Does anyone have any information about the tune 'The Maids of Arrochar'? I see it listed on Nigel's ABC site (as a jig, but I've only heard it as a slow 6/8) as coming from the Gow collection, but does anyone know whether Gow wrote it? The only people I've heard playing it are Tommy Basker and the Barra MacNeills (and my wife Mairi Campbell, who got it from Tommy), and I'd be interested to know whether it is in many Scottish players' repertoire.
I came across a lyric written by Robert Tannahill, that tune being his choice to carry the burden of a piece about William Wallace, so it must have been known in the early 1800s. The poem is heavy going, and not much favoured by the poet himself. One of my guitar students was speculating that the Maids in question might refer to mountains (along the lines of the Five Sisters, I guess). Any thoughts on that? David Francis t/f (44) (0)131 557 1050 (o); (44) (0)131 669 8824 (h) Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
