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.