Dedicated to the Memory of Ninian, 25th Brodie, who, alas, passed away before the Catalogue of Music at Brodie was complete.
Brodie Castle stands just off the main road between Forres and Nairn on the Moray Firth. Though there are reputedly references to the lands of Brodie given by King Malcolm around 1160, the origins of the family Brodie are not entirely clear. However, amongst the extensive muniments still housed at the Castle, some documents have survived from medieval times. One, from King Robert the Bruce 'saluting' the Sheriff and his Bailies of Forres, was sealed in Elgin 29th June 1311, the sixth year of his reign. It was written 'to compel those who enjoy the revenues of our Thanages of Dyke and Brodie to repair and justly and without delay the pond of the mill of Forres'. In the following century, another document, from May 23rd 1456, concerns an agreement between John, prior of Pluscarden and John Brothy, thane, about the mill of Grangegreine assigning the 'multures' (i.e. tolls or fees for grinding corn) 'and sequels thereof to the prior'.
The original Brodie House was built by the 12th Brodie of Brodie in 1567. The 15th Brodie signed the National Covenant in the seventeenth century and the Castle itself was partly built in 1645 by the Lords Gordon and Huntly but nearly all early records seem to have been destroyed from this period. Concerning the Barony of Brodie, there is a Charter of the Great Seal in favour of Alexander Brodie, dated 8th July 1646.
Alexander, 19th Brodie of Brodie, 1697-1754, MP for Morayshire until 1741, and for Inverness burghs from 1747 to 1753, was made Lyon King of Arms under the Great Seal in 1727. He was succeeded by his son Alexander, 20th Brodie of Brodie, who died from consumption in 1759, aged 18. The succession then passed to an indirect line of the family, James Brodie of Spynie, an advocate since 1753, who therefore became the 21st Brodie of Brodie. He was born in 1744 and died only in 1824 – a considerable life span, especially for those days. James appears to have been an interesting man, eloping with Lady Margaret Duff, the first daughter of the Earl of Fife. He was also a member of the Royal Company of Archers from 1777. In 1784 he was given the freedom of the Burgh of Tain and was subsequently made Sheriff of Nairn, in 1794. Three years later he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1799 given a Burgess ticket for Aberdeen. He became the Provincial Grand Master of Inverness-shire in 1801 and Master of Works in Scotland in 1809.
During the tenure of Alexander, the Lord Lyon, and 19th Brodie, debts were incurred of more than £18,000 by the time of his death in 1754. For many years in mid century, the Estate was administered by his daughter, Lady Emilia, who married John McLeod (Marriage Contract, February 1768). When James, 21st Brodie, acquired the House, there was such friction that in August 1761 he raised a Summons against her. In April 1770, opinion was given by Robert McQueen and Cosmo Gordon as to the ranking and sale of Brodie. An agreement was drawn up between James Brodie and the Earl of Fife for the purchase of Brodie at Judicial Sale in July 1774. James' brother-in-law appears to have gifted it back to the seller. However, matters were not entirely straightforward as there was a dispute leading to legal advice in 1779.
Lady Brodie (née Margaret Duff) died in a tragic fire in 1786, as is testified in a moving letter by a servant who discovered her mistress on the floor of her bedroom with her clothes alight. We know a little of the five children. James studied mathematics and other classes 1784/5 and there is a document dated 2nd April 1787 from J. Beattie, Professor of Moral Philosophy at Marischal College, University of Aberdeen, stating that he 'had studied under him and acquitted himself satisfactorily'. A few years later we read of James receiving a commission as an ensign to the 2nd or Queen's Regiment in 1792. He went to Jamaica as collector of Customs, and while there became involved with recording accounts of the weather and the currents of the sea. James (the younger) went to India, married, and died in a boating accident there in 1801/02. George died in 1868, and William lived in Portugal and was engaged with the wine trade. There was also a daughter, Jane Anne Catherine.
The Music at Brodie CastleThe music of Brodie Castle comes from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The collection seems to have been started in the time of James, the 21st Brodie (1744-1824), and was continued by their daughter Jane Anne Catherine (see below). This was a period of great financial instability, and quite how the music has remained at Brodie in the difficult times, then and since, seems nothing short of a miracle. We do not know whether what remains is the complete collection or whether some volumes were sold off to help in the various financial crises.
