Fiddler George Harvey-Webb, who is the subject of other posts and dedicated pages in this blog, was associated with the stage in London. Here, in 1959, we see him playing with Theatre Workshop production of Brendan Behan’s The Hostage, directed by Joan Littlewood. This production was highly acclaimed and has been hailed as an influential example of music in popular theatre.

Fortunately for us the original cast can be heard on a gramophone record of the songs and music from the show. The final track is our fiddle Harvey-Webb playing a lively gig (sic) and reel.

Jig and Reel

I wonder whether he took some guidance from the great Irish fiddlers he might have heard in London pubs such as The Favourite that were famed for their traditional music around that time.

 The Scotsman

As we rapidly approach another Edinburgh International Festival I thought it would be appropriate to post on one from exactly 30 years ago.

All successful music revivals have, in their histories, key events and occasions which can be looked back upon as milestones or tipping points of one kind or another. I propose to feature a few here that relate to the fiddle in Scotland and will start with this focus on a concert held at the Edinburgh Festival on 14 August 1985 at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh. Titled Mr Menuhin’s Delight, the event was to be ‘an exploration of Scottish fiddle playing’ with the great man sharing the platform in turn with a range of fiddlers representing different styles and regions.

The show was reviewed by Alastair Clark in the Scotsman the following day:

Scots fiddle music, for so long fettered to the Fringe of the country’s biggest cultural celebration, finally reached the official Festival stage at the Queen’s Hall yesterday.

It was appropriate that Sir Yehudi Menuhin should preside over what turned out to be a showcase for Scotland’s fiddling talent, for he is an incurable dabbler in indigenous pools.

Some in the audience clearly expected Sir Yehudi to dabble rather more than he did. He was content to listen to the Scots contingent and to pass the occasional comment on the music. Not until the finale, featuring a smooth, gliding air written for him by the Whistlebinkies’ Eddie Maguire (sic) did the maestro pick up his violin and lead the ensemble in spirited style.

Listening to this stirring last performance, fired by the Whistlebinkies’ pipes and drums, one wished there had been more of it. At the same time, there was much to enjoy on the solo side as half-a –dozen top fiddlers took it in turn to demonstrate some facet of the fiddlers’ art, from Bob Hobkirk’s skirling pipe marches (“outdoor music,” Sir Yehudi called it) to the drawing-room complexity of William Marshall’s compositions elegantly arranged for Alastair Hardie’s fiddle and David Johnston’s (sic) cello.

Ron Gonella opened with some particularly fine airs. Aly Bain, accompanied for the first time by his wife, Lucy – well, why not start at the top? – played some robustly ringing Shetland music. Edna Arthur contributed a superb reading of an ancient pibroch, Mackintosh’s Lament, which combined feathery lightness with rugged ferocity, and Douglas Lawrence played a nice Scott Skinner set.

As presenter, Mary-Anne (sic) Alburger did well to draw the historical strands together. Next time – and I hope there is one – maybe the fiddlers will get together, too.

.Reviewing the concert in the New Statesman on 25 August 1985, Angus Calder wrote:

MacDairmid wished Scottish culture to live in a modern and international ambience. One afternoon at Queen’s Hall, Yehudi Menuhin met the Whistlebinkies, a folk band, and six fiddlers expert in different styles. Mr Menuhin’s Delight triumphed because it was so nearly a cockup. Audience and performers were delighted by a common fear of disaster. The Beeb, recording the event, had failed to provide technology to ensure that Menuhin’s conversations about technique with other artists could be heard in all sections. The compere kept fluffing and some of the fiddlers looked frightened by the occasion. But they played gloriously. Ron Gonella’s suavely beautiful tone contrasted with Bob Hopkirk’s bagpipe-influenced style and the great Aly Bain’s fierce Norse-Shetland virtuosity. The occasion became historic when Edna Arthur played with supreme skill and intensity a magnificent pibroch dating back to 1526, transcribed for the fiddle in the late 18th century.

