A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Skene Manuscript

by John Muir Wood

SKENE MANUSCRIPT. A collection of airs, chiefly Scotish, though with a considerable admixture of foreign dance tunes and English vocal melodies, supposed to have been written at various dates between 1615 and 1635. In 1818 the MS. came into the possession ot the Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh, along with a charter chest of documents, by bequest from Miss Elizabeth Skene of Curriehill and Hallyards in Midlothian. She was the last representative in line of the family, and great-great-granddaughter of John Skene of Hallyards, who died in 1644, and was the original possessor and probably also the writer of some parts of the MS. It consisted originally of seven distinct parts, but these have since been bound together, and now form one tiny oblong volume 6½ inches by 4½. It is written in tablature for a lute with fire strings, a mode of writing very convenient for the player, as it points out exactly the string to be struck, and the fret to be pressed. As amateur scribes however were rarely correct either in their barring, or in marking the lengths of the notes, a translator into modern notation requires much patience, as well as knowledge and ingenuity, to decipher and correct the uncertainties of these MSS. In the present instance the work of translation was undertaken by George Farquhar Graham, whose witness for the task is sufficiently shown by the article 'Music' which he wrote for the 7th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In 1838 Mr. William Dauney, F.S.A. Scot., urged by his friends and encouraged by the members of the Bannatyne and Maitland Clubs, published the translation in 4to with a very learned preliminary dissertation on the music of Scotland, and an appendix by Finlay Dun containing an analysis of the structure of Scotish music. [See Dauney, vol. i. p. 431b.]

The MS. contains 115 airs; of these 85 were published, 11 were found to be duplicates, and the rest were rejected as being either unintelligible or uninteresting. The airs of Scotish origin appear to be about 45, of which 25 were previously unknown. Many of the latter are no doubt sufficiently commonplace in style, but a few are really fine melodies worthy of a place in our present collections, and worthy of the attention of rising poets. In some instances the airs are in a simple unadorned vocal state, a few being even pentatonic; of which Lady Rothiemay's Lilt, Lady Laudian's Lilt, and the first part of 'Kilt your coat, Maggie,' may be named as examples. In most cases the first half strain of the air is simple, the repetition more florid; this is frequently followed by variations—or divisions as they were then called—consisting of scale and other passages well fitted to show the dexterity of the player. Like many other Scotish tunes, a considerable number of the airs take some trouble to avoid the key-note as a close. [See Scotish Music, p. 446.] They have also that almost invariable characteristic of Scotish melody, the occurrence of phrases constructed on the harmony of the subdominant—the fourth of the scale; while in the national airs of most other countries a preference is given to phrases on the dominant—the fifth of the scale; both of course being subordinate to phrases on the tonic, usually the most numerous in popular music. The occurrence of the subdominant harmony is the more singular when we consider that the fourth is one of the sounds often omitted in Scotish music. The explanation seems to be that the sixth is of frequent use as an emphatic note, and though sometimes it has to be treated as the relative minor, more frequently it is accompanied as the third of the subdominant.

The fact of so many duplicates being found in the MS. has caused the remark to be made that the seven parts must have belonged to different individuals. Nothing can be inferred as to the date of either part. Part III. however differs from the others in certain respects, and not improbably belonged to some other member of the family. It is written for a lute tuned CFADG. all the others being for a lute tuned ADADA. The only air that is said to bring the MS. down to a later date than has been claimed for it (1635) occurs in Part VI. and is named 'Peggie is ouer the sie with the souldier.' This is the tune of an English ballad included in the catalogue issued by Thackeray in 1689. There is a copy of the ballad, printed about 1655, in the Euing collection of Glasgow University, and a still earlier copy in the Roxburgh Ballads; and we learn from Mr. Chappell's list of the publishers of black-letter ballads that its date is from 1620 to 1629, both prior to the date claimed for the MS. The simple Skene versions of some of our old melodies, two of which have already been given in this work, show how little we really know of the early forms of our airs. [See Scotish Music 441b, 445b, 446a.] The discovery in this MS. of these and of some other tunes, otherwise unknown until the middle of the following century, proves that first appearance in print is no guide whatever to actual age. The appearance also in it of so many as 25 previously unknown airs leads to the belief that the loss of ancient melodies may have been as great even as that of songs, in regard to which Ritson, in a letter to George Paton, after enumerating about 120, adds that he believes he has the names of as many more, none of which he had ever been able to recover. Several of the parts of the Skene MS. contain airs which date themselves; such as Ostend (taken 1604); Prince Henry's masque (1610); Lady Elizabeth's masque (1613).

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List of the 115 tunes contained in the seven parts of the Skene MS.

The first row of figures shows the order in which they appear in the original; the second is that of Mr. Dauney's volume. The asterisks point out the duplicates, and the figures after the names show their place in the MS. The omitted tunes are marked by daggers. The double dagger in the first line of figures between 29 and 30 shows the place of a tune omitted in Mr. Dauney's list.

