A Second Collection of Strathspey Reels
by Gow, Niel

Full title: A Second Collection of Strathspey Reels, &c. With a Bass for the Violoncello or Harpsichord: Dedicated (By Permission) to the Noblemen & Gentlemen of the Caledonian Hunt. By Neil [sic] Gow, at Dunkeld.

Publisher: Dunkeld; Niel Gow

Printer: Edinburgh: Printed for the Author. J. Johnson Sculpt.

Date: 1788

Description:

The first edition was published by Niel Gow in Dunkeld; GB-Gm 8791 is a rare copy 'Printed for the Author'.
Copies were subsequently printed for Corri & Sutherland (trading 1783-1793); and further copies survive from John Corri's brief trading as Corri [and] Dussek (1799-1800).
The collection was later printed and sold by Gow and Shepherd; by Muir Wood & Co., and by John Purdie.
The book was also sold by A. McGoun in Glasgow, and by various booksellers in London, including John and Andrew Gow.

GB-P copies Af42 and Af29 are Corri & Sutherland 1st editions with subscriber list; Af4 is the Corri & Dussek reprint of first edition.
A pencil note in GB-Gu Ca.12-y.35 observes that 'This was issued immediately after the original edition'.

Notes:

The second edition's alterations are less sweeping and more subtle than in Book 1, eg changes to attributions, titles, basslines, musical detail. The basslines in this collection are mostly simple repetitive single lines.
'Wat ye wha I met the streen' has an almost baroque bassline. 'Light and Airy', (p25) Jigg has a separate 'Violonclo.' marking where the bass goes into octaves, presumably denoting that the cello should play the lower note only. 'Miss Ketty Hall' (p27) has a similar indication, this time marked 'Basso'.
'The Sow's Tail' has a version for piano below the fiddle line. Whilst the first edition was for 'violoncello or harpsichord', the second edition has NO instruments mentioned. Some plates are unchanged between editions.

RISM: G3248

Gore: G10-2

Link: IMSLP (Corri & Sutherland)

Biographical info: Niel Gow (1727-1807), father of the famous Gow family, lived in Inver near Dunkeld. (Glen 2, viii-xiv; Grove; Alburger; Murdoch, 41-48) Gow's fourth son Nathaniel (1763-1831), violinist and Edinburgh publisher, was perhaps the most famous of the siblings; but his brothers William, John and Andrew also traded in music (John and Andrew in London). Nathaniel's son, Niel Junr., lived 1795-1823.

Location(s):

GB-En Glen.294(1) (Corri & Sutherland, [1791])
GB-Eu Scott Stud. Lib (Corri, [1794-1798?])
GB-Gm 8791 (Printed for the Author, [1788])
GB-Gm 8796 (Corri & Dussek, [1792-1794?])
GB-Gm 8799 (Muir Wood, Corri [1804-1810?])
GB-Gu Ca12-y.35 (Corri & Sutherland, [1788-1800])
GB-Gu Ca12-y.36 (Corri & Dussek, [ca.1800])
GB-Gu Ca11-y.31 (Gow & Shepherd, [1803?], second edition, '(carefully corrected & improved) by Niel Gow & Sons')
GB-Gu Q.c.9 (Purdie, [1822-1825?])
GB-P Af4 (Corri & Dussek)
GB-P Af29 (Corri & Sutherland, 1st edition)
GB-P Af42 (Corri & Sutherland, 1st edition)
GB-SA Finzi Collection 121 (Corri & Sutherland [c.1788])
GB-SA Finzi Collection 125 (Gow & Shepherd, 1803; Second edition, corrected and improved by Neil Gow and Sons)
IRL-Dtc OLS X-1-616 no.4 (Corri & Sutherland)
Further locations in COPAC.

Digitised items

This source has not been digitised.