Sheet Music: The Ruffian's Rant

TitleThe Ruffian's Rant
Alternate titlesLady Frances Wemys' Reel
ComposerTraditional Scottish
InstrumentationFlute solo
KeyD major
RangeD4–B5
Time signature4/4
Tempo112 BPM
Performance time1:45
Difficulty levelintermediate
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (56 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (839 kB)
Date added2018-10-20
Last updated2018-10-20
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 0.2 (relatively unpopular)
Categories
Celtic Music, Strathspeys, Traditional/Folk

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Saturday 20 October 2018

Tune of the Day: The Ruffian's Rant

Traditional Scottish strathspey

The composition of this melody has been credited to Scottish fiddler and music publisher Robert Bremner (c. 1713–1789), who printed the first collections of specifically Scottish dance music between 1757 and 1761. The tune had previously appeared under the title “Lady Frances Wemys' Reel” in London publisher John Walsh's 24 Country Dances for the Year 1742.

Set as an air, the melody was used by Robert Burns for his song “Theniel Menzies' Bonie Mary”. Burns must have liked the tune, for his song “In Commin' by the Brig o' Dye” in The Caledonian Museum (1770) and three songs in his Merry Muses of Caledonia (published after his death, in 1800) were directed to be sung to it.