May Tunes - 2025
Bridges. Many Scottish tunes are named for them, and the SMC Tune List has a few of them. A quick search finds Craigellachie Bridge (9.21) a Wm. Marshall strathspey in D (During the 1996 SRSNH tour our members visited here for a photo op!).
We also have The Famous Bridge (23.03 & 33.10) a Hebridean slip reel (12/8 or 6/4) in A mixolydian, and The High Level Bridge (17.13) a B flat hornpipe by James Hill.
In the Scots dialect, bridges are often called brigs, and search on this finds these five. The Brig o’ Dee (8.34 & 12.25) as a strathspey and reel in D by James Young; The Brig o’ Perth (11.15) an A mixolydian strathspey by Daniel Dow; Teviot Brig (12.23) a jig in A by Alexander Givan; and lastly The Dean Brig o’ Edinburgh (34.08) an E flat strathspey by Archie Allen, that Peter Macfarlane brought to us in 2021.
The most famous bridge in Scotland is the Forth Bridge. Opened in 1890, the Forth Bridge is a Scottish icon that is recognised the world over as the most famous of cantilever designs.
The world's first major steel structure, in 1890 the Forth Bridge represented a key milestone in the history of modern railway civil engineering and for 28 years held the record as the world's longest span.
A full-scale restoration project to return the bridge to its original construction condition was completed in 2012. In July 2015, UNESCO inscribed the Forth Bridge as the sixth World Heritage Site in Scotland. More information can be found on this website, dedicated to all three Forth Bridges
All three of this month’s tunes are named for this icon. First is a reel / strathspey set in D composed by Williamson Blyth (1821-1897), an Edinburgh violinist and violin maker who turned out quite a number of fine instruments. An 1896 violin by Blyth went for about $5,000 at auction in 1999. On the other hand, Morris (British Violin Makers), 1920, p.108, comments, “ A most prolific maker of wretched things shaped somewhat like a violin, but which do not possess any of the usual qualities of that instrument. It is said that he could turn out fairly decent work when he had the inclination, but he rarely got into that mood.” Talk about faint praise!
Rounding out the Forth set is a G major hornpipe by J. Scott Skinner. His musical commemoration on the opening of the bridge. Here is his manuscript version on the Aberdeen University website.
I am tempted to echo the sentiment of Mr. Morris, with regards to Blyth’s compositions. However there are plenty more good ‘Bridge’ tunes and I will present some of them in June!
Be kind to your instruments, and play with them every day.