Whistlebinkies’ flautist Eddie McGuire, is also Scotland’s leading avant-garde composer (and left-wing with it). The final item was a new slow air and reel written by him for Sir Yehudi. All the performers assembled to participate. the great man, due to lead off, fluffed on the first note, said sorry, and lunged on at once like a small child performing at its first school concert. The piece was fine, the applause was tumultuous; Menuhin played much better in the encore. I felt I was hearing the feudal past being ferried across to the socialist future. Elated, I went out into another torrential downpour. God really doesn’t like to see Scotland getting too big for its boots – or, rather, growing into bigger ones.

On a personal level I can recall a few things about the day. Menuhin was keen to talk about my concertina and told me that he had one at home, a gift from his son I think, and as we chatted I got him to sign a copy of a one of the pieces we played in my manuscript tune book.

Today, that would be the moment for a selfie but, not to worry, there was a professional photographer on hand who supplied the photographs reproduced here.

Waiting in the green room I had to take stick from a nervy David Johnson who chose that moment (of all moments) to have a go at me over something I said in a published review of his recent book on the fiddle in the eighteenth century, and a remember we ate a hearty meal afterwards in the Festival Club with John Purser.

I believe there is an extant recording (I seem to remember the quality was poor) and I hope to include parts from it here if I can locate it. I now have the original programme and will add that too.

Why should this be seen as a key event in the Scottish fiddle revival? For scholar musicians like David Johnson and Mary Anne Alburger it was a personal triumph and an endorsement of their research recently in print. The fact that the Edinburgh International Festival was featuring traditional music was also important and Menuhin brought a degree of legitimacy to the proceedings and to the subject matter. Furthermore, the festival featured an unwashed folk band in its prestigious programme.

I spotted this Niel Gow picture at a friend’s house the other day. It’s yet another 19th century oleograph. Sorry about the quality of the photo. Can there be more?

Fiddle music was considered by a few speakers at this year’s excellent Musica Scotica conference held at the Glasgow Museum of Religious Life and Art. There was also talk, over coffee, of the exciting project getting underway today: Nathaniel Gow’s Dance Band. This, as I understand it is an ensemble of crack fiddlers who will use baroque violins to explore hand-picked pieces from the eighteenth century fiddle collections to see what happens. This is the kind of practical research that I love hearing about and can’t wait to enjoy the results of their efforts. I have suggested that the rehearsals should be recorded fly-on-the-wall style and the files archived for future academic use. Its probably too late now, but it would also be valuable to interview the performers (separately and/or together) on their expectations of the project before, or at an early stage, in the project with a view to a further survey after the experiment has matured.

Many traditional music revivals have been strongly focused on placing renewed attention on the older “period” versions of the instruments involved. The clarsach world has, since the early 1980s been greatly concerned with the old ways of the wire strung harp and in piping we have seen the revival of the bellows-blown pipes and reconstructions of early sets of Highland pipes. Both of these movements have led to a greater appreciation of the early repertory, styles and creative potential of the instruments.

Perhaps because of its dominance in Western music and its centrality in Scotland’s music  there has been relatively little such attention paid to the violin. At last there is some movement.

As I mentioned in a very early posting here (http://www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk/revival-fiddle/old-rosin See foot of page), I have been dabbling a little with an old eighteenth-century Scottish fiddle strung with gut and played with a baroque bow.

To me, it is potential for producing low-key, intimate,music that is proving to be the greatest revelation. As a folk fiddler without any formal strings training (classical or traditional) I find it an absolute pleasure, and something of a relief to escape from the demands of the dance and folk band and the expectations of up-front technical accomplishment associated with the violin, and play within the ‘restrictions’ of the old instrument. That said, I can’t wait to hear the Gow Band’s handling of the more up-tempo material.

