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Annotation:Caper Fey
X:1 T:Caper Fey M:C L:1/8 R:Strathspey or Reel N:"Original Set" B:Gow - Fourth Collection of Niel Gow's Reels (1800) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:C G|c2 {c/d/}e>d Tc2 Gc|{A/B/}c2 TG>F ECCE|{D}d<d f>e Td2 A(B/^c/)|Td2 A>G FDD>E| {C}c2 {c/d/}e>d Tc2 GA/B/|Tc2 G>F ECC>E|(DEF).G (AB^c).A|~d2 A>G FDD|| g/f/|e>cg>c a>cg>c|e>cg>c {f}e>dce|f>da>d bdaf|~d>e ~f>g a/g/f/e/ dg/f/| e>cg>c a>cg>c|~G>A ~c>d ec cf/g/|{f/g/}a>f g>e f>d e>^c|{c}d2 A>G FDD|]
CAPER FEY. AKA and see "Caber Fey/Cabar Féidh/Fei," "Castle Street Reel," "Glastertown's Downfall," "Copperplate (1)," "Sporting Pat (1)," "Deer's Horns (The)." Scottish, Strathspey (Gow) or Reel (Honeyman, Young). C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. 'Caper Fey' is a corruption of the Gaelic Cabar Feidh, which refers to the stag's head (or more correctly 'the deer's antlers') of the arms of the Mackenzie of Kintail and later the Earls of Seaforth. It was the 'by-name' of the Chiefs of Mackenzie.
John Glen (1891) finds the tune first in print in Robert Bremner's 1768 2nd collection (p. 102), and "Caper Fey" was on the second page of fiddler-composer William Morrison's Collection of Highland music (c. 1813), a volume dedicated to his patron, Lady Seaforth. However, the reel existed in manuscript music collections well before that. Edinburgh writing master and amateur violinist biography:David Young entered it into his Drummond Castle Manuscript Part 2 (1734, No. 16), as well as in his later MacFarlane Manuscript (c. 1740, No. 113, p. 162, as "Caber Feidh") and the McGibbon Manuscript (No. 84, p. 54, as "Caberfei"). The reel can also be found in the James Knox Manuscript (c. 1749-1764) as "Caperfie."
See also the Irish derivative, the reel "Rakish Paddy."
