Annotation:Mr. Hamilton of Bargenny's Minuet

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MR. HAMILTON OF BARGENNY'S MINUET. Scottish, Minuet (3/4 time). A Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCCDD. The minuet was composed by biography:John Riddell of Ayr. 'Bargenny' or Bargany was the name of a castle and estate originally owned by the Kennedy Family in the 16th and early 17th centuries. In 1631 Thomas Kennedy sold Bargany to Sir John Hamilton of Letterick, the illegitimate son of the 1st Marquis of Hamilton, who founded the family of the Hamiltons of Bargany. He was legitimised under the Great Seal of 1600 and his son John was created Lord Bargany by Charles I. It was his son, the 2nd Lord Bargany, who built the present house using materials from the Castle which stood on the banks of the River Girvan below the house and of which no trace now remains. The 4th Lord died without issue in 1736 and the Estate passed to John Dalrymple, great grandson of the 2nd Lord Bargany, who assumed the name Hamilton (and who is probably the subject of Riddell's title). He carried out some alterations to the house and commissioned William Adam, William Bouchart and George Robertson to remodel the grounds.

See also Riddell's "Mrs. Hamilton of Bargenny."

Source for notated version: John Riddell (Collection of Scots Reels, Minuets & c. for the Violin), c. 1782; p. 8.

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