Tune Information

Tune Information

Although often considered Irish, perhaps because it is about a potato, this tune was actually composed by Nova Scotia fiddler Colin J. Boyd. The tune was written in Boston between 1911 and 1916, while the composer was studying music there. It was based on an old Scottish jig that reached the author via Cape Breton.

Tune Information

The author was a famous Shetland fiddler in the 18th and early 19th century, and used to play this tune every Christmas morning in the hall of his laird, the Laird of Buness. Shetland fiddler, collector, and teacher Tom Anderson (1910–1991) stated that Friedemann had composed the tune on the road from his croft (tenant farm) at Burrafirth to Buness. He also remembered that Stickle was called 'Stumpie' because he walked with a limp, and thought it possible that the tune's rhythm reflects the rhythm of Stickle's walk. According to Cambridge NY fiddler and flutist Bliss McIntosh, who studied in the Shetland Islands in the summer of 1974, Friedemann would receive a free year's rent for his croft in return for being selected to play this tune; there were other similar cases as well, where fiddlers earned free rent by being selected to play a tune at Christmas.