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LAGMHOR SONG BOOK M IC H A E L BROW N
‘The Lagmhor Song Book’ is a record of an immigrant community and the role music played in preserving their culture and connections — and of the romance that flourished between two people involved in its making. This bound volume contains handwritten notation for hundreds of Scottish tunes collected in and around Lagmhor, a 18,600-hectare sheep station west of Ashburton, in Canterbury. It was created at the behest of Donald McLean (1835–1906), who came to New Zealand from the Inner Hebrides in 1862 to manage Lagmhor (‘large fields’ in Gaelic). A Highland music enthusiast, he would hasten to have any new tune he heard written down, whether it be ‘whistled or sung by trained singer or untrained “swagger”’. This 300-page treasure from the Turnbull’s Archive of New Zealand Music was probably brought out at many gatherings of Scottish farming people in Canterbury. It showcases the skills of two copyists: station employee Harry Herring and Alice Rowley (1870–1940). An accomplished pianist and composer, Alice met Donald at a Canterbury Caledonian Society concert in 1892; they married shortly afterwards. Music was a shared passion, and Donald delighted in Alice’s ability to transcribe Scots tunes by ear ‘to reproduce later with full accompaniment
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and easy grace’. She also composed the volume’s only New Zealand piece, ‘The Lagmhor Strathspey’. Scots like Donald McLean made up a large group of colonial migrants to New Zealand, second only to the English in number. Most settled in Otago and Southland, but southern Canterbury was popular with rural Highlanders, many of whom worked as shepherds. They brought their own culture with them, including the Gaelic language, Highland games, whisky and bagpipes. At Lagmhor, Donald formed a piping and dancing group and had his clan tartan spun at a local mill. Most of the tunes in the volume are arranged for piano, the ‘home entertainment centre’ of colonial New Zealand. By the First World War, possibly 40 per cent of New Zealand households had a piano, as did every public hall and theatre in the country, providing an essential ingredient for sing-songs, concerts and dances. Individuals kept collections of sheet music that reflected their backgrounds and tastes, and which now offer insights into communities like the Scottish farming folk of Canterbury. In 1954, ‘The Lagmhor Song Book’ was placed in the Turnbull’s care by Donald and Alice’s daughter, Flora Pearce. More than 70 of Alice’s own compositions in manuscript form came into the collection later.
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