The collection of thirty volumes of music is of considerable interest. There are seven bound volumes of 'The works of Handel in score, correct, uniform, and complete. Consisting of his oratorios, operas, duets, anthems, concertos, lessons, Te Deums, trios, fugues, etc., elegantly engraved, on large folio plates, under the immediate direction and inspection of Dr. Arnold, organist and composer to His Majesty' – printed for the Editor and sold by Longman and Co. 1787-97. However, there are more works here than indicated by these seven volumes, as several of the original 180 instalments are bound together. Oratorios – Hercules, The Choice of Hercules, The Occasional Oratorio and Samson; an opera – Alcide; two volumes of the complete Chandos Anthems and An Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne from 1713 are present; and there are also two sets of early Trio Sonatas, the celebrated Water Music and Music for The Royal Fireworks, and music for The Alchymist. As the title page indicates, these volumes are all in full score.
There are eight volumes of catches, canons and glees selected by Thomas Warren, in volumes published between 1763 and 1773 by Welcker, and Longman & Broderip. After the first two volumes the rest are 'Most humbly inscribed to the Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Catch Club' at either St. Alban's Tavern or the Thatch'd House Tavern, St. James'. These are rare collections of a wide range of vocal music, as the title indicates, ranging from the odd motet from the Tudor period as, for example, Miserere nostri Domine by Byrd, to settings of scatological texts concerned with drinking, loving and dying. Several of these pieces won prize medals, and amongst the composers are many of the most accomplished of the period. It was fashionable for gentlemen's clubs to sing such songs, many of which are constructed with ingenuity and considerable skill – even minor masterpieces in their own right. Others are written for frank enjoyment of life and leave little to the imagination. The original plain grey covers are still intact around these volumes. These volumes are not unique but other collections do not appear to have some of the later items that are in Brodie.
Also from the eighteenth century, there are twelve pieces for the theatre: either opera, comic opera or musical drama. There are two examples of the genre Burletta, that is, compact works with an unsophisticated text set to tuneful music for a limited number of singers who probably joined together to form whatever chorus was needed. Whereas some of these items are extended pieces in three acts, many are more modest and would most probably have been performed between the acts of a larger evening's entertainment, such as a play. Burlettas were particularly associated with the London theatre. But there are several rarities, including one which rejoices in the title of Buxom Joan, with music by Raynor Taylor, a composer from Chelmsford who emigrated to USA. Only one other recorded copy of this work exists – in the Wighton Collection in Dundee. Rather like the Catches volumes, there is an open, unbuttoned quality about these entr'actes, with their lively rhythms and tuneful arias. The Beggars Opera, and The Gentle Shepherd are present – as one might expect, given the popularity of these works. These volumes take the form of vocal scores which sometimes have instruments identified in the keyboard parts.
There are several more extended pieces popular from the second half of the eighteenth century which include Arne's Artaxerxes, and many contain numbers composed by many composers, including The Deserter – a musical drama, variously composed by Monsigny, Philidor, Dibdin, and perhaps others as well – and The Golden Pippin, with the overture by J. A. Fischer and other music 'by the most celebrated masters' arranged by K. O'Hara. The Maid of the Mill, of around 1765, was a popular Comic Opera, with items by as many as 25 composers, drawn from Italy, Germany and England. The copy of the Comic Opera Midas – a classical extravaganza and a parody of Italian opera first produced at Covent Garden in 1764 – is interesting for the many inked-in cues, extra repeats and other marks, suggesting that this copy was probably used for some sort of performances. The Duenna, by the Thomas Linleys, Senior and Junior, is bound in the same volume as the songs in The Deserter. There are two small oblong volumes of the main musical items of works arranged for guitar or flute, comprising The Beggars Opera (John Gay), The Gentle Shepherd (music composed and arranged by T. Linley), Love in a Village (twelve varied composers) and Artaxerxes (Thomas Arne), as well as the songs in The Padlock (Dibdin), The Deserter (Monsigny, Philidor and Dibdin), The Sylphs (J. A. Fischer), The Golden Pippin and The Institution of the Garter (Dibdin). These arrangements, from the late 1750s to 1775, remind us of how popular a domestic instrument the guitar was. The presence of so many staged works gives this collection at Brodie a distinctive character, marking it out from musical holdings at other properties in the North East.
