Musical box with two keys, two tea caddies and glass mixing bowl
Musical box with two keys, two tea caddies and glass mixing bowl
Great Britain
1800–1810
Wood, glass, metal, fabric, steel, brass; painting, mechanical work, carpentry work
19.5 x 31 x 17 cm
On the box lid: 'On Fastin - een we had a rockin, to ea' the crack an' weave our stockin, / An there was muelle fun an' jokin. Ye need na doubt; / At leath we hearty yoking At sang about." On the left tea caddy: "The Reel of Tullochgorum. O'Tullochgorum's my delight. / It gars us an in ane unite, / And ony Sumph that keeps up spite. / In consciense. I abhgr him, / For bly the and cheerie well be a' / And make a happy guorum, / For blithe and cheerie well be a: / As lang as we have breath todrow, / And dance till we be like to fa, / The Reet O'Tullochgorum." On the right tea caddy lid: "The Marquis of Huntly's Reel. / Tune your Fidles, tune them sweetly, / Play the Marquis reel discreetly, / Here we are, a band completely / Fitted to be jolly. / Come my boys blithe and gaucy, / Every young-ester chuse his lafsie, / Dance wi life, and be not sauey, Shy nor melancholy."
Music box made from sycamore wood, rectangular in shape, with pattern in the form of leaves and thistle flowers, executed in black ink with a pen on the sides, with an opening lid with lock, on four spherical brass feet. Gold-coloured metal handles in the form of mascarons depicting lions, with rings are on the sides. On the outside of the lid is The image of interior with a company singing On Fastin-e'en -Fasten's Even – the evening before Lent. A stanza from "Epistle to John Lapraik (1727-1807), the old Scottish Bard" (1785) by Robert Burns (1759-1796) is on image bottom part. The lid inner side is covered with red-coloured cloth. Two tea caddies are inside the box, with glass bowl designed for mixing tea between them. Texts of popular Scottish songs are the tea caddies lids. A musical movement with spring motor, spin rate governor, metal cylinder for two tunes and a steel comb with sixty one separately fixed tuned pins. The comb is stamped to indicate the number of pins tuned to every note, starting with the lowest. The mechanism of the box is described and shown in Arthur Ord-Hume book "The Music Box. A Collector's Guide". С. 59, illus. 6-7. An aperture with stud for winding the mechanism is on the left side panel, a lever for switching on the musical mechanism is in the center under the front panel. An aperture with stud for winding the mechanism is on the left side panel, a lever for switching on the musical mechanism is in the center under the front panel.
When the spring engine is activated one from two tunes in the rhythm of Reel sounds – the Reel of Tullochgorum or Marquis Huntly Reel. The set includes a tasselled lock key, winding key, two tea caddies and glass bowl.
The lyrics to the popular Scottish tune "Tullochgorum" was written in 1776 by Scottish historian and poet John Skinner (1721-1807) to end the political dispute over Whigs and Tories. Robert Burns called Skinner's song "the finest Scottish song Scotland has ever seen". The melody of the song, The Marquis of Huntly's Rell, to a poem by John Skinner was written by the Scotland greatest fiddle composer and prominent fiddler, William Marshall, who was managing the estate of Duke Gordon (27.04.1720–05.08.1752), who was a Scottish aristocrat and peer and was called the Marquis of Huntly from 1720 to 1728. He was bestowed the title of a knight of the Order of the Thistle in 1748.
Members of the Gordon family, who held the title of Marquis of Huntly for several generations, were patrons of Scottish fiddlers and fiddle music. In the Scottish peerage system, the title "Marquis" occupies a position between Earl and Duke.
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