This is a wonderful Strathspey by Neil Gow. It's in a simple "Binary"
form and played A A B B.
Neil Gow (1727-1807) was the son of a weaver who haled from a town called Inver located in the Perthshire region of Scotland.
Gow was born during a very opportune time in history to be a fiddle player as the period between the years 1745 - circa 1885 the instrument grew in popularity.
It was during Gow's lifetime that also a new law went into effect known as the Act of Abolition and Proscription of the Highland Dress. The law, which was enacted (right after the Scots' devistating defeat at Culloden under Bonnie Prince Charlie) in 1745 was intended to disarm anyone who opposed the King George II (a descendent of the Hanoverian William of Orange who usurped the throne from the Stuar Kings years earlier). It was an attemp to weaken and dilute the clan system as well as to avert a repeat of the "45."
During this time period (and up until the law was repealed) all manners of Highland dress were forbidden. The act outlawed possession of all weapons (with exceptions granted for those serving in the King's army), made public gatherings and even Gaelic and the native Scots' dialect illegal. Since the pipes were classified as a weapon, and a huge] part of the culture, they too were banned. According to the terms of the act, possesion of any weapon was punishable by death -- fortunately the penalties for piping weren't quite that steep. Instead if yoiu were caught piping, or teaching the gaelic language or wearing the Highaland dress (save as part of an authorized uniform while serving in the King's army), you'd receive a lesser penalty of either a fine, jail time, or possible deportation to one of the colonies -- the latter included an all expence paid seven year stint as an identured servant. Needless to say, it's no surprise that many people put down their pipes. So it was during this period the fiddle and the clarsach both grew in popularity. (I have to read up to see about the pennywhistle and whether or not it had a "growth spurt" during this period in history).
Although the act was eventually repealed in 1782, interest in piping continued to wane, however, pipes did begin to come back into vogue sometime around 1885 which was during the reign of Queen Victoria (1819 - 1901). A monarch quiet famous for having had a life long love for "all things Scottish." During her lifetime she even created a brand new position on her staff and employed the very first "Queen's Piper." A tradition that continues today with the 11th Queen's Piper who was instated in the job upon the retirement of the 10th Queen's Piper in 2003.
PM Jim Motherwell, BEM 10th Piper at Eton, former Queen's Piper and friend.
Picture taken at the RI Burns Night
2003.
Neil began his life long association with the fiddle at the tender age of nine, and although mostly self taught, I read on one web site that he did take a few lessons with a man named John Cameron,who it is said a follower of the house of Grandtully (I have to research what that is all about as I'm guessing it just may pertain to the development of the Scottish fiddle style).. He became quite adept at the instrument and soon his playing caught the ears and attention of the Duke of Atholl which led to a patronage that for at least three Dukes of Atholl ( accordiing to one source), or the Duke of Gordon (according to a second source...I'm still reading up on this) and as word spread about his talents he was soon in demand playing at balls in cities such as Edinburgh amongst other places.
Neil Gow was also a composer who is alleged to have written somewhere in the ballpark of around 200 plus tunes, however, some experts will argue he actually penned maybe about 80 himself and the rest were pieces he copied, codified and eventually claimed as his own. Despite that bit of controversy, many believe that some of the tunes that were preserved may have been from the piping tradition and quite possibly could have been lost. Both Gow and Robert Burns (1759-1796) preserved many tunes and songs (as Burns wrote about 600 tunes, often borrowing melodies from the piping tradition to do so) which may have been lost forever during their lifetimes as a result of the Proscriptions.
Neil Gow is also often credited as having invented the well known "Scotch Snap"-- a rhythm that gives Strathspeys their unique groove and melodic personality. The Scotch Snap contains a dotted eight note (dotted semi quaver) followed by a sixteenth (demi-semi quaver) immediately followed by a dotted eighth and sixteenth. Many experts argue that that is highly unlikely Gow invented ths as this rhythm was also quite common in the music written during the Baroque Era (circa 1600-1750) and even J.S. Bach himself included the Lombard Rhythm in the Domine Deus of his B-Minor Mass -BWV 232. It's also seen in his Clavier-†bungen. Handel included the rhythm in his Musette of Concerto Grosso op. 6 no.6 (1739), and it has made a guest appearance in compositions by Mozart as well as Beethoven et. al. The Scotch Snap is also known as the Lombardic Rhythm, the Lombardy Rhythm or the Lombard Rhythm. The exact origin of this rhythm, or why it's called a Lombard Rhythm is a conundrum which no doubt keeps many a music major and musicologist up nights in search of answers. Some believe the rhythm originated in the Lombard region of Italy, others say it originated in France (as Lombardic (i.e., Langobards or long beard) tribes had also settled in Gaul, which eventually became France). There are those that say the rhythm came to Scotland via France (who call the rhythm maniére lombarde -- France and Scotland were long standing allies often refered to in history books as "The Auld Alliance" so there would have been opportunity for cultural exchange between the two countries), others believe it was the other way around. Of course, the rhythm is also seen in European art music that was popular in the late 1600s. This was well before the dates that theorists Quantz (1752) and J.F. Agricola (1757) both wrote that it first originated. Seems Henry Purcell had used it in some of his compositions circa 1680, which some who believe he may have picked it up from French music and a style called note Inegales -- which may in turn have been influenced by Scottish and English popular song. Of course, just shy of a century later, the rhythm became a staple in in numerous newly published Strathspeys of the day. In a sidenote, the rhythm also occurs in Hungarian music. Whatever the true origins, the Lombard rhythm eventualy began to fall out of vogue during the Romantic era as composers began to explore other different combinations of rhythms in order to better express their ideas and even emotions with their melodies. Be that as it may, in the 21st century this rhythm continues to remain a staple in Scottish music, it is the heartbeat of Strathspey music. The Lombard Rhythm, i.e., Scotch Snap is that "spice" which imparts a uniquely Caledonian flavour to Scottish traditional and dance music. (This paragraph updated Feb 2006 - Thanks to Monique in the Netherlands for pointing out a few topics which contributed to some further expolration on this topic and some updates to this paragraph).
Neil Gow had several Children by his first wife, one of his sons was Nathaniel Gow who also went on to be a renown fiddler and composer. However, I read somehwere once (and I can't recall the source at ths moment) that in this case the "wife" in this title may actually be his fiddle -- not sure if that's fact or someone's assumption, but I remember the story said it was based on a very old saying that goes "A harp is a minstrel's Wife. (For those unfamiliar, minstrels were travelling storytelling musicians who entertained and shared current events of the days as they wandered from town to town-- this perhaps evolved into the occupation of town crier...and in more modern days, the TV Anchor person... And then because of musicians, and the invention of the printing press, they made popular a thing called "broadsides" which contained tunes (which oftne preserved the current events of the day). Broadsides eventually evolved into our modern day newspapers)...
Note this historical synopisis was thrown together quickly...if there's anything
I left out or something that needs correction please feel free to
e-mail us.
Midi file... (this version the A section repeast but the B section doen't...still learning the software)...
