A Retrospective, Prompted by the Anniversary of a Letter being Sent

170 years ago today,  antiquarian ballad and song collector William Chappell sent an unintentionally incendiary letter to Andrew Wighton!

It is difficult to find really good tunes of this early date, because there is so little genuine Scotch music in print – although plenty of Anglo-Scottish.

Sparks flew in Dundee.  How dare Mr Chappell suggest that much of Scotland’s song repertoire wasn’t really Scottish, but some kind of English-worked mishmash? Sparks also flew in Aberdeen, when Chappell’s song-collection was published, on account of his extensive annotations.

This is actually part of a larger story, which I explored in the final chapter of my first book, Our Ancient National Airs: Scottish Song Collecting from the Enlightenment to the Romantic Era. Chapter 8 is headed,

‘The Feelings of a Scotsman’ and the Illusion of Origins in the Later Nineteenth Century‘.

CAST LIST:-

• William Chappell, English antiquarian and song collector; author of Popular Music of the Olden Times;
• Andrew Wighton, Scottish shopkeeper and song-collector in Dundee (his amazing collection was bequeathed to the city, and The Wighton Collection is now in the Central Library);
• James Davie, crusty old Aberdonian musician and song-collector, fiercely patriotic and with a strong dislike of Chappell and all that he stood for;
• David Laing, Edinburgh librarian, authority on Scottish literature and songs, and altogether good chap, generous in sharing his knowledge.

If you’re interested in learning more, my book is available in quite a few libraries or in paperback, e-book or Kindle format. Chappell’s collection is also readily available.