Tam Bain’s Lum

Though it seems tame today, in the days before the modern, finger-twisting, bent-note hornpipe, this Donald Shaw Ramsay composition pushed the envelope. The tune was reportedly written about a chimney (‘lum’) in Laurieston, near Falkirk, in the shape of Abe Lincoln’s hat. It was part of a row of tenament houses and owned by a fellow named Tam Bain. Ramsay was apparently quite taken by the sight and named this tune after it. The tune was likely written between 1952 and 1954.