Christie family, of Montquhitter (fl 18th c - 19th c) The origin of this collection of tunes may be traced to the family of James Christie, farmer, of Montquhitter, Aberdeenshire. He was the father of Reverend Alexander Christie (d 1816), Scottish Episcopal minister of Keith, 1781 - 1800, and Old Deer, 1800 - 1812; James Christie (fl 1817), gamekeeper to John Cumine, of Auchry, who published Instructions for Hunting, Breaking, Pointers, and Finding Out Game ... to which is subjoined humerous poems and songs chiefly in the Buchan Dialect (Banff: J. Davidson, 1817); and William Christie (c 1778 - 1849), dancing master, who arranged and published A collection of strathspeys, reels, hornpipes, waltzes, etc., arranged as medleys for the harp, piano forte, violin and violoncello (Edinburgh: W. Christie, 1820); and with his son, William Christie (1816 - 1885), Dean of Moray, collected the ballads which were subsequently published in Traditional ballad airs, arranged and harmonised for the pianoforte and harmonium, from copies procured in the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, and Moray, edited by William Christie, 2 vols. (Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas, 1876-81).
John Murdoch Henderson (1902 - 1972) John Murdoch Henderson, son of Charles Henderson, farmer, and Mary Jane Murdoch, was born in New Deer on 31 March 1902, and graduated from the University of Aberdeen, MA 1926. He taught for several years in the south of Scotland, before returning to Aberdeen where he taught science and mathematics at Frederick Street, and latterly, Ruthrieston School. A gifted composer, and an authority on Scottish fiddle music, he wrote The Flowers of Scottish Melody: A First Companion to the Scottish Violinist and Pianist (Glasgow: Bayley & Ferguson, 1935), and arranged J. Scott Skinner's The Scottish Music Maker Skinner: a choice selection of strathspeys, Scots reels, schottisches, double jigs, waltz tunes, song airs, pastorals, marches, quicksteps, hornpipes ... arranged for the violin (Glasgow: Bayley & Ferguson, 1957). He was also a prolific collector of music for the fiddle and pipes, and during his life made several significant manuscript deposits to the University of Aberdeen.
His printed music collection was bequeathed to the National Library of Scotland in 1975/6, and duplicates from this collection transferred to Aberdeen University, where they form the University's John Murdoch Henderson Collection. A further collection of his papers was deposited more recently in the North East Folklore Archive, Aden Country Park, Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, by his family. See Related Units of Description for further details.
From the guide to the Scotch MS tunes, 1730 - 60, associated with the Christie family of Banff, 1730 - 1760, (University of Aberdeen)
