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Lord Seaforth strathspey

Also known as Cameron’s One Legged Hen, Highland Plaid, Lady Seaforth, Loch Ban, Lord Seaforth’s.

There are 19 recordings of this tune.

This tune has been recorded together with

Lord Seaforth has been added to 2 tune sets.

Lord Seaforth has been added to 59 tunebooks.

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Eight settings

1
X: 1
T: Lord Seaforth
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
F|G<DD>E G>AB>d|c>AB<G E3A|G<DD>E G>AB>e|d>BA<B G3:|
g|(3efg d>g B>gd>B|c>AB<G E3g|(3efg d>g B>gd>B|c>Ad<B G3g|
(3efg d>b c>aB>g|c>AB<G E3A|G<DD>E G>AB>e|d>BA<B G3||
2
X: 2
T: Lord Seaforth
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
B | "G"GDDE "Em"GABG | "Am"cA"(G)"BG "C"~E2EA | "G"GDDE "Em"GABe | "D7"dBAB "G"G2-G :|
g | "C"eg"G"dg BgdB | "Am"cA"(G)"BG "C"~E2Eg | "C"eg"G"dg BgdB | "D7"cAdB "G"G2-G ||
g | "C"eg"G"db "Am"ca"G"Bg | "Am"cA"(G)"BG "C"~E2"D7"EA | "G"GDDE "Em"GABe | "D7"dBAB "G"G2-G |]
3
X: 3
T: Lord Seaforth
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
R:Reel
M:C|
c|BGAG BGAB|cABG E/E/E EA|GEDE Gage|1dBAB !>!(DG) G:|2dBAB G/G/G G2|]
ef|g2dg egdB|cA (3BAG E2 ef|g2 dg egdB|AGAB !>!(DG) fa|
gdBd gdBd|ceBd AGEF|GEDE Gage|dBAB G/G/G G2|]
4
X: 4
T: Lord Seaforth
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
B>A|GD DE GA B2|cA B/A/G E2ED/E/|GD DE GA B>c|dB AB/A/ G2:|
g2|e/f/g dg Bg d>B|cA B/A/G E2 g2|e/f/g dg Bg d>B|cA dB G2g2|
e/f/g dg Bg d>B|cA B/A/G E2 ED/E/|GD DE GA B>c|dB AB/A/ G3||
5
X: 5
T: Lord Seaforth
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
c>B|AE EF AB c2|dB c/2B/2A F2FE/2F/2|AE EF AB c>d|ec Bc/2B/2 A2:|
a2|f/2g/2a ea ca e>c|dB c/2B/2A F2 a2|f/2g/2a ea ca e>c|dB ec A2a2|
f/2g/2a ea ca e>c|dB c/2B/2A F2 FE/2F/2|AE EF AB c>d|ec Bc/2B/2 A3||
6
X: 6
T: Lord Seaforth
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
BGAG BGAB|cABG E/E/E EA|GEDE G2ge|1dBAc BGGA:|2dBAc BGBd||
g2dg egdB|cABG E2 ef|g2 dg egdB|cedB GABd|
gdBg dBgB|cABc AE~E2|GEDB, G,2ge|dBAc BGGA||
7
X: 7
T: Lord Seaforth
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amix
[M:2/4]
c>B|: AE EF | AB ce | dB c/B/A | F2- FF/G/ |
AE EF | AB cd | ec Bc/B/ |1 A2 c>B :|2 A2- Aa ||
f/g/a ea | ca ec | dB cA | F2- Fa |
f/g/a ea | ca ec | dB ec | A2- Aa |
f/g/a ec' | db ca | dB c/B/A | F2- FF/G/ |
AE EF | AB cf | ec Bc/B/ | A2 c>B |]
8
X: 8
T: Lord Seaforth
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amix
|: a | cAeA cA g2 | BGdG BBBa | cAeA cA g2 | e2 dB cAA :|
|| e | a2 ea gaef | g2 dg Bgde | a2 ea gaea | gedB cAAe |
a2 ea gaef | g2 dg Bgde | afge fdea | gedB cAAe ||

Twenty comments

Lord Seaforth

I learned this lovely strathspey from the duet of Claire Mann’s fiddle and Simon Thoumire’s concertina.

The bar 5 of the second part is tricky especially on the whistle and flute, but it add spice to the tune. Without it, the whole tune would sound like a variation of "Comin’ Thro’ the Rye."