There are two volumes of Scottish tunes by Neil Gow and his second son Nathaniel – two fiddlers who did much to establish Scottish music, both inside and outside Scotland. These two books in the Brodie collection are interesting because they contain a large number of Scottish tunes, both the four volumes of The Complete Repository of Original Scots Tunes, and the five volumes of Collection of Reels, Strathspeys etc., and several much smaller and independent pieces. These are 'classic' sources of Scottish fiddle music, not only containing pieces written by both the Gows, but also tunes which they collected and printed in these volumes, thus giving more of a sense of permanence to what was – and still is today – an aural tradition. On the outside of the volumes is written, in ink, 'Ditton Park nos.4 and 5', suggesting that these volumes might have been part of a bigger collection. Ditton Park, a large country house, originating in medieval times, was basically rebuilt in the eighteenth century, and was a mile to the east of Windsor Castle. It still exists, but is a classified site, having been used for experiments with Ordinance in the First World War. Recent researches in the Broadwood archives by Alastair Laurence on the provenance of the Broadwood square piano at Crathes Castle, has shown that it was hired to Lady Montague of Ditton Park on Monday 7th October 1816 where it remained for three and a half years. Any direct connection with Brodie is no longer evident, but it is interesting to note evidence of both instruments and music at this House. On the inside of the front cover is a signature, which seems to be that of Gow himself. Did Nathaniel Gow teach at Ditton Park at some point when he was making his living in and near London? Did Gow have contact with Brodie during one of Brodie's visits to London, perhaps to attend Parliament? Whatever the reason for the presence of these volumes, although they are by no means unique, it is interesting to find them in the Brodie collection.
Other Scottish music includes two collections of Strathspey Reels by McGlashen and Cummings; there is also a copy of Johnson's Scottish Musical Museum Vol.3. There is a song by James Oswald. There is an intriguing volume of vocal music, which has lost both its cover and title page. This has a subscription list heavily biased towards Scotland and Aberdeen in particular (as also Durham for some reason which is now hard to fathom). It could well be that this is one of the volumes of Domenico Corri's Select Collection of the Most Admired Songs, &c, published around 1797, perhaps in a special edition with an extra introduction and printed with help from local subscribers.
There are several pieces for keyboard by Schroeter (Six lessons), Berg (Twelve Sonatinas Op.4), Edelmann (Six grand lessons op.1), Galuppi (Il Philosofo di Campagna), Hasse (two Pastorellas), Clementi (the 'celebrated octave lesson'), Kotzwara (three sonatas op.38), a Sonatina by Turk and several rondos including one by T. Smith, others anonymous. There is a volume of Mozart from a much later period.
The remaining volumes are given over to songs and other vocal compositions. There is a scattering of Italian songs by Giordani (the inimitable 'Caro mio ben'), Cipolla (Six Canzonets Op.11), Geminiani, Sacchini, Paisiello ('Ben lo dicea mio Padre') and the apparently inevitable ('Nel cor più non mi sento'). There is a volume of Songs selected from his Oratorios by Handel and several individual songs including 'Oh had I Jubal's Lyre' and 'See the Conqu'ring Hero Comes' (which has a special resonance for a Scottish family living not far from Culloden). The majority of the songs are however set to English words by composers of the late 18th century: by the Arnes – both Thomas and Michael – Hook, Linley, Jackson, Dibdin, Shield, Storace, Boyce and Arnold. Lesser, forgotten composers are also represented, such as Arrowsmith, Billington, Sharp, Reeve, and Moulds.
One particular volume has a special interest. It is a volume of manuscript, with the initials JACB on the outside front cover and 'Katherine Jane Anne Brodie' on the fly sheet at the back, from which we can assume authorship of Jane Anne Catherine Brodie. Though there is a selection of piano pieces, the majority of the volume is devoted to songs, especially ones from the comic opera by William Shield, The Woodman, which was published in 1791. However, there are also songs which are not attributed, such as 'When first I slipp'd my leading strings', 'Then let the World joy as it will' and (perhaps an original composition) 'The Miss Brodie of Brodie's Delight,' the melody of a lively gigue in A Major, 16 bars long. Also included in this volume is a fiddle tune in F Major, 8 bars long, titled Brodie House – 'Composed by the Duke of Gordon'. The volume ends with 'The 24 perfeit Harmonies' – triads and key signatures for all major keys – followed by chants for a Te Deum, a Venite and a Cantate Domino. The ante-penultimate item is 'Brodie House or Miss Brodie's Reel by Mrs. A Brodie' – quite possibly another original composition. These are only compositions that appear to be original works. But it might well be that further original compositions, or at least arrangements, are housed in a box in the archives. Airs and Variations composed and arranged by G.B. might well be by George Brodie.
