"Kate Dalrymple" is a traditional Scottish reel in the key of A. The melody is based on an ancient folk-tune. There are accompanying words, written by William Watt, and the piece is something of a tongue-twister to sing for those unfamiliar with the Scots language. It tells the tale of the eponymous spinster.
The melody is something of a contradiction, as the National Portrait Gallery in London has a painting of the real Kate Dalrymple, a society beauty in her youth.
It is used by the BBC as the theme music for the BBC Radio Scotland dance music programme Take the Floor.
Famous quotes containing the word kate:
“O slanderous world! Kate like the hazel twig
Is straight and slender, and as brown in hue
As hazelnuts, and sweeter than the kernels.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)