Hope it will appeal to some strathspey lovers in this site.

Speed

How fast is this generally played? I tried it as an Air at about 80 to 100 bpm and it’s lovely but … where is the tempo supposed to be?

(Send more Strathspey’s!)

I don’t think it is a commonly heard tune and not sure how fast people play it. But Claire Mann and Simon Thoumire play it at around 240 bpm. The sound file here is too fast, but that tricky part doesn’t sound nice when played too slowly, I think.

Speed

Scott Skinner recommended 96 for Strathspey reels,
but Scottish country dancers generally like their strathspeys at 64-70 these days.

Nice tune

~ & as a highland fling

This makes a nice highland fling and fits the dance well. For that use, on the Irish side of things, it goes nicely at around 145 beats per minute…and that is definitely swung… 😉

Yamadasan, I’m suspecting that your 240 bpm is doubling the beat for a 4/4 tune, so I’m suspecting you really meant 120 bpm, otherwise it would mean a lot of RSI if folks were mad enough to try it that highly fried… For the future, the count is based on the 4 beats to the bar rather than the usual 8 notes. This is also why most metronomes work below 240 bpm…

I do realize the previous contributions are for 2003…

120 ~ 145 bpm

This is a good playful range for this tune if taken as a highland. Musicians playing for dance, individually and ceili bands, sometimes played between such differences, taking it slow and making tempo changes to tease the dancers. 120 bpm, as I suspect was what Hiro meant, is a nice relaxed tempo for a highland.

Must have been about the first trad tune I ever heard, on a Jimmy Shand EP my family had in the mid-Sixties!

"Lord Seaforth" ~ some other possibilities

X: 2
T: Lord Seaforth
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: strathspey
K: Gmaj
|: A |\
G>ED>E G>AB<d | c>AB<G E2 E>A |
G>ED>E G>AB<e | d>BA<B G3 :|
g |\
(3efg d>g B>gd>B | c<AB>G E2 E>g |
e<gd>g B<gd>B | c<Ad<B G2 G>g |
(3efg d2 c>aB>g | c<AB<G E3 A |
G>ED>E G>A B2 | g>Bd<B G3 |]

Lord Seaforth’s Reel

X: 1
T: Lord Seaforth’s Reel
R: reel (originally strathspey)
B: RSCDS __-__
Z: 2007 converted to reel by John Chambers <jc:trillian.mit.edu>
M: C
L: 1/8
K: G
B | "G"GDDE "Em"GABG | "Am"cA"(G)"BG "C"~E2EA | "G"GDDE "Em"GABe | "D7"dBAB "G"G2-G :|
g | "C"eg"G"dg BgdB | "Am"cA"(G)"BG "C"~E2Eg | "C"eg"G"dg BgdB | "D7"cAdB "G"G2-G ||
g | "C"eg"G"db "Am"ca"G"Bg | "Am"cA"(G)"BG "C"~E2"D7"EA | "G"GDDE "Em"GABe | "D7"dBAB "G"G2-G |]

alright, I didn’t check the comment section. I’ll fix it.

Lord Seaforth, X:4

As played at sessions in Austin.

Lord Seaforth, X:5

A transposition in to A major

Re: Lord Seaforth

Bobby Gardiner plays this as a Polka which is preceded by Cashman’s Polka.

Lord Seaforth, X:7

From the playing of Seamus Begley & Tim Edey.

Re: Lord Seaforth

Interesting that in the Highland pipe tradition there’s no tune called Lord Seaforth.

There is an old traditional reel called Lady Seaforth which appears in the Seaforth Highlanders Collection (1901) but it’s only marginally similar. I’ve not found a Strathspey version of Lady Seaforth.

Lord Seaforth, X:8

This is the reel Lady Seaforth, a traditional Highland pipe reel, which appears in the Seaforth Highlanders collection (1901, revised 1936) which was subsequently incorporated into the Queens Own Highlanders (Camerons and Seaforths) collection (1961).

It has the feature seen in many old Highland reels where the 2nd part has second ending with a downward-stepping phrase such as afge fdec or similar.

Re: Lord Seaforth

There’s a four-part (strathspey) setting of your tune in the Skye Collection under the name "Lady Mackenzie of Seaforth" and it has been found elsewhere as "Lady MacBeth" and "Miss Montgomery". However, it’s not the same tune as "Lord Seaforth," so it belongs on its own page, don’t you think?