Mrs Jamieson’s Favourite jig

Another request.Composed by Charles Grant.

Aly Bain does a nice version of this tune on his album Lonely Bird.

There’s also a version of this jig in the album Legacy of the Scottish fiddle, by Alasdair Fraser & Paul Machlis, but played as a slow air, absolutely breathtaking. Can’t miss it.

I would call this a slow air, have never heard it played at jig tempo. But since this site has no aire category, this is as good a place as any to put it. I learned it in G for some reason, maybe it was listed in a book that way, or maybe I changed the key so I could use the bass notes and chords on my accordion better as I played it.

Yeah, i think its an aire. I also heard it on John Taylors After the Dance CD as a slow aire.

A beautiful air, but as a whistler this works best for me in G (so that the top note isn’t shrill and can be held with confidence!).

X: 1
T: Shetland Swamps, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Amaj
|:“A”E2AB c3E|“F#m”F2EF “A”A3E|“A”E2Ac -c2ef|e2c=c “E”B2zE|
“A”E2AB c3E|“F#m”F2EF “A”A3E|EABc -c2ef|1“A”c2B2 A2zE:|2 “A”c2B2 A2zB|
|:“A”ee2A “F#m”ff2A|“A”eE[F2A2]-[F2A2]zA|“A”ee2A “F#m”ff2A|a2cB -“Bm”B2 cd|
“A”eAAA ABcA|“F#m”F2EF “A”A3E|“E”EABc “A”-c2ef|1c2B2 A3B:|2 c2B2 A3E|

This tune popped into my head when teaching at a feis, i quickly arranged it for a pupil to play at the Mod, couldn’t for the life of me remember what it was called but thanks to a few friends and whistling out the tune to many people the mystery was solved! I play it as a slow air and i now have the dots written out arranged in Gmaj for Harp so if anyone would like it, contact me ;) You gotta love the slow airs!!

Somehow this is a very satisfying tune and I think playing it can calm you down if feeling anxious. Therapeutic? Well known in Shetland and Orkney and over Scotland.

It is indeed a beautiful tune, but sadly both of those transcriptions are in odd timings. X1 is in 6/8 format although given a 3/4 time signature, and X2 has been scored as 4/4 although given a 3/4 time sig too.
The version I play is in 3/4.
As for being therapeutic, the late Sarah Morgan of the singing trio Craig, Morgan and Robson used the tune to make a setting of the Celtic Blessing called “Keep You in Peace” - she took out a couple of the highest notes in the original tune to make it more singable, but it is a lovely and oft-sung end of session song. My friends in Scots Music Group and I did both at a recent gig - played the original tune, then sang the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8BL9YbVG6o

play video

I think the original (like Hector the Hero) was scored in 6/8. The time signature 6/8 is not, as I understand it, the exclusive preserve of jigs.
[M:6/8] at the start of the first line of setting X:1 above would sort the time signature (and [M:4/4] likewise for the second setting).

TIME SIGNATURES ARE OFF! Number 1 seems playable in 3 but not Number 2. Neither one is in 3/4 - Both are DUPLE. Number 1 is in 2/4 but the individual triplet figures can be understood and played in THREE (Waltz). Not so for Number 2. That one is in 4/4 BUT the feel is 2/4 - If 2/4, the measures probably should be changed to reflect that.

JUDY, the original was written as a slow 6/8, so I’ve changed the tune type to “JIG” to get the 6/8 time signature at the beginning. Hope that makes you happier. I can’t do anything about the second setting though.

Frankly, I wouldn’t get too hung up on this. This site was not really set up for slow airs, but for dance tunes, and when posting tunes here you don’t have a time signature option,but a tune type option.