These are four of the recordings featured in our exhibition 'Scots Music Abroad'. All the tracks are quite 'crackly', due to the age of the original recordings.
'Jessie, the flower o' Dunblane'
A recording from the early 1900s on wax cylinder featuring Australian soprano Marie Narelle. Scottish ballads were one of her specialities. 'Jessie, the flower o' Dunblane' is a song by Robert Tannahill, with music composed by his friend R A Smith. Playing time: 3.49 minutes. Track starts at 7 seconds.
Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony
An early recording of the opening movement of Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony inspired by his visit to Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, on 30 July 1829. He wrote; 'I believe I found today in that old chapel the beginning of my Scotch Symphony.' Playing time: 2.03 minutes.
'Gu Ma Slan Do Na Fearaibh'
Two early recordings on shellac record (78 rpm) by Kenneth Macrae. Macrae was born in the USA to Scottish immigrants who returned to Scotland with him when he was a young child. In Scotland he became a successful musician. He won the Mod Junior Gold Medal in 1903 in Inverness and the Mod Gold Medal in 1920 in Oban. 'Gu Ma Slan Do Na Fearaibh' playing time: 2.45 minutes. 'Lament of Glencoe' playing time: 2.40 minutes.
Gu Ma Slan Do Na Fearaibh