Miss Wedderburn’s reel

Another 4 bar reel that is popular in Cape Breton. Probably originally Scottish.
In Cape Breton it is common to play the A part an octave higher on the second run through the tune.

Yes, it’s Scottish, published in many of the old collections. Another name for it is “The Burn O’ Cairnie” (or “Carnie”), although when the Old Blind Dogs recorded it they called it “The Burn o’ Craigie”.

If I remember rightly, “The Burn o’ Cairnie” is a strathspey version of “Miss Wedderburn’s” - or perhaps MW’s is a reel version of BoC? In The Skye Collection it says

“Burn o’ Cairnie” or “Miss Wdderburn”, also played as a reel. From Peter Milne’s Collection.“

For a brief biog of Peter Milne, see http://www.nigelgatherer.com/perf/fiddlers/pmiln.html

Thanks for the info, Nigel. “From Peter Milne’s Collection”: so did he write it or collect it?

I do note on your website it says MW is a Peter Milne composition.

Scrub that last comment. I was thinking of Big John MacNeil for some reason.

DonaldK asked, “…did [Peter Milne] write it or collect it?”

It’s much older than Milne. As “The Burn o’ Carnie” it can be found in Bremner’s first collection, c.1751; as “Miss Wedderburn’s” in Joshua Campbell’s c.1786 collection. I expect it was in Milne’s repertoire.

This is very much like The Kilt Is My Delight, although not that much like the version posted here:
https://thesession.org/tunes/642

Is another name here in the USA… also related to Greenfields of Virginia(America)

From Ceolas Fiddler— Clay County, West Virginia, fiddler Wilson Douglas remarked that he didn’t know where it originated; “its a Clay County tune and French (Carpenter, his mentor) said he never did know. Said the first time he ever heard it played, his dad played it. And he learned it from him and he said he never did know where it came from.” Another West Virginia fiddler, Emory Bailey, also played a version. Bayard (1981) collected this rhyme to the first part in Pennsylvania:
***
Old Mother Flanagan, never be a man again,
Hole in her stockin’, heel kept a-rockin’.

Old Mother Flanagan https://thesession.org/tunes/2046

I keep hearing “Kilt is my delight” Am I drunk again?

The members of this little family are increasing. In Elizabeth Ross’s 1812 manuscript, this tune is given in the key of A as “A Cuir nam Gobhar as a Chraig” (Putting the Goats Off the Rock). Also, on Silly Wizard’s first, self-titled album, they play it in G and D under the title “Atholl Braes”.

Regarding my note above, there are lyrics for the Elizabeth Ross version (X: 2 above):

To chase the goats off the rock, The kilt was my delight;
To chase the goats off the rock, The kilt was my choice.
The kilt, the kilt, the kilt was my choice.

Which brings us neatly to “The Kilt was My Delight”.

This is part of a whole family of tunes, Oot Be Est Da Vong in Shetland, Green Fields of America or Anderson’s etc in Ireland. You could spend all day tallying them all up.

Isn’t Miss Wedderburn in F or Bb in the Kerr’s books?

I put the Silly Wizard version:the second part in this version played two times not one like I wrote, and then transported all the notes in Dmajor key, simple.

Is this Captain Wedderburn’s daughter?
So we know what happened after he solved all the riddles….