The Arthour–Wight Manuscript: A Collection of Scottish Baroque Music in Regional Australia

A music manuscript dated 1734 was 'discovered' in a National Trust of Australia property in Goulburn, New South Wales by a member of the public in the 1980s. Containing the signatures of two women—Margrat Arthour and Helen Wight—the small practice book comprises Arthour's music collection of instrumental tunes, keyboard arrangements, and songs. This article outlines the research process resulting in the identification of the two women and an exploration of their personal lives in Edinburgh and the East Lothian region. Arthour, niece to one of Scotland's most famous musicians and related to key characters involved in the 1715 Jacobite uprising, is a fascinating yet entirely forgotten player in Scottish musical history. Part of Edinburgh high society from the 1730s onwards, she was associated with the early chapters of the country's first musical society—a melting pot of local talent mixed with visiting virtuosi from continental Europe. Those interested in the 'drawing room style' of the late Scottish baroque period are here presented with the repertoire of a young Edinburgh lady written at a time when published music and public concerts were still a novelty in the city.