I only know a couple of things about Roslyn Castle (and I think one 's' is correct in the name).
Here's sleeve notes from Hamish Moore's LP ''Cauld Wind Pipes'' : ''Found in Kerr's Collection. This tune is played on the Pastoral Pipes with Patsy Seddon on Clarsach and Dougie MacLean on fiddle. The tune, first known as 'The House of Glamis' was a successful 'weel kent' tune of the 18th Century, and was popular among the Pastoral Pipers of Perth. The title was changed at some time and is more widely known as Roslyn Castle.'' The other thing I know is that Robert Burns used the tune for at least for one of his songs, entitled only ''Song'' (unsurprising because the words are not one of his best songwriting achievements). As for Hamish's performance of the tune on Pastoral pipes these are a notoriously elusive, problematic instrument and I don't think has ever been repeated. Despite one or two claims I doubt whether any pipe-maker has managed to successfully make or restore a satisfactory playable set. Also the suggestion from the sleeve note that there was somehow at one time a corps of ''Pastoral Pipers of Perth'' seems slightly fanciful. These were early days in the Scottish bellows pipes revival of the 1980's and we were all a bit over-excited about all kinds of discoveries about old Scottish bellows-piping lore and new possibilities. Mind I could be totally wrong and maybe in days of yore there were lots of Pastoral pipers in Perth. Anyway it is a lovely haunting tune. Bill where the tune is played on Pastoral pipes (a deeply problematic instrument) state: -----Original Message----- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Richard York Sent: 26 April 2010 13:11 To: NSP group Subject: [NSP] Rosslyn Castle Rosslyn/Roslyn/Roslin Castle is a tune I love, and it's in the NPS books. I'd like to find more about the origin. The story about the mason, from Andy May on his CD insert, is a great tale, but of course doesn't explain the tune's beginnings - I sort of assumed from there it was perhaps a lament related to the terrible deed. But it never seems very Scottish in its shape - all those major 7th leaps in a minor tune. We have a CD by the Welsh triple harp player Llio Rhydderch (OT thought... so was Lliopatra really Welsh, not Egyptian??!) who is very steeped in her tradition and takes it very studiously. She writes that there's a tradition that a relation of the famously Eponymous David of the White Rock, (and he died early mid C19th), travelled to Rosslyn Castle where he worked as a gardener, and took the tune with him from Wales. Certainly, once you hear her playing of it, it's absolutely Welsh. And very much the same feel as the David Of etc tune. On t'other hand she doesn't actually say who wrote it or when. While it's not strictly a Northumbrian Question, it's now in the nsp repertoire, so does anyone know any more of it, please? Thanks, Richard. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.814 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2835 - Release Date: 04/25/10 19:31:00
