Good News! Article now Published in RMA Research Chronicle, and an [unrelated] Book Chapter Pending

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
Silver Victorian pen and ink stand

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that my RMA Research Chronicle article was now available online as open access. Today, it’s actually in the published issue. Receiving this email is a great start to the day:-

“your article, ‘Women Pursuing Musical Careers: Finding Opportunities in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Scottish Music Publishing Circles’, has now been published in Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle! You can view your article at https://doi.org/10.1017/rrc.2025.10009 “

Citation Details

Writing about Tourism

What’s this?, I hear you ask. Why would a musicologist write about tourism? Well, it’s like this: one of the song book titles that I explored in last year’s monograph, The Glories of Scotland, really deserved more space than I could give it in a monograph devoted to a nation’s music publishing. However, the opportunity came up to contribute a chapter to a Peter Lang Publication, Print and Tourism: Travel-Related Publications from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century, edited by Catherine Armstrong and Elaine Jackson.

Today, I received the final proofs, which means that the book itself can’t be very far away. I really enjoyed writing this chapter – you could say that it’s decidedly more about publishing history, and tourism, than conventional musicology – and I really look forward to it actually being published.

My chapter (19 pages):-

‘The Glories of Scotland in Picture and Song’: Jumping on the Festival of Britain Bandwagon?’

The Glories of Scotland in Picture and Song - a song book published by Mozart Allan of Glasgow. The cover shows various Scottish tartans.
The Glories of Scotland – Mozart Allan’s souvenir songbook
Back cover of The Glories of Scotland song book
Back cover of The Glories of Scotland

How to Make Life Difficult for Yourself

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

I’m not writing about scholarship today. Indeed, this is more a case of, ‘Don’t do as I do …’

  • Buy old house
  • After 30 years, learn that rewiring is needed
  • Box most household goods (this is mainly my remit) to facilitate rewiring
  • Pull a muscle in your back (ouch!)
  • Vacate premises
  • Return to scenes like this:-

Upheaval is Anathema

Now, having very elderly and neuro-divergent family members will make any upheaval twice as traumatic. It was. Keep this in mind.

  • Despite the need for redecorating next, I was told that We could not live like that, so the majority of the boxes had to be unboxed (again, my remit)  before Christmas. A painter was engaged to start after Christmas.
  • But first, I had to coordinate Christmas and pack it away again,  singlehandedly.  The pulled muscle complained.
  • And boxing up began again. (Again mainly, painfully, my remit). 
  • But this time, more of my books had to be boxed. Even for a former librarian, heaving big boxes of books about is strenuous work.
  • There were delays. And timekeeping issues. The estimated 4-5 days extended to 18 immensely stressful days. Testosterone Towers took it out on me.  I’m mentally exhausted, and now the house has to be unboxed and tidied again.
  • OK, so now is a good time to go for a shingles vaccination. Only a mild reaction, but temporarily adding physical aches and tiredness to the mental draining. 

Between 4 and 10 pm yesterday, I emptied 12 boxes and cooked dinner.  Testosterone Towers can’t wait for order to be restored out of chaos.  It will happen. (I may be ‘ridiculous’, ‘getting worse as I age’ and ‘a stupid old woman’, but I have my uses.  Apparently, none of this was said.*  I must be losing my marbles, too.)

In Fairness

  • Three rooms completely redecorated
  • Two rooms, hall and landings repaired

Although we had expected a couple of ceilings to be fully repainted, which weren’t, I have to say that the painter’s partial solution was masterful. The highlight of my morning today? Waking to this:-

Never was I happier to look up at a white ceiling. (Even if other parts of it are less pristine!)

I cannot think about research just yet.  I don’t need to, today or most of tomorrow. My mind is still frazzled, and there’s major tidying to do.  But hopefully a nicer environment will make for a calmer mind.

(Now, where’s the hot water bottle for my back?)

*This is gaslighting. These things have been said.

Burns Night? Morning Too

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

I didn’t take organ music with me today. The church got ‘Green grow the rashes, O’ (I’d transcribed that from a recording); and the rest from memory:- ‘Afton Water’; ‘My luve is like a red, red rose’; ‘When you and I were young’; ‘Ae fond kiss’; and ‘Comin’ thro’ the rye’.

