Gavin Greig (1856–1914) was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
folksong
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...
collector,
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
,
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...
and
teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
.
He edited
James Scott Skinner
James Scott Skinner (5 August 1843 – 17 March 1927) was a Scottish dancing master, violinist, fiddler and composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential fiddlers in Scottish traditional music, and was known as "the Strathspey K ...
's biggest collection of music, ''The Harp and Claymore Collection'', providing harmonies for Skinner's compositions, and he was jointly responsible for compiling
The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection from northeast Scotland, was the work of the schoolmaster and musician, Gavin Greig (1856–1914), and the minister James Bruce Duncan (1848-1917). The project began in 1902 and was completed between then and t ...
, with the Rev J.B. Duncan (1848–1917). A selection from this collection of over 3,000 songs and tunes was published in 1925. Two volumes were published in 1981-1982, but the full collection, in eight volumes, was only finally published between 1981 and 2002.
He was also the author of the
Doric Scots
Doric, the popular name for Mid Northern Scots or Northeast Scots, refers to the Scots language as spoken in the northeast of Scotland. There is an extensive body of literature, mostly poetry, ballads, and songs, written in Doric. In some liter ...
play ''Mains Wooin, which was very popular in the
North East
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. His novels include ''Morrison Gray: or, Life in a
Buchan
Buchan is an area of north-east Scotland, historically one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by th ...
Schoolhouse'' serialised in the ''
Peterhead
Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census ...
Sentinel'' between May 1896 and January 1897, ''The Hermit o'
Gight'' serialised in the ''
Buchan Observer'' between 1898 and 1899. and the
historical romance
Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Walter Scott helped popularize in the early 19th century.
Varieties Viking
These books feature Vikings during the D ...
''Logie o' Buchan'' published in
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...
in 1899.
[Donaldson, William (1984), ''Gavin Greig and Popular Fiction in ]Victorian Scotland
Scotland in the modern era, from the end of the Jacobite risings and beginnings of industrialisation in the 18th century to the present day, has played a major part in the economic, military and political history of the United Kingdom, British ...
'', in Parker, Geoff (ed.), ''Cencrastus
''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, Un ...
'' No. 18, Autumn 1984, pp. 20 - 22,
Greig was related to
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 ha ...
on his mother's side and to
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...
on his father's side.
References
Further reading
* Donaldson, William (1984), ''Gavin Greig and Popular Fiction in Victorian Scotland'', in Parker, Geoff (ed.), ''
Cencrastus
''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, Un ...
'' No. 18, Autumn 1984, pp. 20 - 22,
* Shuldham-Shaw, Patrick (1973), ''The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Manuscripts'', in Maisels, Chic K. (ed.), ''Folk Song and the Folk Tradition'',
Festival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...
issue of the ''
New Edinburgh Review'', August 73, pp. 3 - 5
Scottish writers about music
Scottish dramatists and playwrights
Scottish music historians
1856 births
1914 deaths
People from Aberdeenshire
Scottish folk-song collectors
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
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