Annotation:Panmure House

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PANMURE HOUSE. AKA and see “Cat that Kittled in Jamie's Wig (The),” “Faill na mBan,” “Miss Lyall (2)." Scottish, Strathspey. A Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Surenne): AABB (Gow, Williamson). The name Panmure is thought to come from the words pant mawr, meaning ‘large hollow’. "Panmure House is in Forfarshire, one of the traditional seats of the Earls of Dalhousie. In 1934 the two earliest manuscripts of Scottish music that have yet been found were discovered there. One is a virginal book containing mostly pieces by William Kinloch, the owner of the book, and it is dated 1685. The other book is dated 1622 and contains airs to 16th century Scottish poetry and many early airs written in a tablature for the cittern. The tune written here is a strathspey named after the house and dates probably from the 18th century" (Williamson, 1976). An early and important classical Scottish manor called Panmure House [1], north of Carnoustie, Angus, was demolished in the 1950’s, as the structure was considered beyond reasonable repair for the methods that existed at the time (it also had 130 rooms, but only two bathrooms!). Another Panmure House is located off the Royal Mile in Edinburgh City Centre, built in 1690 as the city home of the Earls of Panmure, and later was the final home of philosopher Adam Smith. It was restored in the middle of the 20th century and now houses Edinburgh social service offices. Gow (1817) notes it is “Very Old.”

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Gow (Complete Repository, Part 4), 1817; p. 25. S. Johnson (A Twenty Year Anniversary Collection), 2003; p. 40. Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; p. 138. Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; p. 63.

Recorded sources:

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]




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