Captain Hugh Montomerie's Music Book of 1763

An antique travel chest, adorned with ornate brass fittings and aged with the patina of centuries, stands tall in a cozy, dimly lit room. The chest sits adjacent to a wall with peeling wallpaper, hinting at the passage of time and the storied journeys it has witnessed. Upon its sturdy lid, a well-worn 18th-century sheet music book lies open, its pages yellowed and brittle with age, revealing a complex musical score that whispers of bygone eras. 

 

Throughout history, British Army officers often traveled with personal violins and cellos and passed the time with evenings of treating their fellow battalion-mates to their favorite musically delightful scores. (Jeffrey Campbell, Scores, 2024. Artist's rendition created with Perchance AI Image Generator)

Captain Hugh Montomerie's Music Book of 1763

Captain Hugh Montgomerie (1739-1819), later 12th Earl of Eglington - s/o Alexander Montgomerie 4th of Coilsfield & Lillias Montgomery of Skelmorlie, was initially gazetted a lieutenant on July 21, 1757, in one of the three Additional Companies of the 77th Foot, the sister battalion of Fraser's Highlanders. Hugh fought at Fort Duquesne [Pittsburgh] in 1758, participated in the capture of Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point in 1759, and distinguished himself as a light infantry officer during the 1760 Cherokee campaign in South Carolina.  

He served in one of the 77th composite companies at the recapture of St John's, Newfoundland, under Colonel William Amherst in August 1762.  He appears to have been promoted captain in the 78th Foot retroactive to June 2, 1762 [Army lists], for he was still listed as a lieutenant in the 77th Foot on William Amherst's list of officers who participated in the recapture of St John's two months later.  

Hugh was in command of a company when the regiment was disbanded in 1763; went on half-pay as Captain in the 78th until 1767, when he returned to active service as a captain in the 2nd/1st Foot (Royal Scots), his new commission dated February 3, 1767 [NAS GD3/9/111].  He retired on January 27, 1776.  

During the American Revolution, he returned to military service on the home front as first major to the Argyll (Western) Fencibles and was painted in that regiment's uniform in 1780 by John Singleton Copley.  Hugh was MP for Ayrshire from 1784 to 1789 and again in 1795.  In 1796, at the age of 57, he succeeded his cousin Archie to become the 12th Earl of Eglinton and moved from the House of Commons to the House of Lords.  He died in 1819. [Clan Fraser Society, Toronto].

Eglington had cultivated tastes, being specifically fond of music, and, as an amateur cellist performing on the violoncello, he was the composer of several popular airs, including 'Lady Montgomerie's Lament' and 'Ayrshire Lasses,' both likely tributes to his mother. [Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22 for Hugh Montgomerie, pp. 754-55].

Music Book Description

Purchased in 1978 by the National Library of Scotland, the book contains mid-eighteenth century handwritten airs on sheet music, with the cover page dated Quebec, 26 March 1763. Original cover and binding; oblong [12" x 9"?]; contains 24 + 44 inverted folios. Leaves have been torn out after folios 21, 22, 23, 28 (inverted), 37 (inverted), and 41 (inverted). 

Some of the book's airs appear in A Collection of Airs and Marches for Two Violins and German Flutes, Some Which Have Basses [London: Printed for and sold by R. Bremner, 1765?], which is part of the Glen Collection, a special collection at the National Library of Scotland containing over 400 volumes of printed music of the 18th and early 19th centuries.

The cover page contains random jottings, both legible and illegible, in various places across the sheet. While some were written in period ink, others appear to be pencil. Coilsfield, a reference to the birthplace of the author's father, is legible in period ink, while faintly jotted adjacent reads, Capt Hugh Montgomerie, and Capt Reed. Penciled and stricken-through is ACC. 5441, probably representing an outdated archival reference, and Mauchline, a reference to a town and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland, is also inscribed.

[Cover page]

Captain Hugh Montgumries

of the 78th Regt. 

his Book of Music

Collection of Scots Tunes

wt. Varriations the Slowest & Best Setts by AMar

Quebec the 26 March 

1763

 

Due to inaccurate spellings of many titles throughout the music book, the following corrected titles are provided. While some tunes are composed utilizing only the treble clef, others are composed with the treble and bass clefs, with specific notations for the piano and violin spread throughout various airs.

We wish to extend our sincerest appreciation and gratitude to Mr. Munro Gauld for his contributions to deciphering the handwriting in some of these early Scottish titles. His assistance has proven most valuable.

