Irrespective of the origin and age of the tune, surely - as anyone who has
done any research into family history knows - the spelling of names in the
18th and early 19th century was subject to almost infinite variation (and
how many spellings are there for Shakespeare??)
so - when James, Jem, Jemy, Jemmy, Jamie, Jim, Jimmy, Jimmie, Allen, Allan,
Alan gave his name orally to someone who then wrote it down, the clerk may
have (aurally?) heard the name correctly and used any number of spellings to
write it down. I suppose the question hangs on what spelling Allen himself
used when (and if) he wrote it. A couple of generations before him, his
family certainly wouldn't have been literate, and would neither know nor
care about the spelling. The way it is spelt in the published "Life" is
probably just a snapshot of one time in the name's life. More relevant may
be how Allen's family said it - what accent, and did they use a more or less
"Scottish" pronunciation? Does it matter, or is it a question of rival
nationalisms either side the Border?
Just a thought from Philip (often mispelled Phillip - preferably not Phil,
and certainly not Pip if you don't mind) Gruar - whose not very distant
ancestor, a tenant farmer on the Highland Line at the time J. Allen was
around, was spelt at different times Gruar, Gruer, Grewar and Growar.
Now - Rants. I can theorise endlessly about the precise relative length of
paired quavers in baroque music, but I'm not a particularly good piper, and
don't live in the centre of "The Tradition". For the benefit of those
reading this who live completely outside it, could experts please confirm if
I'm right that in "Rant" playing the quavers are very *slightly* uneven, but
not as "dotted" as in a hornpipe, and giving a "heavier" feel than in a
reel,
because in a reel you feel two minim (half-note) beats in a bar - each beat
made of four equal quavers (quarter-notes). In Rants and Hornpipes it's
definitely four crotchet (quarter note) beats to the bar, each beat normally
consisting of two uneven quavers, but in a hornpipe the first quaver is
strongly accented and lengthened, and the second one is very light and
short. The rant gives much more equal weight to the two quavers. Is this
easier to understand than tomato soup and gobstoppers, or am I talking
through my hat?
Oh, and welcome to the list Anthony, it's great to have your contributions.
Philip
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