Craig O’Barns strathspey

A powerful strathspey! I learned this from Wendy MacIsaac’s “Off the Floor” album, and love the tune (and Wendy’s playing)! She calls the strathspey “Fair Wedding,” which is the title I use, but on cbfiddle.com it looks like more players have recorded it as Craig O’Barns. Hope you enjoy.

And this is the first tune I’ve put on the session, so if there’s any ABC experts checking my work, I’d be glad to get any helpful criticism.

I heard this played in March 2023 by Pete Clark, the driving force behind the annual Niel Gow Festival in Birnam and Dunkeld. As part of the Festival, he was leading a walk from Little Dunkeld to Niel Gow’s cottage in Inver, stopping at various places to play tunes associated with them. We had just crossed the Braan, about a mile from Inver, when he pointed out the hill Craig-y-Barns on our right, took up his fiddle and played the tune beautifully. (He also played “Dunkeld Bridge” under Dunkeld Bridge and “The Landlady of Inver Inn” outside the building that was the Inn in Gow’s time.)

The name of the hill varies between Craig-y-Barns and Craig O’Barns, depending on which map you consult.