Well, it’s Burns Night! 

Friends of Wighton – A Celebration of Burns

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
The Wighton Collection's logo - various musical instruments

Burns Night is on Sunday 25 January 2026

This Saturday, 24 January, is virtually Burns’ Night, so what better afternoon to have A Celebration of  Burns at the Central Library of Dundee? I understand we were fully booked, but those lucky enough to have obtained a ticket had a great afternoon. Click on the link (as long as it’s still there) to see the line-up.

And I finished up  the event with a singalong of three favourite songs by Robert Burns – not bad for a girl from Norfolk! If I play, and everyone else sings, my English accent is well-concealed …

But what are the three songs?

Green Grow the Rashes, O.

Burns’ version of this pre-existing song appeared in the Scots Musical Museum song collection in the late 18th century. It was included in several school song books in the 20th century, and remains popular to this day.


CHORUS: Green grow the rashes, O; Green grow the rashes, O;
The sweetest hours that e’er I spend, Are spent amang the lasses, O.

1. There’s nought but care on ev’ry han’, In ev’ry hour that passes, O:
What signifies the life o’ man,  An’ ’twere na for the lasses, O.
Green …

2. The war’ly race may riches chase, – An’ riches still may fly them, O;
An’ tho’ at last they catch them fast, Their hearts can ne’er enjoy them, O.
Green …

3. Gie me a cannie hour at e’en, My arms about my dearie, O;
An’ war’ly cares, an’ war’ly men, May a’ gae tapsalteerie, O!
Green …

4. For you sae douce, ye sneer at this; Ye’re nought but senseless asses, O:
The wisest man the warl’ e’er saw, He dearly lov’d the lasses, O.
Green …

5. Auld Nature swears, the lovely dears Her noblest work she classes, O:
Her prentice han’ she try’d on man, An’ then she made the lasses, O.
Green …

Comin’ Thro’ the Rye

There was a very famous soprano called Flora Woodman (1896-1981), who was born in London of Scottish parents. For some years, this was practically her signature tune – she sang it a couple of hundred times.

But why? I discovered that there had been a novel called Comin’ thro’ the Rye, written by novelist Helen Mather back in 1875. The heroine sings this song as she walks through a rye-field; that’s the only connection with the song.

But the story became a silent movie in autumn 1916 – months after Flora started singing it. The film was so popular that the film producer remade it in 1923. Flora was still singing the song – probably because the film had popularised it – but the film went out of fashion when the first talkie, The Jazz Singer, came out in 1927, and Flora began to sing the song less often.
As for the words – the clean words – you won’t be surprised to learn that even this version didn’t make it into any school books of Scottish songs!

Comin’ thro’ the rye

1. Gin a body meet a body Comin’ thro’ the rye, Gin a body kiss a body, Need a body cry?

Chorus: Ilka lassie has her laddie, Nane, they say, hae I, Yet a’ the lads they smile at me, When comin’ thro’ the rye.

    2. Gin a body meet a body Comin’ frae the town, Gin a body kiss a body, Need a body frown?  Chorus

      3. Gin a body meet a body, Comin’ frae the well,  Gin a body kiss a body, Need a body tell? Chorus

         4. ‘Mang the train there is a swain I dearly lo’e myself, But what his name or whaur his hame, I dinna care to tell. Chorus

          Auld Lang Syne

          Our last song needed no introduction!

           1. Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind?  Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And the days o’ auld lang syne?

          Chorus: For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne,  We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet, For auld lang syne.

          2. And here’s a hand, my trusty fiere, And gie’s a hand o’ thine;  And we’ll tak’ a right guid willie-waught For the days o’ auld lang syne.  Chorus.

            A Windy, Wet Window of Opportunity

            Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
            Interior of coffee shop (before the coffee and cake arrived!)

            I received an invitation in connection with my next research project. It was irresistible in research terms – and I needed no excuse to be out of Testosterone Towers and away from the redecorating project. 

            Early rising

            I found the east coast much windier and wetter city than the west. (Windproof brolly, my foot! I rocked the fashionable drowned rat look instead.) It was darkish when I arrived around 9.38, and is darkish now at 12.20. 

