I`ve had a look at the interesting article to which Tim helpfully drew attention, and wonder if your request back in 2010 brought any answers on the identity of the LM tune for Iam lucis orto sidere. It certainly looks like Fr Gordon was drawing on our local fiddling tradition.
Our church will have several good fiddlers in action for Easter Sunday from the Banchory Strathspey and Reel, and I could see if they know the tune, if you haven`t yet identified.
On the organ installation for Dufftown mentioned elsewhere in the article, an organ researcher friend thinks the RC chapel had an organ in the 1830s, so the installation of a "magnificent" one in 1845 likely meant this could be transferred elsewhere.
Hello from a recent discoverer of this site. My field of research is Scottish Rc music, late 18th to earlyish 19th cent.Is there anyone else with similar interests? More specifically I have found an... more
Dear Shelagh, I presume your MS was related in some way to NE Scotland. Just possibly, some details about the forces required could help, like was there an instrumental line? RC chapels in the NE... more
Thanks for reply. Happy Mary is included in 'Sacred Music Calculated For Small Choirs' ed Rev George Gordon, pub about 1830. I can send a sibeliused version. It has an organ part and is in four... more
Shelagh has now emailed me a TIFF file of Happy Mary, with a suggestion she thinks it is a version of the Hilton/Farrant anthem "Lord for thy tender mercies sake". It certainly is, with what I feel... more
Hello Yes, I did tentatively identify the fiddle melody from an 18th century collection at the SCA in Edinburgh. Annoyingly I don't have a note of it here, but will dig it out. If any of your... more
I have to report that the LM tune in Fr Gordon`s manuscript is not known to our Banchory fiddlers. The former leader of the Strathspey and Reel has hunted without success in his stacks of tunes. I`ve ... more
Thanks for looking. I did try the Elphinstone people without success. The SCA have a large collection of fiddle tunes and I intend to try these; will report back. Maybe GG wrote it himself?