PART I. (24 leaves.)
1.	38.	Male Simme.
2.	40.	Doun in yon banks.
3.	76.	O Sillie soule alace.
4.	10.	Long ere onie old man.
5.	63.	The Spanishe Ladie.
6.	8.	My dearest sueate is fardest fra me.
7.	41.	I long for your verginitie.*48.
8.	†	Hutcheson's Galziard.
9.	69.	Pitt in an inche and mair of it.
10.	†	A French volt.
11.	69.	Lady Elizabeth's Maske.
12.	47.	Kette Bairdie.
13.	85.	Trumpeters Currand.*50.
14.	60.	Joy to the persone.
15.	68.	Comedians maske.
16.	42.	Aderneis Lilt.
17.	78.	Sommersetts Maske.
18.	36.	John Devesonnes pint of wine.
19.	†	Horreis Galziard.*45.
20.	64.	Froggis Galziard.
21.	22.	I cannot liue and want thee.
22.	20.	I mett her in the medowe.
23.	9.	Prettie weil begunn man.
24.	67.	Prince Henreis Maske.Finis quod Skine.
PART II. (8 leaves.)
25.	†	Lady wilt thou love me.(Fragment.)
26.	37.	The lass o Glasgowe.
27.	25.	Shoe looks as shoe wold lett me.
28.	1.	Alace yat I came owr the moor and left my love behind me.*42.
29.	34.	Bone Jeane makis meikill of me.
‡	27.	Let never crueltie dishonour bewtie.
30.	17.	My love she winns not her away.
31.	18.	Jennet drinks no water.
PART III. (12 leaves.)
32.	84.	A Frenche.
33.	*	Scerdustis.66.
34.	*	My Ladie Rothemayes Lilt.96.
35.	21.	Blue breiks.
36.	†	Aberdeins Currand.
37.	*	Scullione.83.
38.	15.	My Ladie Laudians Lilt.*84.
39.	35.	Lesleis Lilt.
40.	29.	The Keiking Glasse.
41.	3.	To dance about the Bailzeis dubb.
42.	*	I left my love behind me.28.
43.	12.	Alace this night yat we suld sinder.
44.	68.	Pitt on your shirt (mail) on Monday.*65.
45.	†	Horreis Galziard.*19 (both omitted).
46.	23.	I dowe not qunne (when) cold.
47.	33.	My mistres blush is bonie.
48.	*	I long for her verginitie.7.
49.	†	A Saraband.
50.	*	Trumpeters Currant (anonymous).13.
PART IV. (12 leaves.)
51.	70.	What if a day.
52.	77.	Floodis of tears.
53.	66.	Nightingale.
54.	74.	The willow trie.
55.	55.	Marie me marie me quoth the bonie last.
56.	†	My Lord Haye's Currand.
57.	†	Jeane is best of onie.
58.	72.	What high offences hes my fair love taken.
59.	†	Alman Nicholas.
60.	54.	Currand Royal (Sir John Hopes Currand).
61.	46.	Hunter's Carrier.
62.	6.	Blue ribbenn at the bound rod.
63.	49.	I serue a worthie ladie.
PART V. (22 leaves.)
64.	80.	Canaries.
65.	*	Pitt on your shirt (mail) on Monday.44.
66.	71.	Scerdustis.*33.
67.	50.	She mowpit it coming owr the lie.
68.	24.	Adew Dundie.
69.	31.	Thrie sheips skinns.
70.	66.	Chrichtons gud nicht.
71.	28.	Alace I lie my alon I am lik to die awld.
72.	*	I love for love again.98.
73.	73.	Sincopas (Cinque-pace).
74.	56.	Almane Delorne.
75.	51.	Who learned you to dance and a towdle?
76.	19.	Remember me at eveninge.
77.	†	Love is a labour in vaine.
78.	26.	I dare not vowe I love thee.
79.	†	My Lord Dingwalls Currand.
80.	83.	Brangill of Poictu.
81.	53.	Pantalone.
82.	57.	Ane Almane Moreiss.
83.	81.	Scullione.*37.
84.	*	My Ladie Laudians Lilt.
85.	†	Queins Currand.
PART VI. (10 leaves.)
86.	61.	Then wilt thou goe and leave me her.
87.	48.	I will not goe to my bed till I suld die.
88.	13.	The Flowres of the Forest.
89.	82.	The fourth measur of the Buffins.
90.	39.	Shackle of Hay.
91.	62.	Com love lett us walk into the Springe.
92.	45.	Sa merrie as we have bein.
93.	11.	Kilt thy coat Magge, cilt thy coat ti.
94.	75.	Shipeherd saw thou not.
95.	2.	Peggie is ouer ye sie wi ye souldier.
96.	4.	Ladye Rothemayes Lilt.*34.
97.	52.	Omnia vincit amor.
98.	5.	I love my love for love again.*72.
99.	14.	Ostend.
100.	†	Sir John Moresons Currant.
101	†	Preludium.
PART VII. (14 leaves.)
102.	†	Exercises.
103.	44.	Gilcreichs Lilt.
104.	43.	Blew cappe.
105.	30.	Lady Cassills Lilt.
106.	*	Blew Breiks.35.
107.	32.	Post Ballangowne.
108.	7.	John Andersonne my Jo.
109.	16.	Good night and God be with you.
110.	†	A Sarabande.
111.	†	Lik as the dum Solsequium.
112.	†	Come sueat love lett sorrow cease.
113.	79.	Veze Setta.
114.	†	A Sarabande.

[ J. M. W. ]