Robert Petrie (1767-1830)
Kirkmichael, Perthshire
by Charlie Gore
From the point of view of varied content this is one of the most interesting of the late 18th, early 19th century smaller collections. By all accounts Petrie was a bit of a character, which may have something to do with it. Emmerson (Rantin’ Pipe & Tremblin’ String) says he had “the reputation of being both a profligate and an excellent fiddler, not an uncommon combination as we have seen”. Who can doubt that he was “up to no good” when, with his friend and ‘cello accompanist, John Fleming, they took part in a mock resurrection at night in the kirkyard at Logie, Dundee. Fleming was said to have forecast that none present would die a natural death and kept a book on how things would turn out. According to John Glen, Petrie himself “was found dead one morning…..by the side of a small stream. He had suddenly expired on his way home from a party.” David Baptie (Musical Scotland, Past and Present 1894) confirms that “Petrie was unfortunately drowned while returning from a party on a dark, stormy night”. A fittingly dramatic end for a “ne’er-dae-weel” perhaps.
On the credit side, Petrie was clearly an outstanding fiddler, a popular band player and a composer of great merit, even in those glorious days when the likes of Daniel Dow, William Marshall, the Gow family and ‘Red Rob’ Mackintosh were equally in full song. “In style of playing, he stood by himself and displayed great feeling and a fine fancy” (Baptie). He is recorded as having won ‘the silver bow’ at a competition in Edinburgh in 1822, as a result, particularly, of his playing of ‘The Ewie wi’ the Crookit Horn’. Glen dryly comments that the trophy “never reached Kirkmichael – a fact probably to be attributed to the irregularity of his habits”. He was of course in constant demand at the weddings and social dances of the North-East and no doubt folk were generous with the drams. Between 1790 and 1805, he produced his four small collections of music, dedicated in order to Mrs. Farquharson of Monaltrie. Mrs. Garden of Troup, Francis Garden Esqr. Junior of Troup & Glenlyon. In a total of 242 titles he only claims 31, but it seems safe enough to attribute a number of others to his pen, especially among those relating to the Garden of Troup family and places local to the area where he lived and worked (he may well have been employed at Troup House).
The collections include compositions attributed to many of Petrie’s contemporaries, among whom Daniel Dow (who had connections with Kirkmichael), William Marshall, ‘Red Rob’ Mackintosh (born at nearby Tullimet) and Isaac Cooper (Banff); also J. Boick, J. Black, A. Lawrie, C. Stewart and Mr Macdonald of Bornish (composer of Miss Susan Bogg’s Strathspey and Miss Macdonald of Powder Hall’s Reel) Most of the music in these little books is fresh and eminently playable, which makes it all the more extraordinary that so little of it is known or even in general circulation. But then that applies to about 60% of the printed dance and listening music of the Scottish Tradition published between the years (say) 1780 – 1830.
It’s hard to pass by a tune with the title Wantoness for Ever More without pondering on the mindset of the composer or selector; or for that matter Drunken Friday or Petrie’s Frolick, yet his slow tunes have a tender dignity about them. His choosing to publish the reel Auld Eage and Young ne’er gree Thegither, a tune first found in manuscripts of the 17th Century, may best serve to sum up the conflicts in his character. Scotland’s tradition would have been the less without him.
Box and Fiddle
February 2002
On the credit side, Petrie was clearly an outstanding fiddler, a popular band player and a composer of great merit, even in those glorious days when the likes of Daniel Dow, William Marshall, the Gow family and ‘Red Rob’ Mackintosh were equally in full song. “In style of playing, he stood by himself and displayed great feeling and a fine fancy” (Baptie). He is recorded as having won ‘the silver bow’ at a competition in Edinburgh in 1822, as a result, particularly, of his playing of ‘The Ewie wi’ the Crookit Horn’. Glen dryly comments that the trophy “never reached Kirkmichael – a fact probably to be attributed to the irregularity of his habits”. He was of course in constant demand at the weddings and social dances of the North-East and no doubt folk were generous with the drams. Between 1790 and 1805, he produced his four small collections of music, dedicated in order to Mrs. Farquharson of Monaltrie. Mrs. Garden of Troup, Francis Garden Esqr. Junior of Troup & Glenlyon. In a total of 242 titles he only claims 31, but it seems safe enough to attribute a number of others to his pen, especially among those relating to the Garden of Troup family and places local to the area where he lived and worked (he may well have been employed at Troup House).
The collections include compositions attributed to many of Petrie’s contemporaries, among whom Daniel Dow (who had connections with Kirkmichael), William Marshall, ‘Red Rob’ Mackintosh (born at nearby Tullimet) and Isaac Cooper (Banff); also J. Boick, J. Black, A. Lawrie, C. Stewart and Mr Macdonald of Bornish (composer of Miss Susan Bogg’s Strathspey and Miss Macdonald of Powder Hall’s Reel) Most of the music in these little books is fresh and eminently playable, which makes it all the more extraordinary that so little of it is known or even in general circulation. But then that applies to about 60% of the printed dance and listening music of the Scottish Tradition published between the years (say) 1780 – 1830.
It’s hard to pass by a tune with the title Wantoness for Ever More without pondering on the mindset of the composer or selector; or for that matter Drunken Friday or Petrie’s Frolick, yet his slow tunes have a tender dignity about them. His choosing to publish the reel Auld Eage and Young ne’er gree Thegither, a tune first found in manuscripts of the 17th Century, may best serve to sum up the conflicts in his character. Scotland’s tradition would have been the less without him.
Box and Fiddle
February 2002