The Best ITM Tune-Learning Tutor

Drummond Castle (Aaeol)

Drummond Castle

Drummond Castle

This Scottish jig is named after a castle in Perthshire, Scotland, just south of Crieff in Muthill perish. It’s still a privately owned castle, and has extensive Italian Renaissance style gardens with a long history.  Sir Malcolm Drummond fought alongside Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn (1314) during the First War of Scottish Independence, and was given the lands (see Peter Armstrong, Bannockburn 1314: Robert Bruce’s Great Victory, Osprey: 2002).  The fourth Lord Drummond was made Earl of Perth by King James VI/I – the King James (1567–1625) who authorized a new translation of the Bible into English that made it sound older than the spoken English of the time.  Lord Drummond, Earl of Perth, then began construction on Drummond Castle atop a prominent and at places rather steep spine of rock known as the Gask Ridge. Cromwell’s forces attacked and sacked Drummond Castle during the royalist rising in Scotland after the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1642–1651).  It was owned by the state from 1750 to 1784 when it was repurchased by the Drummond family.  The castle has been enlarged and expanded over the centuries, as have the gardens, and it is now a fairly popular tourist attraction.  Music was present at the castle almost from the beginning, and there is tune book referred to either as “the Scottish Drummond Castle Manuscript” or “the Duke of Perth Manuscript,” that is currently in the possession of the Earl of Ancaster at Drummond Castle. There’s an inscription on the manuscript that reads “A Collection of Country Dances written for the use of his Grace the Duke of Perth by Dav. Young, 1734.”  The tune “Drummond Castle” is in that manuscript, and begins with a rather steep jump in the first measure. The tune has been republished many times since then.

For the ABC click Drummond Castle

Drummond Castle, slow tempo (fiddle, David Agee)

Drummond Castle, med tempo (fiddle & mandolin)

 

Drummond Castle, jig in Aaeol

Drummond Castle, jig in Aaeol

Thanks! Any comments?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: