Music of Scotland: Difference between revisions

There is evidence that there was a flourishing culture of popular music in Scotland during the late Middle Ages, but the only song with a melody to survive from this period is the ''Pleugh Song''.<ref name="Baxter2001app130-33">J. R. Baxter, "Music, ecclesiastical", in M. Lynch, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), {{ISBN|0-19-211696-7}}, pp.&nbsp;130–33.</ref> After the [[Scottish Reformation|Reformation]], the secular popular tradition of music continued, despite attempts by the [[Church of Scotland|Kirk]], particularly in the Lowlands, to suppress dancing and events like [[penny wedding]]s.<ref name=Porterp22>J. Porter, "Introduction" in J. Porter, ed., ''Defining Strains: The Musical Life of Scots in the Seventeenth Century'' (Peter Lang, 2007), {{ISBN|3-03910-948-0}}, p. 22.</ref> This period saw the creation of the ceòl mór (the great music) of the bagpipe, which reflected its martial origins, with battle tunes, marches, gatherings, salutes and laments.<ref>J. E. A. Dawson, ''Scotland Re-Formed, 1488–1587'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007), {{ISBN|0-7486-1455-9}}, p. 169.</ref> The Highlands in the early seventeenth century saw the development of piping families including the [[MacCrimmon (piping family)|MacCrimmonds]], MacArthurs, [[Clan Gregor|MacGregors]], and the Mackays of [[Gairloch]]. There is also evidence of adoption of the fiddle in the Highlands with [[Martin Martin]] noting in his ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland'' (1703) that he knew of 18 players in Lewis alone.<ref name=Porterp35>J. Porter, "Introduction" in J. Porter, ed., ''Defining Strains: The Musical Life of Scots in the Seventeenth Century'' (Peter Lang, 2007), {{ISBN|3-03910-948-0}}, p. 35.</ref> Well-known musicians included the fiddlerfiddlers Pattie Birnie and the piper [[Habbie Simpson]].<ref name=Porterp22/> This tradition continued into the nineteenth century, with major figures such as the fiddlers [[Niel Gow|Niel]] and his son [[Nathaniel Gow]].<ref name="Baxter2001app140-1">J. R. Baxter, "Culture, Enlightenment (1660–1843): music", in M. Lynch, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), {{ISBN|0-19-211696-7}}, pp.&nbsp;140–1.</ref> There is evidence of [[ballad]]s from this period. Some may date back to the late Medieval era and deal with events and people that can be traced back as far as the thirteenth century.<ref>E. Lyle, ''Scottish Ballads'' (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2001), {{ISBN|0-86241-477-6}}, pp.&nbsp;9–10.</ref> They remained an oral tradition until they were collected as folk songs in the eighteenth century.<ref name=Broadview2006>"Popular Ballads" ''The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century'' (Broadview Press, 2006), pp.&nbsp;610–17.</ref>