January Tunes - 2024
This month’s tunes are three original hornpipes by Ryan Thomson. The following comes directly from Ryan:
One of my favorite projects is writing fiddle tunes in honor of family members and friends. So far, these include pieces for my brother Richard, sister in law, Sharon, father J Richard, mother Sherry, son Brennish, nephew Sean, niece Shannon, niece’s husband Alex, and various personal friends as well.
For this workshop I have chosen a set of three hornpipes which I composed in honor of my great-great-grandfather, John Strang Thomson, who was born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland in 1851. My particular interest in John Strang is that he and his wife Catherine Muir, also from Dunfermline, were the first Thomson family members to immigrate to North America from Scotland in search of a better life. Family members recorded detailed records of their experiences.
They were both raised as Presbyterians and married in Dunfermline on July 4, 1851. They in turn raised 11 children. They joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Scotland in 1859 and made a life-changing decision to immigrate to the USA. Along with several of their children they traveled from the Scottish lowlands to London, England, via a steamer from Leith.
In London they boarded the ship “American Congress,” and sailed to New York City on a 42 day voyage. Along with other members of the church they continued west from New York to Nebraska where in June of 1866 they joined a wagon train heading towards Utah. They reached Salt Lake City on September 4, 1866. The entire journey to Utah from Scotland took 108 days.
A Thomson family journal of that wagon train journey includes this passage:
“In June we arrived in Wyoming, Nebraska and had to wait for some time for teams to start across the plains. While there we had a nice time visiting friends; making acquaintances, singing songs; having meetings and praying night and morning; everyone seemed to be filled with the spirit of the lord and no complaining at all, was done.”
As pioneers they settled in Salt Lake City and at first lived in a two room log cabin. Here is a picture of John Strang, his wife Catherine Muir, along with their granddaughter Katie Thomson, in 1901, in front of their cabin. A second picture is John with his buggy.
In 1870 John Strang was working as a miner. By 1880 he was making his living at farming while 6 of their children still lived at home. He passed away on April 3, 1917 and is buried with an engraved stone marker in the Salt Lake City cemetery.
Brennish and I are descendents of John and Catherine’s son Adam Muir Thomson, who was born in Salt Lake City in 1872, but later made his living as a rancher in Bingham, Idaho. Brennish and I inherited a nice bowl back mandolin, made around 1900, from that side of the family. I have taken it, strapped to my Kelty backpack, on hiking and camping trips in the Sierra mountains and other places.
—Ryan Thomson