Kate Dalrymple
traditional song
"Kate Dalrymple" is a traditional Scottish reel. The melody was originally published as "The New Highland Laddie" in 1750. It was recorded by Jimmy Shand in 1955. The Scots song associated with the melody of this name was written by William Watt, East Kilbride. It tells the comic tale of the eponymous muirland spinster who was ugly and unable to find a romantic partner. Coming into an inheritance of fortune, she thereafter found a willing suitor.
It is used by the BBC as the theme music for the BBC Radio Scotland dance music programme Take the Floor.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Kate Dalrymple” is traditional song. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Kate, Dalrymple and traditional, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “traditional song” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6375456. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1750 and 1955.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Kate Dalrymple” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.