The Musicians at Brodie CastleThe collection is important because it gives evidence of the sort of music in which the various members of the families who lived at Brodie were interested. Music is present, not because it looks good on the shelves, but because it has been performed, perhaps even studied – in some cases the music has been very well used. The presence of the volumes of Arnold's edition of Handel in score, as opposed to the more usual contemporary keyboard reductions, suggests that the purchaser was, at the very least, well advised in acquiring the best and most accurate texts of these pieces by this most popular composer of the mid eighteenth century. The large number of extracts from The Woodman, written out in manuscript, indicates that this was a particular favourite – perhaps a member of the family had seen it in the theatre? The number of other theatrical pieces supports the idea that stage works were especially favoured. Was Midas given a dramatic presentation, explaining the many inked in cues and other added marks? The books of arrangements for the guitar have been made so that they could be played on one of the most popular domestic instruments of the time. Other music for keyboard and the songs present no surprises. However, the Warren collections of Catches, Canons and Glees, is not the sort of music one might anticipate finding in a respectable country house in Morayshire. It might have been all very well for meetings of gentlemen to let their proverbial hair down, and for the conviviality of the occasion to encourage ever bolder excesses in London at the Thatch'd House Tavern in St James' – the area was a notorious spot for prostitutes and other low life. But for this repertoire to be transported up to Brodie, is more than a little surprising. And it is not as though there was only one token volume.
There is little evidence of original composition, but one or two items suggest that certain family members did try their hand at creating music. Though the lack of Scottish music has been commented on in other similar collections, at Brodie there are volumes by the two most celebrated Scottish fiddle composers of their day – the Gows – and collections by McGlashen and Cummings gives further evidence of interest in traditional Scottish music.
It is intriguing that there is so little reference to music in the archives of the House. There seem to be no invoices for supplying instruments, no piano tuners' bills, no accounts for purchase of music, no programmes of concerts or operas attended. There are two pianos: a Blüthner grand piano with the maker's catalogue number 31850, suggesting a date of manufacture of around 1890; there is a square piano, possibly by Andrew Rochhead, built in Edinburgh, and dating from around 1820 – this is kept in the drawing room of the Laird's wing. The purchase of so much music in London might suggest that there might have been some sort of house there, but again, I have found no evidence. The various members of the family that were MPs would have spent considerable time in the capital and perhaps that is the explanation for lack of suitable evidence in the Brodie archives?
Few items are unique to the collection, but the balance of the whole tells us something of what appealed to the family members. It is interesting to draw a parallel with the music collection at Drum Castle, where most of the music was gathered during one Laird's long life – an almost direct contemporary with Brodie 21st. The historical spread of the music is not wide, the earliest items being by Handel and the last coming from the early years of the nineteenth century. But the range of music represented reflects a broad taste, ranging from minor Burlettas and Pasticcios, through major Oratorios and Anthems, through solo piano pieces and sonatas with accompaniments for other instruments, to simple ballads and operatic arias, to bawdy songs. The mixture of music represented here is characteristic of what was presented at the various Pleasure Gardens in London, such as Vauxhall, Ranelagh or Marylebone. Was it here that the family members first heard this music? This might explain the lack of any surviving programmes, common at the theatre – at least some of which we might have expected to have survived. Perhaps when the considerable archives of Brodie are read through in detail, more might be revealed about the musical experiences of the family.
As it is, this collection adds another part of the jigsaw of music and music-making that went on in the north east of Scotland in the last few decades of the eighteenth and just into the nineteenth centuries. When this material is added to what has survived elsewhere, we glimpse something of the importance of music to the landed families in this region. More than the fine architecture of the house itself, and the collection of books in the library, the music tells us something of the character of the people who performed and those who listened – a something we cannot get from any other source. This music gives us a window on the inner world of the Brodies of Brodie.
Acknowledgements
I am most grateful to Ninian, 25th Brodie, who first asked me to look at the music of the Castle and to Christopher Hartley who brought the music to me. Without these none of what is here would have happened. I am grateful to the National Trust for Scotland, for the help of Ian Ritchie, encouragement of Robert Lovie and the hospitality of Fiona Dingwall, the Manager of Brodie Castle. I am most grateful to June Rhind who did the initial typing. I am indebted to the Registrar of the National Archives of Scotland for providing me with invaluable information on the archives of Brodie, and also to Richard Turbet, of the Special Collections part of the library of the University of Aberdeen, who has been a great help in all manner of details. I am also grateful to Katherine and my family for allowing me to go into hiding so frequently to do the work. Without the help and assistance of all these people, as also many others who have helped with timely advice, what follows would not have happened. Thank you, everyone!
Note
An earlier version of this article appeared in Brio vol. 42 (2005)