Annotation:Right Honourable Lord Elcho (The)
X:1 T:Right Honourable Lord Elcho, The M:C L:1/8 R:Reel N:The volume was dedicated to the Highland Society of Scotland N:The first strain is cognate with “Man of the House (The)” family of tunes. B:Duncan McKercher – A Collection of Original Stathspeys and Reels (Edinburgh, c. 1830, p. 10) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Emin F|E/E/E (BE) GEBE|E/E/E (BE) FDAF|E/E/E (BE) GABf|dABd TFD AF:| EE/E/ Eg|f^deB|e/e/e e^c dD AF|E/E/E Eg f^def|dABd FDAF| E/E/E Eg f^deB|e/e/e e^c dD AF|Ee Be ^dfeb||dABd TFD AF||
RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD ELCHO, THE. Scottish, Reel (whole time). E Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by Perthshire fiddler-composer biography:Duncan McKercher. The title of his reel may honor Francis Wemyss-Charteris, 9th Earl of Wemyss, 5th Earl of March (1796-1883), a Scottish peer. However, "Lord Elcho" is not a title, but rather is a family name, and exactly who was 'Lord Elcho' in the first half of the 19th century (when McKeracher was composing) is difficult to determine (particularly as surnames in the Wemyss family changed due to various inheritances). The likely candidate, Francis Wemyss-Charteris, was the son of Francis Douglas, 8th Earl of Wemyss, and succeeded in 1853. He served as Lord-Lieutenant of Peeblesshire from 1853 to 1880. He lived at 64 Queen Street in Edinburgh: one of the largest houses in Edinburgh's New Town. On 22 August 1817, he married Lady Louisa Bingham, daughter of Richard Bingham, 2nd Earl of Lucan, at Paris, France.
See also McKercher's reel "Right Honourable Lady Elcho."