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The Last March march

By John Morris Rankin

There are 4 recordings of this tune.

The Last March has been added to 4 tune sets.

The Last March has been added to 34 tunebooks.

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Four settings

1
X: 1
T: The Last March
R: march
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
|:"D" f>e f<a f2 e>c|"E" B>A B<e "A" c2 B>A|"Bm7" F2 E>F A>B c<e|f>e f<a "A" c2 c<e|
"D" f>e f<a f2 e>c|"E" B>A B<e "A" c2 B>A|"Bm7" F2 E>F A>B c<A|1 "E" B>A B<c "A" A4:|2 "E" B>A B<c "A" A2 A>G||
|:"F#m" F2 E>F A>B c<e|"E" f>e f<a "A" c2 (3cde|"Bm7" f<a e<f B>c f<c|"E" B>B (3cBA "A" B>c B<A|
"F#m" F2 E>F A>B c<e|"E" f>e f<a "A" c2 (3cde|"Bm7" f<a e<f B>c f<c|"E" B>A B<c "A" A4:|
2
X: 2
T: The Last March
R: march
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
|:"C" e>d e<g e2 d>B|"D" A>G A<d "G" B2 A<G|"Am7" E2 D>E G>A B<d|e>d e<g "G" B2 (3Bcd|
"C" e>d e<g e2 d>B|"D" A>G A<d "G" B2 A<G|"Am7" E2 D>E G>A B<G|1 "D" A>G A<B "G" G4:|2 "D" A>G A<B "G" G2 G>F||
|:"Em" E2 D>E G>A B<d|"D" e>d e<g "G" B2 (3Bcd|"Am7" e<g d<e A>B e<B|"D" A>A (3BAG "G" A>B A<G|
"Em" E2 D>E G>A B<d|"D" e>d e<g "G" B2 (3Bcd|"Am7" e<g d<e A>B d<B|"D" A>G A<B "G" G4:|
3
X: 3
T: The Last March
R: march
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
f>e f<a f2 e<c|B>A B<e c2 B<A|F2 E<F A>B c<e|f>e f<a c2 (3cde|
f>e f<a f2 e<c|B>A B<e c2 B<A|F2 E<F A>B c<A|B>A B<c A4:|
|:F2 E<F A>B c<e|f>e f<a c2 (3cde|f<a e<f B>c f<c|B4 B<c B<A|
F2 E<F A>B c<e|f>e f<a c2 (3cde|e<f c<e B>c e<c|B>A B<c A4:|
4
X: 4
T: The Last March
R: march
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
|:e|f>e f<a f2 e>c|B>A B<e c2 B>A|F2 E>F A>B c<e|f>e f<a c2 c/d/e|
f>e f<a f2 e>c|B>A B<e c2 B>A|F2 E>F A>B c<A|B>A B<c A3:|
|:A|F2 E>F A>B c<e|f>e f<a c2 c/d/e|f<a e<f B>c e<c|B>B c/B/A B>c B>A|
F2 E>F A>B c<e|f>e f<a c2 c/d/e|f<a e<f B>c e<c|B>A B<c A3:|

Six comments

The Last March

As the name would suggest, this is not actually a strathspey, but a march, written by the late John Morris Rankin. I heard it said that they found this tune in the cache of one of his old keyboards when someone happened to hit “play” while parsing through his stuff.

This is the version in Amaj. Still working on the Gmaj one arranged by Braebach.

Re: The Last

It was fiddler Howie MacDonald (longtime member of the Rankin Family band) who found the tune; I have heard him tell the story. He borrowed a piano, and there it was. Great tune.

The Last March, X:3

Here’s a transcription based on two fiddle renditions which are melodically identical but a bit different from original post here - a few more Scotch snaps and some melodic differences in the B music.

X:3
T:The Last March
C:John Morris Rankin (1959-2000)
O:Cape Breton, Canada
N:Found posthumously, recorded on an electric piano
N:cf https://youtu.be/vqbtFUmS1b0

N:& https://youtu.be/TWxg5wRvCO8

Z:Jem Hammond, 11:11:2021, transcribed from the linked YT videos by Tim Chaisson & by Shelly Campbell
R:March
M:C
L:1/8
K:A
f>e f<a f2 e<c|B>A B<e c2 B<A|F2 E<F A>B c<e|f>e f<a c2 (3cde|
f>e f<a f2 e<c|B>A B<e c2 B<A|F2 E<F A>B c<A|B>A B<c A4:|]
|:F2 E<F A>B c<e|f>e f<a c2 (3cde|f<a e<f B>c f<c|B4 B<c B<A|
F2 E<F A>B c<e|f>e f<a c2 (3cde|e<f c<e B>c e<c|B>A B<c A4:|]

The Last March

The word “March”is part of the title, but The Session like to strip it out, hence I needed to include it in quote marks.
Written by John Morris Rankin