Annotation:Mrs. Duff (of Fetteresso’s) Strathspey (2)
X:1 T:Mrs. Duff (of Fetteresso’s) Strathspey [2] M:C| L:1/8 R:Strathspey B: John Morison - A Collection of New Strathspey Reels, with a few favourite Marches (Edinburgh, c. 1797, No. 13) N:Organist and fiddler Morison (1772-1848) was from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, the easternmost point in Scotland, on the North Sea. Alburger notes that failing fortunes forced him to diversify: he also organized balls and ran a ship's chandlery. F: https://web-cdn.org/s/153/file/Free-Downloads/John-Morison/Morison_J.pdf K:Emin e|BEEF BABd|FEDd FDAF|BEEF BABd|FAdF E2 Ee| BEEF BABd|FEDd FDAF|GEFD EFAd|FAdF E2 Ef|| gfeb gebg|efga b/a/g/f/ df|gfeb gebe|defd e2 ef| gfeb gebg|efga b/a/g/f/ df|afge fde^c|dBAF E2E||
MRS. DUFF (OF FETTERESSO'S) STRATHSPEY [2]. Scottish, Strathspey (cut time). E Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. "Mrs. Duff (of Fetteresso's) Strathspey [2]" was composed by John Morison (1772-1848), a fiddler and, for a time, organist at St. Peter's Chapel, Peterhead. Morison was from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, the easternmost point of Scotland and a port town on the North Sea. He had a small fiddle band for playing dances, but he supported himself, as many musicians did, with diversification. Alburger notes he also organized balls and ran a ship's chandlery; he also tuned pianos and organs and copied out music, but eventually he went bankrupt (at least once). Morison published two collections; the first around 1797 and the second in 1815. See note for annotation:Mrs. Duff (of Fetteresso's) Strathspey (1)" for information about the title.
Mary Morison, Mrs. Duff, was her husband's stepsister and second cousin. It is tempting to think that composer John Morison and Mary were related (and thus his entre into the Duff family patronage), but a link has not as yet been established.
