Annotation:Souter Johnny

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X:1 % T:Souter Johnny M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel B:Milne – Middleton’s Selection of Strathspeys, Reels &c. for the Violin (1870, p. 13) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D c|d2 AF (BG)AF|GEFD CEEc|d2 AF (BG)Ag|fdec dDD:| g|(fd)ad (bd)ad|(gf)ed (ce)eg|(fd)ad (bd)ad|(fe)dc d2 Dg| fdad bdad|gfed cdeg|fdec dBAF|GBAc DD[DF]A||

SOUTER JOHNNY. Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. A 'souter' is a shoemanker or cobbler. Souter Johnnie is a character in poet Robert Burns's epic poem "Tam o' Shanter" [1], along with his own long suffering wife Kate, "Gathering her brows like gathering storm, nursing her wrath to keep it warm". "Souter Johnny" is the next tune after the strathspey "Tam o' Shanter" in Milne's Middleton's Selection (1870), suggesting the pair were played together in a strathspey-reel medley.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: -

Printed sources : - Cranford (Jerry Holland’s Collection), 1995; No. 80, p. 24. Milne (Middleton’s Selection of Strathspeys, Reels &c. for the Violin), 1870; p. 13.

Recorded sources: - Fiddlesticks cass., Jerry Holland - “A Session with Jerry Holland” (1990). Green Linnett, Jerry Holland - “The Fiddlesticks Collection” (1995).

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [2]