Biography:William Christie
William Christie
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| Given name: | William |
| Middle name: | |
| Family name: | Christie |
| Place of birth: | Cuminestown, Aberdeenshire |
| Place of death: | Cuminestown, Aberdeenshire |
| Year of birth: | c. 1778 |
| Year of death: | 1849 |
| Profile: | Collector, Composer, Editor, Musician |
| Source of information: | https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/48bea0dc-e0fc-3bb5-8113-604371f21c70 |
Biographical notes
WILLIAM CHRISTIE (c. 1778-1849). Christie was a dancing master, tune collector, admired violinist and composer from Cuminestown, Aberdeenshire, by Turriff, the son of James Christie, a farmer of Montqhitter. William Christie was also the local postman. One of his brothers, Reverend Alexander Christie (d. 1816) was a Scottish Episcopal minister, first in Keith (1781-1800) and then in Old Deer (1800-1812). William married Mary Gutherie. Their sons were prominent members of the Scottish Episcopal clergy; William, became the Episcopal Dean of the Diocese of Morayl while James (1811-1888) was the minister of Turriff from 1837 until his death.
Music seems to have been as strong a passion in the family as was faith. William had another brother, John, who was also a fiddler-composer, one of whose compositions ("William's Love" was included in William's 1820 publication. There are other compositions of John's, contained in a c. 1818 manuscript collection compiled by William that appears to have been the basis for his A collection of strathspeys, reels, hornpipes, waltzes, etc., arranged as medleys for the harp, piano forte, violin and violoncello (Edinburgh: W. Christie, 1820). The ms. is in the Special Collections of the University of Aberdeen (reference GB 231 MS 0793). William (Sr.) himself, along with his son William (Jr.), also collected songs and ballads from their region, and the younger William became a noted collector, eventually editing Traditional ballad airs, arranged and harmonised for the pianoforte and harmonium, from copies procured in the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, and Moray, (1876 & 1881, Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas.