This is a scan of a reel from John Anderson's 2nd Collection, 1793. It has the feel of a pipe tune but adds twists and modality that likely originated on the fiddle.

Many theorize that during the 18th and 19th centuries Scottish fiddlers would have played in a style more akin to our older Cape Breton ear musicians - especially during those bygone days when many musicians played both fiddle and pipes. I have never heard The Small Reel played, nevertheless it's one that could easily appeal to Cape Breton or Scottish players.

From Nigel Jelks I learned that the tune is played in contemporay Scotland, and that it was first published in a pipe setting as Sir J. M. MacKenzie's Reel (Angus MacKay, c. 1844) and that later, in David Glen's Vol 5 (c. 1889), it appeared with an alternate title The Dogs Devoured the Pedlar. In both The Athole Collection, 1884 and The Skye. 1887, the title used was Dogs Bite Chapman.

Note both pipe settings don't use C naturals - inflections that in my mind make the tune.

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last update 6/5/14