Ancient Scotish Melodies from a Manuscript of the Reign of King
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; /G> *7u Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from National Library of Scotland http://www.archive.org/details/ancientscotishme1838bann : ^/u) ho ANCIENT SCOTISH MELODIES, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF THE REIGN OF KING JAMES VI. WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ENQUIRY ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE HISTORY OF THE MUSIC OF SCOTLAND. BY WILLIAM DAUNEY, ESQ. F.S.A. SCOT- EDINBURGH THE EDINBURGH PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY; SMITH, ELDER, & CO., CORNHILL, LONDON. M.DCCC. XXXVIII. EDINBURGH PRINT1NC COMPANY. TO THE PRESIDENTS AND MEMBERS OF THE iJannatgne antr j&aitlattti eiuftg, THIS WORK (UNDERTAKEN through their encouragement) IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. — 7 CONTENTS. PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. PAGE Introductory Remarks, ....... 1 Description of the Skene MS. and its Contents, .... 5 Enquiry into the probable date and history of tlie MS., ... 10 How far this is the earliest Collection of Scotish Airs which has been published Orpheus Caledonius—D'Urfey's Pills, . 15 Introduction of Scotish Music into England—Dr Blow—Dryden—Mary, Queen of William III.—Charles II Extract from " Shadwell's Scowrers," . 1 Scotish musical publications of the Seventeenth Century—Forbes's Cantus— City of Aberdeen—-Louis de France, pupil of M. Lambert— Revival of a taste for Music in Scotland—Forbes's Cantus contains the songs which were taught at the music schools, ..... • 20 History of the Music Schools in Scotland, ..... 24 Remarks on the Cantus, ....... 28 History of the " Godly and Spiritual Songs," " Compendium," and " Saint's Re- creation," ......... 30 The ancient Scotish Lyrical poetry and musical instruments, two collateral en- quiries necessary, in order to arrive at a just conception of the ancient Music of . • • 39 Scotland, . .... — vi CONTENTS. FACE I Ancient Scotish Lyrical Poetry. Introductory observations—Ancient rhymes and songs from " Wyntoun's Chro- nicle"— Harleian MS Fabian—Notices of ancient songs from the poems of James I Cockelbie Sow—Two original songs of 1507 never before published —Douglas and Dunbar—Sir David Lyndsay—Complaynt of Scotland—Com- pendium of godly ballads—Verstegan's " Restitution of decayed Intelli- gence "— Constable's MS. Cantus, ...... 40 II Ancient Scotish Musical Instruments, &c. Many musical instruments anciently cultivated in Scotland, ... 58 The harp known to the ancient Gauls and Britons, though most probably of Gothic or Asiatic invention, ....... 59 Whether known to the Greeks and Romans uncertain, but used by the Britons before the arrival of the Saxons and Danes, .... 61 Early notices of the harp, of use in illustrating the history of ancient nations Bruce's Theban harp, ....... 62 The Druids, their functions and history, and their successors the Bards, . 63 The Irish eminent for their early proficiency in music—no reason to suppose that they were the sole introducers of the harp and crwth into Britain, . 65 Many of the early inhabitants of Scotland may have acquired a knowledge of that instrument from their northern ancestors—The Scalds eminent performers upon it, ........ 67 Description of the ancient population of Scotland—Little difference between the Anglo and Scoto-Saxons before the English conquest—Partiality of the Anglo- Saxons and Danes for the harp—Cedmon—Alfred—Anlaff, . 69 Anglo and Scoto-Saxons—Troubadours and French minstrels, . 71 The harper, an officer of the household, had lands assigned to him—Instances of this, . ... 72 Musicians of the royal household of the Scotish sovereigns, their description, names of some of them, and appointments from the Treasurer's Accounts and Privy Seal Register, ... 74 — CONTENTS. vii PAGE Escheats and fines appointed to be given to the minstrels along with the heralds Heralds and minstrels, their respective functions described, . 76 Decline of minstrelsy—Penal statutes—Sir George Mackenzie's opinion of these, 78 Vagrants of former times—Ritson's erroneous views of the ancient minstrels Their gradual extinction and that of the bards and harpers, . 80 The use of the harp not confined to the Highlands— Its estimation in England and the Lowlands, ....... 86 Harpers and Clairschochars— Caledonian harps— Ancient and modern compass, and mechanism of harps, ...... 89 The use of the harp anciently among the Welsh, the Highlanders, and the ecclesi- astics of Ireland, . 91 The French troubadours and minstrels— Connection between Scotland and France, and introduction into Scotland of the instruments of the latter country, . 92 The viol—The Vielle—The rote—Rebecs—Instruments played by James I., and others in use in Scotland explained, ..... 93 " Monicordis" or " Monochord"—the origin of the harpsichord and piano-forte, 98 The organ, in Scotland, . 105 The favourite instruments of James V., Queen Mary of Scotland, and Queen Elizabeth, . 107 The Royal Family of Scotland—Their taste in music—James VI. also a lover and patron of music, contrary to the assertions of Burney and Hawkins, . 