Annotation:Mrs. Hay of Westertown's Strathspey
X:1 T:Mrs. Hay of Westertown's Strathspey C:Sir Archibald Dunbar of Northfield M:C L:1/8 R:Strathspey N:Only on sharp in the key in the printed volume B:James Taylor – A Collection of Strathspeys & Reels, together with a Set of Scots Quadrilles (Elgin, c. 1835, p. 2) N:”Most respectfully dedicated to Lady Dunbar of Northfield.” Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D d/B/|A<FFE D>EFB|A>FFA B2 (Bd)|A<FFE D>EFA|d>BdF E2E:| A|d>dfd e>dfd|e>fed B2 (Bc)|d>dfd e>dfd|f>ae>f d2 (dA)| d>dfd e>dfd|e>fed B2 (Bg)|f>ae>f d>fB>d|B/A/G/F/ d>F E2E||
MRS. HAY OF WESTERTOWN'S STRATHSPEY. Scottish, Strathspey (whole time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. "Mrs. Hay of Westertown's Strathspey" was composed by Sir Archibald Dunbar of Northfield. Mrs. Hay was Marion Macleod, daughter of Captain Alexander Macleod of Dalvey, spouse of Colonel Hay of Westerntown, near Elgin, Moray. The couple had three sons, but she died in early life.
Colonel Hay served in India for some twenty years and amassed a "handsome fortune", and bought the estate of Westertown in 1813 where he improved the land and built a mansion house in the castellated style "at a very great cost." The couple's son, David Hay, inherited it but did not survive his father by many years. Westertown ended up as the property of the Earl of Fife, who let it out for sporting purposes for shooting on the moors. "It forms a delightful residence for the summer and autumn months, from the beauty of its scenery and bracing and healthful climate. There is not, however, much good arable ground upon it, and in an agricultural point of view the estate is not very valuable"[1].
- ↑ Robert Young, Annals of the parish and burgh of Elgin, 1876, pp. 39-41.