John Glen (1833-1904)
by Charlie Gore
The traditional musicians of Scotland owe John Glen a mighty debt of gratitude, yet, strange as it may seem, of you ask them who he was, it is unlikely that you would receive anything more than a blank look from 99% of them
In the first place, he was one of a small group of devoted music collectors who set about re-publishing the dance music of the Gows, Marshall and their many contemporaries during the last decades of the 19th century. The compilations of James Kerr (Merry Melodies), James Stewart Robertson (Athole Collection) and several others contain the essential ingredients of the 20th century Scottish dance band repertoire. But whereas their published editions give scarcely a hint as to the sources or authorship of the music, John Glen was meticulous in his biographical notes and the attribution of every tune he selected either to its composer (if known) or to an original collection. If it hadn’t been for his careful work, there would be very much less information to guide us back to the 18th century and to the Golden Age of the Scottish Tradition. The sad tag of the music publisher, ‘traditional’, though indicating that copyright may not apply, does nothing for the character of the piece. On the contrary, the names of all but a handful of the contributing composers have faded into oblivion chiefly due to this oversight. Glen’s work bears eloquent witness to the importance of detail. His Collection of Scottish Dance Music was published in two volumes between 1891 and 1895 in Edinburgh. The music itself is arranged in ‘medley’ style, strathspey alternating with reel – as are all the larger collections of that period – and there is a significant absence of jigs (a dozen in a total of nearly 300 titles). It was followed in 1900 by Early Scottish Melodies, a valuable reference book for researchers into manuscripts and early printed music.
When he died in 1904, his collection of manuscripts, printed music and other material (said to number in the region of 4,000 items) was put up for auction and bought outright by a single bidder. So the second phase of the story unfolds…… beginning with a quote from an article in The Scotsman dated 18th March 1918 “…..a generous benefactor who has acquired a remarkable collection of Scottish music…. has deposited it on loan at the British Museum with the express wish that it be available to students. The collection was formed by the late John Glen, a partner in a well-known firm of Edinburgh music publishers founded in 1827 in the Cowgate and subsequently moved to North Bank Street.”
The article describes how Glen realised that many of the music books were becoming rare, even in his day, and that wear and tear and neglect would quickly do the rest. He went about deliberately seeking to buy up the collections of the Gows, MacGlashan, Dow, Oswald, Mackintosh, Bremner, Stewart and Marshall – there are well over 100 more contributors that could be added to this list – with the result that he “was enabled to get together what is undoubtedly the most complete collection of printed Scottish music of the 18th and 19th centuries.” Included are two editions of the rare Collection of the Choicest Scots Tunes of Adam Craig (known to have been living in Edinburgh in 1695), a fifth edition of Playford’s Apollo’s Banquet, a rare set of Jackson of Dublin’s Irish Tunes and The Sinclair Manuscript, over 100 tunes “written by Andrew Adam at Glasgow October the 31 day 1710”.
The name of ‘the benefactor’ was formally disclosed in 1927, two years after The National Library of Scotland officially came into being, although there was to be an intervention of years including those of the Second World War before the present building was ready to house such items as The Glen Collection of Scottish Music. From then on, every item of the collection carried this printed dedication ; ‘Presented by Lady Dorothea Ruggles-Brise to the National Library of Scotland in memory of her brother, Major Lord George Stewart Murray, Black Watch, killed in action in France in 1914.’ This daughter of the 7th Duke of Atholl, three of whose predecessors had been patrons of the great Niel Gow of Inver, was herself a lifelong devotee of Scottish music. It was entirely appropriate that her action should have returned this great resource to the nation and to the care of the National Library in Edinburgh.
Box and Fiddle
January 2002
In the first place, he was one of a small group of devoted music collectors who set about re-publishing the dance music of the Gows, Marshall and their many contemporaries during the last decades of the 19th century. The compilations of James Kerr (Merry Melodies), James Stewart Robertson (Athole Collection) and several others contain the essential ingredients of the 20th century Scottish dance band repertoire. But whereas their published editions give scarcely a hint as to the sources or authorship of the music, John Glen was meticulous in his biographical notes and the attribution of every tune he selected either to its composer (if known) or to an original collection. If it hadn’t been for his careful work, there would be very much less information to guide us back to the 18th century and to the Golden Age of the Scottish Tradition. The sad tag of the music publisher, ‘traditional’, though indicating that copyright may not apply, does nothing for the character of the piece. On the contrary, the names of all but a handful of the contributing composers have faded into oblivion chiefly due to this oversight. Glen’s work bears eloquent witness to the importance of detail. His Collection of Scottish Dance Music was published in two volumes between 1891 and 1895 in Edinburgh. The music itself is arranged in ‘medley’ style, strathspey alternating with reel – as are all the larger collections of that period – and there is a significant absence of jigs (a dozen in a total of nearly 300 titles). It was followed in 1900 by Early Scottish Melodies, a valuable reference book for researchers into manuscripts and early printed music.
When he died in 1904, his collection of manuscripts, printed music and other material (said to number in the region of 4,000 items) was put up for auction and bought outright by a single bidder. So the second phase of the story unfolds…… beginning with a quote from an article in The Scotsman dated 18th March 1918 “…..a generous benefactor who has acquired a remarkable collection of Scottish music…. has deposited it on loan at the British Museum with the express wish that it be available to students. The collection was formed by the late John Glen, a partner in a well-known firm of Edinburgh music publishers founded in 1827 in the Cowgate and subsequently moved to North Bank Street.”
The article describes how Glen realised that many of the music books were becoming rare, even in his day, and that wear and tear and neglect would quickly do the rest. He went about deliberately seeking to buy up the collections of the Gows, MacGlashan, Dow, Oswald, Mackintosh, Bremner, Stewart and Marshall – there are well over 100 more contributors that could be added to this list – with the result that he “was enabled to get together what is undoubtedly the most complete collection of printed Scottish music of the 18th and 19th centuries.” Included are two editions of the rare Collection of the Choicest Scots Tunes of Adam Craig (known to have been living in Edinburgh in 1695), a fifth edition of Playford’s Apollo’s Banquet, a rare set of Jackson of Dublin’s Irish Tunes and The Sinclair Manuscript, over 100 tunes “written by Andrew Adam at Glasgow October the 31 day 1710”.
The name of ‘the benefactor’ was formally disclosed in 1927, two years after The National Library of Scotland officially came into being, although there was to be an intervention of years including those of the Second World War before the present building was ready to house such items as The Glen Collection of Scottish Music. From then on, every item of the collection carried this printed dedication ; ‘Presented by Lady Dorothea Ruggles-Brise to the National Library of Scotland in memory of her brother, Major Lord George Stewart Murray, Black Watch, killed in action in France in 1914.’ This daughter of the 7th Duke of Atholl, three of whose predecessors had been patrons of the great Niel Gow of Inver, was herself a lifelong devotee of Scottish music. It was entirely appropriate that her action should have returned this great resource to the nation and to the care of the National Library in Edinburgh.
Box and Fiddle
January 2002