108 Different species of lutes, &c—The music adopted on festal occasions— Used at the French Court during the reign of James V.—Hautbois, cornets, schawmes, bombardts, clarions, whistles, &c, &c, explained, . Ill The horn, . 118 The bagpipe—Whether anciently used as a military instrument—Mentioned by Giraldus Carabrensis, under the name of " chorus," . 119 Discussion as to the meaning of the word " chorus," . 121 The instrument of the English, who were formerly more eminent than the Scots in their performance on it, . 126 Not popular in some parts of the Lowlands during the 17th century—Whether that used by the English was the Highland or Lowland bagpipe, . 127 viii CONTENTS. PAGE Description of the pastoral instruments, . 129 Ancient MSS. of Scotish Music, with an Enquiry into its Antiquity and the Formation of its Peculiar Genus and Character. Extreme scarcity of documents illustrative of ancient popular music—The manner in which this is accounted for in Scotland— Want of information with respect to the early history of Scotish music—Mr Ritson's doubts, . 132 Recovery of ancient MSS. since his time— Account of these—Rowallan MS., (1620,) ......... 136 Mr Laing's MS., (1670,) ....... 139 Mr Blaikie's MS., (1692,) . 143 These and the Skene MS. older and more authentic evidence of the popular music of Scotland than can be produced of that of Wales or Ireland, . 147 Their utility in illustrating the history of Scotish music, &c, . 148 The direct proof which the Skene MS. affords with respect to the antiquity of this style of music, and of several celebrated airs, . 150 Presumptive do—Account of the Chapel-Royal of Scotland from original MS. and records, . 154 Announcement regarding the old Scotish music in Information touching Chapel- Royal in 1631, . 158 Other testimonies in favour of its antiquity—That of Tassoni— Erroneous opinions regarding this entertained by Mr Tytler and others, . 160 James the First's composition and improvement of Scotish music considered, . 165 era in the Arrival of Sir William Rogers, an history of the art in Scotland, . 167 Old airs probably collected, and others composed in imitation of them, during the 16th century, . 170 Rizzio's connection with the music of Scotland considered, . 171 Are there any certain means of testing the age and authenticity of the Scotish Melodies? . 173 Mr Tytler's opinions, and those of the author of Dissertation prefixed to Thom- son's Select Melodies, considered, together with the peculiar system upon which the Scotish music is composed, ..... ((>, — CONTENTS. ix PAGE Remarks on the analogy between the Scotish music and the Canto fermo of the Roman Catholic Church, ....... 178 Denied by Ritson and others that any of the Scotish airs originated in the Church service, ......... 179 Songs in ridicule of the Papists composed to be sung to the music of the Ritual, 180 The popular music of the Middle Ages, in general, differed little from that of the Church—Opinions of Hawkins, Burney, Berardi—Influence of Canto fermo on the national music of Europe, . 181 In England, . 183 In Scotland, . 184 National music coeval with the origin of nations—The basis of the ideal system of modern music, . .186 Omission of the 4th and 7th of the scale incidental to imperfection of wind instruments, but neither that nor the influence of the Canto fermo sufficient al- together to account for the partiality which the Scots have shown for this par- ticular style of melody—The national music of many other countries chromatic, 189 The existence of a primitive national scale denied—The chromatic series most common to savage nations—The Chinese not ignorant of semitones, . 192 The superior animation and variety of the vocal music of Ireland and Scotland partly attributable to skill in instrumental music—The music of these countries described by Giraldus Cambrensis in the 12th century, . 194 The vocal music of the English essentially different from the above, . 197 Scotish music when and where composed—Lowland and Highland melodies Welsh music—Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian airs, . 200 The most animated melodies probably the oldest—Many of the slow airs not characteristic, ........ 204 Concluding remarks on the Skene MS., ..... 206 Fac-simile of the Skene MS., ...... 212 Explanation of the Tablature and mode of Interpretation employed, 213 The Skene MS., ........ 217 Notes and Illustrations, ....... 253 — CONTENTS. APPENDIX. No. I. Analysis of the Scotish Music, by Mr Finlay Dun, . 315 Preliminary Remarks, ... ib. The modulation of the Scotish airs, .... 317 Their melodic forms, . 321 Their cadences or closes, ...... 322 Their rhythm, ....... 323 Analogy between them and the Canto fermo, . 324 Explanation of the modes of the Church and the tonal laws, . 325 Examples of Canto fermo compared with the Scotish music, . 327 Peculiarities of the latter referable to the ancient tonality, . 330 This tonality should, as much as possible, be preserved, . 334 Mode of harmonic treatment to be adopted with respect to the Ecotish airs, ........ 338 No. II—Music, 341 No. Ill Extracts relative to Music from the Accounts of the Lords High Trea- surers of Scotland, &c, .....