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The Marchioness Of Huntly strathspey

By William Marshall

Also known as The Marchioness Of Huntley, The Marchioness Of Huntley’s, The Marchioness Of Huntly’s Favourite, The Marchioness Of Huntly’s, Miss Grieve Of Howdan, Miss Grieve Of Howdan’s.

There are 14 recordings of this tune.

This tune has been recorded together with

The Marchioness Of Huntly has been added to 9 tunebooks.

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Three settings

1
X: 1
T: The Marchioness Of Huntly
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
|:A|C>DE>C D<F E2|F<B B>c d/c/B/A/ G/F/E/D/|C>DE>C D<F E2|F<B A/G/F/E/ A2A:|
d|c<eA>e c>e d/c/B/A/|G<BE>B G<BE>d|c<eA>e c>e d/c/B/A/|G<BE>G A3d|
c<eA>c (3efg a2|F<B B>c d/c/B/A/ G/F/E/D/|C>DE>C D<F E2|F<B A/G/F/E/ A2A||
2
X: 2
T: The Marchioness Of Huntly
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmin
|:(~[B,3/2D3/2]E/) (F>D) E<G TF2|(G<c)~c>d (e/d/).c/.B/ (A/G/).F/.E/|(D>E)(FD) EG TF2|(~G>c) (B/A/)(G/F/) [B2F2D2][B2F2D2]:|
(d<f)(B>f) ~d>f (e/d/).c/.B/|A>cF>c AcFe|(d<f)(B>f) ~d>f (e/d/).c/.B/|(A/B/)c/d/ (B/A/)G/F/ TB2(B>e)|
(d<f)(B>d) d/f/g/a/ Hbz/B/|(Gc)(~cd) (e/d/).c/.B/ (A/G/).F/.E/|[B,3/2D3/2]E/F>D E<G TF2|(~G>c) (B/A/)(G/F/) [B2F2D2][B2F2D2]||
3
X: 3
T: The Marchioness Of Huntly
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
D>F A>F G<B A2|B<e e>f g/f/e/d/ c/B/A/G/|F>G A>F G<B A2|
B>e d/c/B/A/ d2 d2:|f>a d>a f>a g/f/e/d/|c>e A>e c>e A>a|
f>a d>a f>a g/f/e/d/|c>e d/c/B/A/ d2 d<a|f<a d<a f<a d'2|
B<e e>f g/f/e/d/ c/B/A/G/|F>G A>F G<B A2|B>e d/c/B/A/ d2 d2||

Six comments

Marchioness Of Huntly

This is the version from Kerr’s Merry Melodies. The versions played by Angus Cameron and Duncan Davidson are close to this. The version in Marshall’s Scottish Melodies is in Bb, with a note that “when danced, may be played in A three sharps.” I’ll post the Bb setting next.

The Marchioness of Huntly

Looking at ‘The Life and Times of William Marshall’ by Moyra Cowie (Elgin 1999), it says the the Marchioness was “Elizabeth Brodie of Arnhall, later 5th Duchess of Gordon. As Marshall’s patron she was instrumental in the publication of [his 1822 Collection], and was a great help to Marshall…She was an accomplished musician and loved to play traditional Scottish music…”

When the 1822 collection was published, the Marchioness took 700 copies which must have helped Marshall enormously! She was also the subject of a number of other tunes, by Marshall (a jig and a slow air) and by other composers such as Peter Milne and Donald Grant.

The tune pops up in Surenne’s ‘Dance Music of Scotland’ (1851) under the title “Miss Grieve of Howdan” with no attribution. There it’s in the key of D, and I’ve also seen it elsewhere in D (about which in the 1930s J Murdoch Henderson was unimpressed!), which brings it into the range of the whistle.

Interesting! I wonder where the Surenne version came from. That piercing third-octave D on a whistle is…“intense?”

Re: The Marchioness Of Huntly

I like it! I’ve heard on both Paul Anderson’s “The Journey Home” and Brian McNeill’s “Monksgate.” It kind of has a haunting quality to it.

Re: The Marchioness Of Huntly

Actually, in reading more about this tune, there are at least two strathspeys with this name. There’s this one, by William Marshall, which Brian McNeill plays and seems more common. There’s also the one by Peter Milne which Paul Anderson plays. I actually thought they were the same tune at first just played differently, because the A-parts sound sort of similar (at least to me.) I wonder if Milne could have taken Marshall’s original tune and modified it to make his own version.