Page 16 - What's In A Name - The Barry Pipes Canon

WHAT’S IN A NAME? The Barry Pipes Canon • 2005 - 2018 The Dalkeith Strathspey 031-2010-February-Set&Link
Now doesn’t the name Dalkeith have a good Scottish ring to it? Could it be a clan? A sept of the Clan Keith perhaps? But nothing I can find gives support to that premise. If not that, what else could it be?
Ah, yes! There is a medium-sized town by that name just a bit southeast of Edinburgh. Dalkeith is in fact the administrative centre for the Midlothian council area, with a population of around 12,000. In past years, it would have been called a county town. Even so, that sounds pretty humdrum to have such a nice strathspey named after it.
Hey, wait a minute! Just outside the town lies a 300-year-old palace. It was built on the site of a castle that dates back to the 13th century. The property has been in the hands of the Duke of Buccleuch’s family (pron. BuckLoo) for the past 350 years or so. This is a rather important peerage. The current duke happens to be, so it is claimed, the largest private landowner in the United Kingdom. Of far greater importance to Set & Link readers, perhaps, the Duke of Buccleuch is the hereditary chief of Clan Scott. ◼︎
His Grace, Richard Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch KT KBE FSA FRSE
The Inch of Perth 032-2010-March-Set&Link
Inch? Well, that’s not much of a piece of Perth real estate, is it? Even with a metric conversion to 2.54 cm, one is certainly no better off. If you owned an Inch of Perth, you could hardly use it to play ball or walk the dog, could you? So why bother devising an SCD Strathspey called Inch of Perth?
Of course, if you lived in Perth, and you had access to an Inch of Perth, you would be very happy to be able to punt a rugger ball or to walk not only a wee Chihuahua but even a gargantuan Irish Wolfhound. How could that be? As a resident of Perth, you would know that there is indeed a well-grassed Inch of Perth where all kinds of recreational activities are able to take place, but not in miniature. In fact, there are two Inches of Perth, a North Inch and a South Inch.
To unmask this conundrum, one needs to know that “Inch” is an anglicized form of the Gaelic word “Innis” or “Insch,” meaning a level area or piece of dry land in a swamp. Nowadays, it is used in Perth to mean a “park”... where one can indeed play ball or walk a dog.
Any historical significance? You bet! Within the area that is now the North Inch, history records that there was a pitched battle in 1396 between 30 Cameron clansmen and 30 assorted members of the Clan Chattan confederation, a potent brew of Mackintoshes,
From Set&Link, newsletter of RSCDS Toronto
Construction of the present Dalkeith Palace, modelled on William of Orange’s Palace of Het Loo in the Netherlands, began in 1702 and was completed around 1711.
This painting shows the palace as it was in 1880.
Davidsons, McPhersons, and others. After the battle, arranged by King Robert III to settle a dispute, there remained standing only eleven members of the Chattan contingent and one Cameron. A blood bath indeed!
And how about the South
Inch? Yes, it involved Oliver
Cromwell in the Civil War,
but that is another story. To
learn more about North Inch
and the “Battle of the Clans.”
You might want to read Sir Walter Scott’s The Fair Maid of Perth for more gory detail.
So why not try the strathspey Inch of Perth at the March Monthly Dance? There’ll be plenty of room for your set. ◼︎
The Inch of Perth, by Perth Bridge over the Tay, c. 19th century.