Annotation:Mr. William Campbell Balmartin's Reel
X:1 T:Mr. William Campbell Balmartin's Reel C:Alexander Mackay M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel B:Alexander Mackay – A Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Slow Tunes… B:Chiefly composed by Alexander Mackay, Musician Islay (c. 1822, p. 27) B: https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/104487947 N:Dedicated to the Right Hon. Lady Elinor Campbell of Islay and Shawfield. N:Mackay was born c. 1775 and was a fiddler-composer from Islay. Many of his N:tune titles are reflect Islay settings. N:Printed in Glasgow by J. MacFadyen, 30 Wilson St. Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A e|{d}c/B/A ce a2 ea|fdfa bBBd|{d}c/B/A ce a2 ea|fdBe cA A:| e|(EAcA) eAcA|EAcA dBBc|(EAcA) eAcA|dfBd cAAe| (EAcA) eAcA|(EA)cA dBBd|{d}c/B/A ce dfea|gbed cA A||
MR. WILLIAM CAMPBELL BALMARTIN'S REEL. Scottish, Reel (cut time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. "Mr. William Campbell of Balmartin's Reel" was composed by Islay fiddler-composer biography:Alexander Mackay (born 1775), one of several tunes in his Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Slow Tunes (c. 1822) for the Campbell of Ballimartin (sometimes Ballymartin). Ballimartin is a small estate and farm steading in the center of the island, midway between Port Askaig and Port Ellen. Some Scottish place-names containing the name Martin relate to St Martin (of Tours), while baille- is a prefix that indicates a settlement. However, the former name, prior to the early 17th century andnow lost was Stainepoll which was derived from the Old Norse steinab6/staor, meaning a'stone(y) farm', and harkening to Viking habitation of the era in the past. Around 1631 the area became referred to as 'Ballemertine'. As in other places in northeast Islay, lead was once mined at Ballimartin, and traces of an old mines can be seen today on the landscape. Never populous, in 1841 there were 22 inhabitants in Ballimartin, and ten years later, the population had dropped to 14.