            I’m still entangled in ethical approval procedures, so this was an observational experience rather than ‘data gathering’. Worthwhile, nonetheless, and a reminder to myself that what I’m researching involves, and involved, real people in real time.

            Yes, I did stop off in my favourite coffee shop on my way back to the station.  (Wouldn’t you?)

            And now I need to type up some ‘first impressions’, in the most general sense.

            Parkinson’s Law in Reverse

            Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
            Many clock-faces

            ‘Work Expands to Fit the Time Available’?

            Mr Parkinson, you’re so wrong!

            Parkinson’s Law was apparently a saying coined by Cyril Parkinson in 1955. But today, I’m watching time expand to fit the work available, rather than the other way round. In our case, the work we expected to take four or five days, began at the end of one week, ran through last week and is still ongoing halfway through this present week. And I’m the site manager – but only insofar as I’m chasing up workmen and trying to keep the residents of Testosterone Towers happy.

            You mean we have to keep looking at THIS?

            Aged people and neuro-divergent people really do struggle with chaos and uncertainty, and there are bucketloads of chaos and uncertainty round here. It makes them uncomfortable and on edge.

            Fortunately, I work part-time. The rest of my time is being spent making futile attempts to keep everything else under control. Testosterone Towers’ residents have clean, dry, ironed clothes. They can see as much carpet in our lounge as the slow progress of the work elsewhere will permit. (I can’t put things back in their rightful places whilst there are still dustsheets, plentiful dust, and ongoing work all over the place.)

            The residents are fed on time (because one of the residents is comforted by timetables); and the supermarket shopping is still happening to the usual plan.  I’ve been using oven-ready meals.

            What is harder for me is endeavouring not to annoy the most easily annoyed resident. As for keeping tabs on the project, my struggle is to keep a balance: enough for my efforts to be perceived as diligent, without actually annoying the working people I’d rather not offend!

            I’ve booked a cleaning team for next Tuesday. But will they be able to come then? Watch this space.

            Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

            Bibliophilia

            Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
            Piles of books on the floor whilst their usual room is redecorated.

            I forgot to add .. the decorating delays are apparently our fault for having so much stuff. It’s my books and music in the dining room that the painter’s alluding to.  (He has no idea about Himself’s collection, many of which were originally secretly delivered to his workplace so that I wouldn’t see them, and are now scattered in various parts of the house.)

            Last November, one of the electricians also innocently asked why I had so many books. I answered lamely, ‘Well, so I could write these two.’  Which didn’t seem terribly convincing to me,  but seemed to satisfy him!

            • Scholar
            • Former librarian
            • Organist
            • Writes books about music books …

            I don’t feel guilty about the books, but I really must reduce the collection before my family have to clear the house once I’m gone! Some are going on eBay, others to the charity shop.

            Sofa, So Good: Working from a Chaotic Home

            Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
            The ankles and feet of someone on a painter's ladder

            I’m working, but my mind is scattered and my physical surroundings are a nightmare. This is not the place to describe the unique hell of a redecorating project where everything is in boxes, piles or under dustcloths; floors are paint-and-plaster-dusty; deadlines are consistently missed; explanations are sketchy; and it emerges that the 9-5 by which I have structured the past 42 years is a concept entirely alien to our decorator. As is the concept of Monday-to-Friday. Hence the total absence of workers today.

            Lounge? LIVING Room?

            Throughout the pandemic, I managed the 9-5 quite effectively from my home-office alcove. Small, cramped, but entirely within my control. Take me out of my alcove into another room in which one can neither lounge nor live comfortably, and I am like a fish out of water. I need two small coffee tables – but the tables are glass – the mouse is ill-at-ease on them. And I’m accustomed to using a mouse rather than the trackpad. Makeshift arrangements make this just about workable. I have carved out a whole morning of peace and solitude, and by and large, it’s working.

            Yes, it’s stressful. And I’m not alone – I live in Testosterone Towers, where habitual stress is bad enough, but habitual + domestic upheaval stress makes things extraordinarily difficult, and my caring responsibilities are challenged to the max. (Remember, I said that I’m annoying? I am reportedly becoming more annoying by the day, and I don’t seem able to help myself inadvertently doing it. It’s not that I don’t try to be good, either.)

