The composer Francesco Barsanti arranged many of the most beautiful of the 17th century Scottish fiddle tunes and printed them in Edinburgh in 1742. Here is the song Lochaber, performed on original instruments: Our new audiophile Scottish Album is now available on iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/in-… video from the Great Artists series, from the Early Music ensemble Voices of Music in San Francisco, February, 2014.
The musicians (left to right)
Hanneke van Proosdij, voice flute (recorder)
Carla Moore, baroque violin
Elisabeth Reed, viola da gamba
Rodney Gehrke, baroque organ
Peter Maund, frame drum
Cheryl Ann Fulton, baroque triple harp
David Tayler, archlute
Lochaber arranged by the musicians of Voices of Music
Francesco Barsanti came to London in 1714, where he performed in the London orchestras. He married a Scotswoman and got to know the folk music of the North, which resulted in some of the most beautiful settings of these tunes.
Lochaber, in the north-west of Scotland, is a wild and rugged place of mountain and moorland, running from the Great Glen to Knoydart on the coast. There are versions of this tune called King James March to Ireland dating from the 17th century. It is known in Ireland as Limerick’s Lament.