Annotation:Silverwells

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X:1 T:Silverwells C: J. Scott Skinner (Aberdeenshire, 1843-1927) M:C L:1/16 R:Solo Strathspey B:Skinner - Miller o' Hirn Collection (1880, No. 102) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:F (C2|A3G) F3E F3GA3B|cF3{F}B3A {A}G4 G2.A.B|c3BA3B cf3d3B|(3ABc {c}(3BAG F4-F2:| A2|(A{B}d3)d3c c3BB3B|Be3e3d d3cc3c|(ca3)a3g g3ff3e|(3d2^c2d2 (3f2e2d2 a4 a3A| (A{B}d3)d3c c3BB3B|(Be3e3d) d3cc3-c|{e}(3f2e2f2 (3A2B2c2 {e}(3d2^c2d2 (3G2A2B2|(3c2=B2c2 BE3 {E}F4 [A,2F2]||



SILVERWELLS. AKA – "Silver Wells." Scottish (originally), Canadian; "Solo Strathspey" or Slow Air (4/4 time). Canada, Cape Breton. F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by the great Aberdeenshire fiddler and composer J. Scott Skinner (1843-1927), who dedicated it to David John Mackenzie of Inverness. Silverwells was the name of two semidetached houses standing at the east end of Ness Bank, two storys high in good repair in the Ordnance Survey of 1876-78. Mackenzie was elected a member of the Gaelic Society of Inverness in 1888. The piece is popular with older Cape Breton fiddlers such as Winston Fitzgerald, Angus Chisholm and Alex F. MacKay, and is one of the favorite airs of Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford].

Printed sources : - Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 227, p. 91. Skinner (Miller O’ Hirn Collection), 1880; No. 102, p. 53.

Recorded sources: -Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ‎LM470, Buddy MacMaster & Winnie Chafe - "Atlantic Fiddling" (1979). Rounder RO7023, Natalie MacMaster - “No Boundaries” (1996. Learned from her uncle, Buddy MacMaster). Rounder Records 7052, Buddy MacMaster – “The Cape Breton Tradition” (2003).

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]



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