            Can I blog about research today? No, I don’t think I can. I’ve just ordered all the tech I need for my forthcoming oral history project – that felt like quite an achievement! – and I have just received a wee book that a kind Ancestry-user sent me about their ancestor, who happens to have been the brother of the professor I was researching in my post-Christmas idleness. The best thing I can do this morning is to read it from cover-to-cover, then get back to compiling a repertoire list that I started last night. (My need to occupy the lounge – ha! lounge?! – may be keeping Testosterone Towers from their daytime TV, but last night I found I could perform activities like searching the British Newspaper Archive quite effectively, whilst ignoring the TV entirely, happy in the knowledge that Testosterone Towers is not being inconvenienced at all.)

            I saw an academic event on Eventbrite that I’d have liked to sign up to, even if it’s a non-working day. I dare not sign up to it. I can’t imagine the redecorating being finished by Tuesday.

            My apologies for moaning. Maybe things will be better by this time next week!

            Image by Kris from Pixabay

            Proud Addition to my Published Output: Women Pursuing Musical Careers: Finding Opportunities in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Scottish Music Publishing Circles

            Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
            Edwardian lady and two little girls. Picture has a floral border.

            Published online today, 12 January 2026, in the RMA (Royal Musical Association) Research Chronicle, by Cambridge University Press, on Open Access:- click here.

            Writing this article was enormously fulfilling. I had encountered these ladies whilst researching my latest monograph, and I became convinced that they deserved profiling in their own right, and not merely as bit-parts in the larger picture occupied by their husbands, fathers and brothers.

            The kernel of the abstract states that, ‘This article focuses on a group of Scottish women who did not make their names solely as art music composers or stellar performers, and for whom piano teaching was only part of their musical work. Four were related to the Scottish music publishers Mozart Allan, James Kerr, and the Logan brothers; the fifth published with Allan and Kerr, and also self-published.’

            And all had fulfilling portfolio musical careers. Read on, and I’m sure you’ll agree!

            Rewire, Redecorate … Research?

            Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
            White paint-pot and brushes on a sheet of newspaper

            Rewired

            Followers of this blog will recall that our Edwardian home was rewired at the end of November. ‘We’ don’t take kindly to upheaval, of which there was plenty, so I had to unpack and put back a lot of goods (including hundreds of books) afterwards  – notwithstanding the need for remedial decorating  – in order to make the place bearable for Christmas.  Note the ‘We’ and the ‘I’.

            Redecorate: Magnolia and White

            Today, the remedial redecorating commences (not a DIY effort), so I’ve been repacking goods all over again. I’m the youngish, averagely fit one – and I’m already knackered!  Even my FitBit agrees.  My back has only just recovered from November/December; my fingers are sore; I’ve run out of empty boxes (how, I can’t imagine); and am almost out of floor on which to stack stuff. We have too much stuff. 

            I have done my employed research for the week.  Does anyone else working from home recognise this kind of thing?

            ‘I thought you might have started cooking dinner by now?’

            ‘But I work until 5 …’

            And I did work. Then I cooked. Then I packed and stacked, and continued stacking and packing this morning.  The lounge looks like a library on the move –  and is now so much smaller, in terms of cubic air volume, that it’s actually perceptibly warmer with the same heater settings.

            But even women who feel as though they’ve been dragged kicking and screaming back to the 1970s, against their will, have their limits. The kitchen is being decorated first, so it’s fish and chips for tea. There will be no cooking here.

            Research?

            I’m only contemplating research to the extent of acquiring a decent recording device this weekend! I’m starting an exciting new research project soon, and as soon as the ethical approval process is complete, I’ll be raring to go. Monday will see the Magnolia and White project going on elsewhere in the house – hopefully my own working environment will by then be spick-and-span – with me sitting enjoying remote training to ensure that the new research project goes well.

            Now, what colour shall I inject into my magnolia and white dining room to make it a joyful zone in which to work …?

            Image by tookapic from Pixabay