The Marshall Collections
The Marshall Collections
The Highland Trust
The Highland Music Trust recently published William Marshall's collections of fiddle music.
Six collections of compositions of one of Scotland's greatest fiddler-composers, William Marshall (1748-1833), were recently published in a book by the Highland Music Trust. Born in Fochabers, Morayshire, Marshall spent his working life in the service of the Duke of Gordon as steward, factor and surveyor. So it was fitting that the launch of the new publication on 14 October was held in Gordon Castle, in a series of events organised by the Fochabers Fiddlers.
Described by Robert Burns as 'the first composer of strathspeys of the age', Marshall was also a dancer, athlete, astronomer, clockmaker, architect and scholar. Many of his tunes were published during his lifetime, and the composer identified the ones he considered most important by naming them, and leaving the publication of the unnamed pieces to the discretion of his publisher at the time.
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For the present day publishers, the task of republishing a collection of Marshall’s works was often complicated by the existence of more than one version of some tunes, often with subtle variations or different titles. |
The Highland Music Trust relied heavily on two authors who had previously identified a number of these repetitions: Mary Anne Alburger's Scottish Fiddlers and their Music and Moyra Cowie's The Life and Times of William Marshall.
The Trustees of the Highland Music Trust are Inverness couple Eric and Helen Allan, who operate the Trust from their home, which has books of music stored in wardrobes and under beds, with 'World Headquarters under the stairs'. The Trustees' work is voluntary, and Helen Allan reprints all the music on her computer. The mission of the Trust is to make important music available to all, and they have already reprinted the Glen and Mackintosh Collections, amongst others.
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The launch of the Marshall Collections in October was illustrated by Duncan Dyker (leader of the Inverness Fiddlers and ex- Royal National Mod champion), who played airs, reels, jigs and strathspeys from the Collections, accompanied by Helen and Eric Allan.
Details of the Marshall Collections and other publications obtained from the Highland Music Trust. |
The publication of the Marshall Collections was supported by the Scottish Arts Council. |