[Niel Gow's] Farewell To Whisky
George S Emmerson (Rantin’ Pipe and Tremblin’ String, 1971) tells us that the tune
“Reappears in the Fifth Collection
(of Niel Gow’s tunes) with the explanation ‘This tune alludes to prohibiting
the making of Whisky in 1799. It is expressive of a Highlander’s sorrow on
being deprived of his favourite beverage.’ The verses of the song (attributed
to Agnes Lyon of Glammis) reveal a different story."
You’ve surely heard o’ the famous Niel, the man that played the fiddle weel
I wat he was a canty chiel, and dearly loved the whisky, O
And aye sin’ he wore tartan hose, he dearly lo’ed the Athole brose
And wae was he, you may suppose, to bid ‘Farewell’ to whisky, O
J Murray Neil in The Scots Fiddle, tunes, tales and traditions, 1991, explains that, “This air was written by Niel Gow to record the failure of the barley crop in Scotland in 1799. The harvest was so poor that the use of barley for the distillation of whisky was prohibited.”
