Captain Robert Riddell (1755–1794), Laird of Friar's Carse, near

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

. A friend of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

, who made him a collection of his poems which later became famous, and wrote a poem 'Sonnet On The Death Of Robert Riddell' in memory of him when he died.

The Glenriddell Manuscripts

The

Glenriddell Manuscripts The ''Glenriddell Manuscripts'' is an extensive collection written in holograph by Robert Burns and an amanuensis of his letters, poems and a few songs in two volumes produced for his then friend Captain Robert Riddell, Laird of what is now Fr ...

, an important autograph text of two volumes, one containing more than 50 poems, and the other 27 letters by Burns, were written for Riddell between 1791 and 1793. The poet's friendship with the Riddell family ended suddenly in December 1793 as the result of a mysterious drunken incident at

Friars Carse Friars' Carse is a mansion house and estate situated (NX 926 850) southeast of Auldgirth on the main road (A76) to Dumfries, Parish of Dunscore, Scotland. The property is located on the west bank of the River Nith and is known for its strong a ...

, the estate owned by Riddell in

Nithsdale Nithsdale (''Srath Nid'' in Scottish Gaelic), also known as Strathnith, Stranith or Stranit, is the strath or dale of the River Nith in southern Scotland. Nithsdale was one of the medieval provinces of Scotland. The provinces gradually lost th ...

. Burns asked successfully for the return of the poetry volume which had already been given to Riddell; the second had not been complete

The

are now in the possession of the National Library of Scotland.

The Interleaved Scots Musical Museum

Robert Burns produced the Robert Burns's Interleaved Scots Musical Museum, Interleaved Scots Musical Museum for Robert Riddell, consisting of four volumes of

James Johnson James Johnson may refer to: Artists, actors, authors, and musicians *James Austin Johnson (born 1989), American comedian & actor, ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member *James B. Johnson (born 1944), author of science nonfiction novels *James P. John ...

collection of Scots songs with his personal notes added.

A Collection of Scotch Galwegian and Border Tunes

Riddell was the author of "A Collection of Scotch, Galwegian and Border Tunes",A Collection of Scotch, Galwegian and Border Tunes, Edinburgh, 1794. Digitised at http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/musicfiles/manuscripts/riddell/ a collection of music mostly from the western Border country, which was published posthumously. While the title page describes the music as "for the violin and pianoforte", many of the tunes have the characteristic idiom, 9-note range and mixolydian mode of music for the

Border pipes The border pipes are a type of bagpipe related to the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe. It is perhaps confusable with the Scottish smallpipe, although it is a quite different and much older instrument. Although most modern Border pipes are closely ...

, and is a very late source for the music of this instrument. Riddell points out that 'the tunes were collected in various parts of Scotland, and on the Borders ... and chiefly wrote from performers, who could not write or read music'. There are significant parallels between several of the tunes, and those in the

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

collection of music for

Northumbrian smallpipes The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from North East England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of N ...

. Some of his variants differ principally in the title, so Peacock's "I saw my love come passing by me" appears here with minor changes as "The Drunken Wives of Carlisle". Other variants are much more distinct - Riddell's variation set on "Cut and Dry Dolly" is very different from Peacock's, though they do have material in common. Some minor differences are significant - Peacock's "Johnnie stays long at the Fair", and Riddell's "Willie stays lang at the Fair" are melodically very similar, but Peacock's version is an adaptation to Northumbrian pipes, while Riddell's makes more sense on Border pipes. Comparison of the two suggests that Peacock adapted a tune from Border pipes to Northumbrian pipes, making some melodic changes to fit the instrument.

References

External links

*
National Burns Collection - Robert Riddell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riddell, Robert 1755 births 1794 deaths 18th-century Scottish people

The Glenriddell Manuscripts

The Interleaved Scots Musical Museum

A Collection of Scotch Galwegian and Border Tunes

See also

References

External links