1.  The Duke of Holstein's March  

2.  Miss Hays Minuet  

3.  Britons, Strike Home  

4.  Felton Minuet with Variations  

5.  The Shetchers March  

6.  Prince Eugene's March  

7.  Miss Munro's Minuet  

8.  March  

9.  The Duchess of Hamilton's Minuet  

10. The Horse Grenadier's March  

11.  A Minuet  

12.  Lord Loudoun's March  

13.  The Swabb Minuet  

14.  The King of Prussia's March  

15.  Miss Gunning's Minuet  

16.  General Keith's March  

17.  Strasbourg Minuet  

18.  Balance of Straus a March  

19.  A March in Rinaldo, by Mr. Handel  

20.  A Minuet  

21.  General George Otway's March  

22.  Colonel Reid's Minuet  

23.  Admiral Vernon's March  

24.  Miss Bowls' Minuet  

25.  Hessian March  

26.  Colonel Reid's Minuet  

27.  Capt. Inches March  

28.  Lady McIntosh's Minuet  

29.  A March  

30.  Minuet  

31.  March  

32.  Minuet  

33.  The Royals March  

34.  Minuet  

35.  Thomas Falconner’s Rant  

36.  Jackson's Mistake  

37.  Follow Her Over the Border  

38.  Red James  

39.  Red James  

40.  Thou art gone away  

41.  Duchess of Devonshire's March  

42.  Canzonell  

43.  How Sweet in the Woodlands  

44.  Pastorale Andantino  

45.  Right Honorable Lord Torphichen's March  

46.  Miss Lillas Montgomerie Skelmories Strathspey, by Capt. Logan  

47.  Allegro Maestroso  

48.  Capt. Baillie's Quick March  

49.  Capt. Baillie's March, South Fencibles  

50.  Lord Banff’s Strathopy  

51.  Miss Montgomerie of Skelmorlies Strathspey, by Niel Gow  

52.  The [illegible]  

53.  Lumps of Puddings  

54.  Cabber Fea  

55.  Barick Jonie 

56.  Illegible  

57.  Captain Montgomerie's Call  

58.  Atholl Braes  

59.  Up in the air

60.  Cammeroning's Rant  

61.  Cameron's Strathspey  

62.  Sir John Cathcart's Reel

63.  Aaron’s Gigg  

64.  Linock love to blanter

65.  Jockey Has Gotten a Wife

66.  If ever I marry I'll marry alright

67.  Miss Christie's Reel

68.  Happy Pair. Sett by W. Handel

69.  Will Come Back Again

70.  Miss Carmichael's Reel

71.  Miss Carmichael's Minuet

72.  The Three Merry Dancers

73.  Lady Nelly Weems Reel

74.  The Crickets

75.  Portobello

76.  Lucy's Delight

77.  The Highlandman Kiss'd his Mother

78.  A Bonney Lass to Merry One 

78.  Sweet Molly

80.  The -orchts Reel

81.  Willie was a Wanton Wag 

82.  Duncan Gray 

83.  The East Nooke O' Fife with Variations 

84.  Doun the burn Davie 

85.  There's Three Good Fellows ayont yon Glen 

86.  Aloway House, by AM Arthur / A. McArthur?

87.  I Love my love in Secret with Variations

88.  Up in the Morning Early

89.  When She Came, ben She bobbed 

90.  The Soldier's Lady

Notes:

Cover page: AMar is possibly an abbreviation for A. McArthur. See tune #86.

39.  Perhaps a continuation of #38.

44.  Probably Andantino Pastorale.

46.  Lillas Montgomerie, the captain's mother.

47.  Probably not the title, but rather a direction of movement within the piece.

52.  Illegible

54.  Caber Fea (Caber Feidh).

55.  Berwick Johnnie.

56.  Illegible

64.  Lennox love to Blantyre.

80.  First letter illegible.

86.  Alloway House; possibly A. McArthur (Allen or Alexander), a soldier in the 78th Foot.

Sources:

Music book, dated Quebec 26 March 1763, of Captain Hugh Montgomerie of the 78th Foot (later 12th Earl of Eglinten), containing various Scottish dance tunes and marches. National Library of Scotland, Library Archives and Manuscripts collection, MS.21750.

Alex. Whitelaw, The Book of Scottish Song; Collected and Illustrated with Historical and Critical Notices. (London, 1843.)

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2022.

Last updated 26 May 2022.