c'3b {b}a3f {f}e3c {c}!fermata![G2B2]zc/|~d3e f/a/g/b/ a3c/ {c}TB4 {AB}A||



MORMOND. Scottish, Strathspey (whole time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. "Mormond" was composed byWilliam Christie (1778-1849), a dancing master, fiddler-composer and postmaster from Cuminestown, Aberdeenshire. Mormond is the name of a large hill in Strichen parish, Aberdeenshire, about ten miles northeast of Christie's home in Cuminestown, parish of Monquhitter. Groome's Ordnance Gazzetteer of Scotland (1882-4) recorded:

On its south-western brow, overlooking Strichen village, is the figure of a horse which, occupying a space of nearly half an acre, consists of pieces of white quartz rock, fitted into cuttings in the turf, and was formed about the beginning of the present century by the tenantry of the Strichen estate, to commemorate the war-horse of Lord Lovat. The figure of a stag on the seaboard face of the hill, directly over Whiteside farm, occupies a space of nearly an acre; measures 240 feet from the tip of the antlers to the hoof; consists of similar materials to those of the `White Horse;' appears in bold relief from the contrast of its quartzite stones to the circumjacent mossy soil; and was formed in 1870 by Mr. Cordiner to serve as a conspicuous landmark. A massive cairn of quartzite stones stands in the near vicinity of the stag, and was erected in the latter part of 1870, to commemorate the formation of the stag.

Mormond House is a country mansion in Rathen Parish, originally built in the early 19th century by John Gordon of Cairnbulg. It acquired by Miss Strachen, and devolved upon William Fraser of Cortes, with the result that it was also called Cortes. It was described in 1901: "With great natural capabilities, Mormond House has received every accession that the hand of taste could devise to render it a delightful residence. Lake, lawn, and woodland, shady glens, and sunny slopes alternate with an ever-pleasing variety"[1].


Additional notes



Printed sources : - William Christie (Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Hornpipes, Waltzes &c.), Edinburgh, 1820; p. 8.






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  1. John Burnett Pratt, Buchan, 1901, p. 245.