Page 29 - What's In A Name - The Barry Pipes Canon

WHAT’S IN A NAME? The Barry Pipes Canon • 2005 - 2018 Linnea’s Strathspey 055-2013-January-Set&Link
Linnea? Doesn’t really have that Gaelic touch, does it? So where does it come from? Linnea’s Strathspey was devised by a certain Tim Wilson, apparently a member of the Dunsmuir Dancers. Ah! Now we have something to go on!
Dunsmuir, Scotland? Yes, there is/was a Dunsmuir family. Pictish, if one wants to go back far enough. But what do we have here? The Dunsmuir Dancers are seemingly connected not with a location in Scotland, but with a community in Northern California on Interstate 5, quite close to the Oregon border.
A very touristy spot is Dunsmuir, which should not be surprising once you realize that at 14,000 feet plus, Mt. Shasta looms over it. Shasta is
the second most prominent peak among all the
volcanoes in the Cascade Mountains although it has not
From Set&Link, newsletter of RSCDS Toronto
Area which is not exactly round the corner from Dunsmuir itself. One will perhaps have a greater understanding of the importance of the Dunsmuir Dancers to SCD on the US West Coast when it is recognized that its main contact person is the ubiquitous Ron Wallace himself. This might explain why the Dunsmuir Dancers have a performance reputation that goes far beyond the borders of the United States.
All of which still raises the question ... who or what is Linnea? Well, I find there is no shortage of families and businesses named Linnea in California. Maybe Linnea’s Hardware is on the Dunsmuir main street. Perhaps I’ll hear more on this question from SCDers somewhere in California.
erupted since 1786. Is it overdue? Do the Dunsmuir Dancers function at all in Dunsmuir? Have they danced anywhere close to Shasta’s volcanic cone?
Well I wouldn’t be too sure about those questions, because the Dunsmuir Dancers are actually listed as a Scottish country, Highland, and Step Dance Performance Group in the Greater San Francisco Bay
Meanwhile, you owe it to yourself to check out this intriguing strathspey. It is quite a tricky one with what is described in the Strathspey Server as a “chaperoned chain progression”.
Linnea’s Strathspey has surfaced on
one or two RSCDS Toronto programs
recently, latterly on the South Simcoe SCD Christmas Dance. I for one am hoping we will all have further opportunities in the near future to sample Tim Wilson’s clever work as the devisor of Linnea’s Strathspey. ◼︎
Waverley (Fergus McIver) 056-2013-February-Set&Link
takes Edward into the realm of Clan Mac-Ivor, whose Chief, Fergus, is active in fomenting the upcoming rebellion...hence the parenthetical inclusion of Fergus McIver in the dance name. Incidentally, the correct clan name as far as I can tell is MacIver, not McIver or even Mac-Ivor as is indicated in written outlines of the book.
There’s much more to the story for you to check. It is likely available among the classics at your local book store...but what about the dance itself? It is one of those sometimes tiring 48 bar jigs...starts with a chase (meh!) but includes a foot-tangling move in which one transitions from a poussette into double triangles. It is on the upcoming Tartan Ball program so we hope that you will have found the determination and fortitude to try it first.
Mount Shasta as viewed from Dunsmuir, California.
Tim Wilson
J. Pettie’s illustration for the 1893 edition of Scott’s Waverley.
It is not clear who devised the thing. It appeared in RSCDS Book 15, which would take it back several decades or so. There is a reference to Messrs. Button and Whitaker, London music publishers in the early 19th century.
Finally, for those who wish they could avoid the poussette/double triangles entanglement, Hugh Foss did devise a dance called Fugal Fergus which is a variation on Waverley that might be considered less challenging. ◼︎
Glaswegians may surmise that this will be the story of a vessel that sails regularly up and down the Firth of Clyde, perhaps from the Broomielaw, loaded with day-trippers. Called Waverley, it is said to be the last remaining passenger-carrying paddle wheel steamer in existence. No. . . I’m talking about a different Waverley! I did that story quite some time ago in connection with a piece about The Rothesay Rant.
Those of us familiar with the works of Sir Walter Scott will be well aware of his series of novels about Edward Waverley, an officer in the English army of the Hanoverian king, George II. Edward is posted to Perthshire but ultimately finds himself involved in the 1745 Jacobite unpleasantries. It transpires that Edward’s family has Jacobite tendencies and in consequence is unsupportive of the king, who in any event was far from popular with English citizens at large.
Scott Memorial, Edinburgh
In due course, Waverley finds himself drawn into the Jacobite cause. Needless to say, the charms of a young lady named Rose also come into play. The developing intrigue