Also known as Waterloo, The Waterloo, Wee Davie, Willy Davie.
There are 6 recordings of this tune.
Willie Davie has been added to 31 tunebooks.
I was taught this tune by a fiddler https://thesession.org/members/25980 at my local session https://thesession.org/sessions/1311. I searched for the title for a long time but none of my abc searches got me anywhere, even when I searched for different sections of the tune transposed into different keys. Luckily we have Kenny here https://thesession.org/members/726 who told me the name after I e-mailed him. Thanks to his pointers I was able to find out more about the tune from the Fiddler’s Companion. Apparently the tune comes in 2-part, 3-part and 4-part settings. The 2-part one is the 1st two parts of the one submitted here. The 4-part one is the 3 parts I’ve given plus the B-part played again as the 4th part. The 3-part setting appears in Stewart-Robertson’s Athole Collection (1884; pg. 143) under the title “Willie Davie”, and a 4-part setting appears under the same title in Kerr’s Merry Melodies (c1870s; vol. 1; No. 7, pg. 24) (for transcriptions do a search for “Willie Davie” at JC’s tunefinder). Another 2-part setting appears in Honeyman’s Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor (1898; pg. 35) under its alternative title of “Waterloo Reel”. Not that it particularly matters, but I’ve chosen to post this under the Willie Davie title because it’s backed up by more sources which are dated earlier, and also because it has been recorded under that title. I’ve been playing this with “Tail Toddle” https://thesession.org/tunes/1484.
The version I’ve submitted is exactly as played at our session. If you want the Honeyman setting go here http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/WAT_WAZ.htm and scroll down to "WATERLOO [3]".
Oh another reason I’d give for submitting under this title is that there seems to be lots of tunes with the title "Waterloo", including quite a nice D major reel in Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (see JC’s for transcription).
I think Willie Davie might be the original setting of the 2-part Margaree Reel https://thesession.org/tunes/3265.
Another possible relative is the strathspey called "Donalbane". Go here and scroll down http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/DON_DOV.htm.
Submitted on June 25th 2006 by ceolachan.
https://thesession.org/tunes/5892
Recorded by Nova Scotia flute-player Chris Norman, who makes a great job of it.
Kenny, I notice CN has recorded the Margaree on the Flower of Port Williams. Is that the one you mean, or has he recorded this version as well?
2nd reel on track 10 of “The Caledonian Flute” by “The Chris Norman Ensemble”.
Thanks Kenny.