The following rather rough and ready home recordings are some of my first explorations:

Whistle o’er the lave o’t : attr. J. Bruce

Huntly Lodge : Nathaniel Gow

Lady Charlotte Campbell : Nathaniel Gow

A Port : Straloch Ms

On 12 March I posted a poor scan of an image of Niel Gow that had been brought to my attention. Imagine my delight when I returned home from foreign parts to find an original copy of the engraving waiting in my mail:

The likeness, which is one of my favourities, could not possibly have been drawn from life as the young artist, was born after Gow had died. It is possible that he worked from another’s sketch but the Raeburn painting was clearly the most likely inspiration.

The engraving was published in the Portrait Gallery section of Hogg’s Instructor (Edinburgh, 1854-), a serial publication from the son of the poet and Ettrick Shepherd of the same name. Unfortunately I do not yet know which volume it is from but the sender kindly included two pages from a longer biography of Niel (pages 289 and 230) that will be essential reading for Gowites.

The artist was Francis Croll (c. 1826 – 1854). The Dictionary of National Biography tells us:

CROLL, FRANCIS (1826?–1854), line engraver, was born at Musselburgh about 1826. At a very early age his talent for drawing attracted the notice of the Scottish sculptors, Alexander and John Ritchie, who urged his friends to cultivate it. He was accordingly articled to Thomas Dobbie of Edinburgh, an excellent draughtsman and naturalist, but less known as an engraver, under whose tuition Croll made good progress in drawing, but not so much in engraving. The death of his master, however, before the completion of his apprenticeship led to his being placed for two years to study line engraving under Robert Charles Bell [q. v.], and during the same time he attended the schools of the Royal Scottish Academy, then under the direction of Sir William Allan [q. v.], from whose instruction and advice he derived much benefit. His earlier works were some plates of animals for Stephens’s ‘Book of the Farm,’ some portraits for ‘Hogg’s Weekly Instructor,’ and a small plate from James Drummond’s picture of ‘The Escape of Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh.’ In 1852 he executed for the ‘Art Journal’ an engraving of ‘The Tired Soldier,’ after the picture by Frederick Goodall in the Vernon Gallery. He also engraved for the Royal Association for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in Scotland one of a series of designs by John Faed to illustrate ‘The Cottar’s Saturday Night’ of Robert Burns. During the progress of this plate he was attacked by heart disease, and soon after its completion a career of much promise was closed by his death in Edinburgh, 12 Feb. 1854, at the early age of twenty-seven.

R. E. G.

Sandy Bells’ (Forest Road, Edinburgh) is a pub where traditional music happens regularly. Away from the fast tunes and craic at the back of the room, there is often serious discussion, sharing and knowledge exchange (as well as flyting and debate) to be found among close-knit groups gathered closer to the bar. Catching up there with my old pal Jim Gilchrist this Friday, I was d elighted and astounded to find him produce, from a plastic bag, an old, original copy of a Scottish fiddlers’ manuscript tune book. Written in various hands it appears to represent a good sample of the popular fiddle music of the early twentieth century in a place, as yet, not known but certainly in Southern Scotland.

Any old tune book is of significance as it brings insights into not just repertory but also of popular taste, creativity and musical interests.  Manuscript tune books are highly important. Many, like this one, contain popular tunes taken down from printed collections, but also contain unique material that never found its way into commercially produced anthologies. I look forward to playing the tunes and to writing about the collection here in detail in due course.

A number of references to Gow portraits can be gleaned from the pages of the Scotsman.

This book might be worth a look. An advertisement by ALEX ROBERTSON AND CO., MUSICSELLERS TO THE QUEEN, 30 Princes Street announced: ‘Just Published A CHOICE SELLECTION of REELS and STRATHSPEYS being the original arrangements from the Works of Gow and MARSHALL with the most popular Country Dances, and a portrait of NIEL GOW…’ (23 June 1855, p. 1)

On Saturday May 5 1877, Chapman’s Auction Rooms, 11 Hanover Street, Edinburgh held a sale of ‘Pictures of the Highest Class’ including a ‘Portrait of Niel Gow by Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A.’ (4 May 1877, p. 8).

