Alexander Laing
Alexander Laing and "The Alexander Laing Music Manuscript" provided details for a number of Australian tunes in this archive.
"Alexander Laing (1798–1868) was born at Mortlach, Forfar, Scotland. Laing enlisted in the Scottish 92nd Gordon Highlanders. While recruiting in Perthshire in 1813, he was charged with theft & sentenced to transportation. He arrived in Sydney, August 1814, was one of 200 convicts transported on the Marquis of Wellington. He was transferred to Hobart 1815. Laing found service as a soldier and later in Tasmania as a District Police Constable in the Sorell district. He was also a musician (fiddler) and composer.
In 2009 a copy of his music manuscript, dated 1863, was uncovered in Tasmanian State Archives by historian Peter MacFie. The document contained 242 hand written melodies for fiddle – 64** of them thought to be original with Tasmania titles such as Sorell Windmill, James Gordon of Forcett, Lady Franklins Reel & Lachlan Village near New Norfolk, all composed by Scottish convict, constable & fiddler, Alexander Laing. The Tasmanian tunes are dedicated to people & places where he lived & worked – Hobart Town, Sorell, Port Arthur, Richmond & New Norfolk- from 1815 to 1868."
(** With time this number has been reduced to about 30 tunes. Ray Mulligan, Mar 2025)
-- sourced from Alexander Laing, by Peter MacFie
The only known copy of the manuscript is held by the Archives Office of Tasmania (TAHO NS548/1/1).
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