Annotation:Huntingtower
X:1 T:Huntingtower M:C L:1/16 R:Strathspey S:Kerr - Merry Melodies, vol. 4, No. 9 (c. 1880's) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:A AA3 A3B c4 (BA3)|AA3 c3e a4 (fe3)|f3g a3f e3c B3A|df3 ce3 B3c BA3:| |:(e2fg) a3g fe3 cA3|FB3 B3c d4 (cB3)|(e2fg) a3g fe3 cA3|EA3 A3B c4 (BA3):||
HUNTINGTOWER. AKA and see "Duke of Athole's Courtship (The)." Scottish, Strathspey. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Huntingtower Castle, located just northwest of Perth, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, was formerly called Ruthven Castle, named for the Ruthven family who held it from the 15th century. Mary Queen of Scots visited the castle soon after her marriage to Lord Darnley, and the 4th Lord Ruthven kidnapped the 15-year-old King James VI and held him in the castle for a year. By the 1660's it had passed into the hands of the Murray family, who used it as their residence over Blair Castle until it was abandoned in the late 18th century. The castle is haunted by a ghost known as My Lady Greensleeves, whose appearances sometimes augers a death, but who is also said to have cured the ill.
Fiddler-composer John Bowie (along with his brother Peter) was a musician from Tibbermore, Perthshire, and made his living performing, teaching, and selling music and instruments in Perth. The family home was at Huntingtower Mains, midway between the villages of Tibbermore and Huntingtower and about three miles west of Perth.