In 1884 there was an advertisement: ‘Lyon and Turnbull. To-Morrow (Saturday) VALUABLE COLLECTION OF OIL PAINTINGS, WATER-COLOURS, DRAWINGS, ENGRAVINGS, etc. The sale will include and Original portrait of Niel Gow, by Alex Carse, painted from life at Inver, near Dunkeld, “The Stirrup Cup” with Portraits of Robert Burns, William Nicol and Niel Gow, by Stewart Watson….’ (Scotsman 11 April 1884 p. 8)

This Carse portrait is a new one to me. The Stewart Watson is almost certainly extant as we know this sale took place at Christie’s sale of Modern and Victorian Scottish Paintings and Drawing held at Glasgow on September 17 1987:

The Stirrup Cup, at Inver near Dunkeld, 1789

Lot 104 $ 7,901 USD / £ 4,800 GBP

Materials: oil on canvas

Measurements: 31.00 in. (78.74 cm.) (height) by 43.00 in. (109.22 cm.) (width)

More recently there was an announcement ‘The London Salerooms. Christie’s art sales restart tomorrow… Later there will be a dispersal of old porcelain and Louis XV and Louis XVI furniture owned by Colonel W. S. Balfour, D.S.O., of Balbirnie, Markinch, Fife; and pictures to be sold on October 7 include a portrait of Niel Gow, playing a violin, attributed to Raeburn…’ (Scotsman 27 September 1949 p. 4)

 Edinburgh 20 March 2015

A great tune transcribed by Edinburgh fiddler Dick Glasgow from the playing of Jim McKillop of Antrim:

 thesession.org

TradTrails at Niel Gow’s cottage, Inver, Perthshire, 2012

This blog, and my current work on the clarsach movement, is increasingly reinforcing my view that the term ‘revival’ has only limited value in discussing many aspects of Scottish traditional music. Looking back before the 1960s and 70s it is clear that there were successive and overlapping waves of neglect and rediscovery of the musical heritage. There were each different from each other in terms of key actors, their contexts, ideological motivations, behaviour and, ultimately, musical outputs. Revival is not a modern theme but one which is fundamentally built in to the whole issue of transmission. There have been waves and more waves will follow.

There have been many similarities and shared threads too. Looking back we can see the early roots and try-outs of many ongoing initiatives.

The cult of Niel Gow, initiated by aristocracy, developed commercially by his own family and rekindled in the nineteenth century rose again in the mid-twentieth century. This was marked by the high-profile unveiling of a memorial to the fiddle in April 1949 (expect more on this later) and a proposal to link the memory of this rustic, country fiddler to the artistic and technical development of strings playing in Scotland through the education system at different levels.

James Moodie, Chairman, Carnegie Dunfermline Trust Music Institute wrote to the Scotsman on 23 April 1949 (p. 4) following its report on the plaque unveiling:

It is hoped to provide a living memorial to the Gow family by the publication in convenient form of some of the compositions; other ideas put forward and under consideration are the provision of prizes for young music students in schools, prizes for annual competition at music festivals, and, if sufficient funds van be collected, one or more scholarships for music students.

On 17 August 1943 (p. 3) the paper reported on a recent meeting of the Burns Federation:

The Executive Committee, therefore, welcome the recent formation in Dunfermline of a committee to raise a fund for the endowing of an open scholarship in string playing at the Scottish National Academy of Music in memory of Niel Gow, the famous Scottish composer. The sum aimed at is £6000 and it is hoped to arrange for the publication of some of Gow’s best works in a form that will make them available to the younger generation of Scots.

At the Federation Annual Conference in Glasgow a short while later (Scotsman, 13 September 1943 (p. 3):

The annual report, embodying a proposal to raise funds for the endowment of an open scholarship in string playing at the Scottish Academy of Music in memory of Niel Gow was unanimously adopted…

I wonder, did this initiative progress? Further research is required. Perhaps the experts at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where it is now possible to graduate in Scottish music through fiddle playing, can shed some light.

This Niel Gow is from a Victorian picture postcard published by Valentine of Dundee. Could this have been made from a photograph of one of the missing oil paintings we now know were once extant?