Alfred Scott-Gatty
Encyclopedia
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
, KStJ
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
, FSA
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
(26 April 1847-18 December 1918) was a long serving officer of arms
Officer of arms
An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions:*to control and initiate armorial matters*to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state...
at the College of Arms
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and a successful composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Personal life
Alfred Scott-Gatty was born in EcclesfieldEcclesfield
Ecclesfield is a suburb and civil parish in the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England, about north of Sheffield City Centre. At the 2001 census the civil parish— which also includes the Sheffield suburbs of Chapeltown, Grenoside, High Green, and formerly Thorpe Hesley —had a population...
, now part of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
with the given name of Alfred Gatty. He was the son of Alfred Gatty
Alfred Gatty
Alfred Gatty was a Church of England vicar and author.He was born in London to Robert Gatty, a solicitor, and Margaret Jones. In 1831 he entered Exeter College, Oxford, graduating in 1836. He was ordained a deacon in 1837 and was appointed as curate of Bellerby in the North Riding of Yorkshire...
of Bellerby, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
who was serving as Vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of Ecclesfield and his wife Margaret
Margaret Gatty
Margaret Gatty was an English writer of children's literature.Gatty was born in Burnham on Crouch, Essex, the daughter of the Rev. Alexander John Scott, D.D., a Royal Navy chaplain, who served under, and was the trusted friend of, Lord Nelson on board the HMS Victory before and during the Battle...
. Scott-Gatty was educated at Marlborough
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
and Christ's College
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. He assumed the name of Scott-Gatty in 1892, Scott being his mother's maiden name.
Heraldic career
Scott-Gatty began his heraldic career with his appointment as Rouge Dragon Pursuivant of Arms In OrdinaryRouge Dragon Pursuivant
Rouge Dragon Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms of the College of Arms, named after the red dragon of Wales.The most recent Rouge Dragon Pursuivant was Clive Edwin Alexander Cheesman, whose replacement has yet to be announced....
in 1880. He held that post for six years until his promotion to the office of York Herald of Arms in Ordinary
York Herald
York Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms. The first York Herald is believed to have been an officer to Edmund of Langley, Duke of York around the year 1385, but the first completely reliable reference to such a herald is in February of 1484, when John Water...
. Scott-Gatty was appointed Garter Principal King of Arms
Garter Principal King of Arms
The Garter Principal King of Arms is the senior King of Arms, and the senior Officer of Arms of the College of Arms. He is therefore the most powerful herald within the jurisdiction of the College – primarily England, Wales and Northern Ireland – and so arguably the most powerful in the world...
in 1904 and held that office until his death in 1918. It was under Scott-Gatty's control that the College of Arms reinstituted the process of granting badges
Heraldic badge
A heraldic badge is an emblem or personal device worn as a badge to indicate allegiance to or the property of an individual or family. Medieval forms are usually called a livery badge, and also a cognizance...
to armiger
Armiger
In heraldry, an armiger is a person entitled to use a coat of arms. Such a person is said to be armigerous.-Etymology:The Latin word armiger literally means "armour-bearer". In high and late medieval England, the word referred to an esquire attendant upon a knight, but bearing his own unique...
s.
Composing career
As a composer he was doubtless an amateurAmateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
but his work was popular and highly regarded in its day. The works that he produced were largely for voices and aimed primarily at amateur performers. It included two modest operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s, Sandford and Merton's Christmas Party (1880) and Not At Home (1886). It also included three musical plays specifically for children: Rumpelstiltskin
Rumpelstiltskin
Rumpelstiltskin is the eponymous character and protagonist of a fairy tale which originated in Germany . The tale was collected by the Brothers Grimm, who first published it in the 1812 edition of Children's and Household Tales...
, The Goose Girl (1895) and The Three Bears (1896). For the most part, these musical plays were set to words written by his sister, the noted children's writer Mrs Ewing. His songs ran into hundreds, many of them with texts by himself. A few of the best known titles were Ae Fond Kiss, Crofte and Ye Faire Ladye, True Till Death, and Country House Ditties (1898).
His concern to provide music for children, already noted, was pursued in Little Songs for Little Voices published in three volumes, including 76 short and simple songs. They were his earliest compositions and appeared in Aunt Judy's Magazine
Aunt Judy's Magazine
Aunt Judy's Magazine was a British magazine for young people founded in 1866 by Margaret Gatty and continued after her death in 1873 by her daughter Horatia Eden until 1885. It published much of the work of Juliana Horatia Ewing and perhaps most notably "Fairy Sylvie" and "Bruno's Revenge", two...
, edited first by his mother, then by his sister. Two of these songs, The Sneezing Song and Three Little Pigs were sung by Scott-Gatty himself in a concert at Doncaster Grammar School on 21 June 1870, long before they were published. He sang Three Little Pigs again in 1871 along with Camomile Tea, Tittle Tattle and The Yawning Song.
Scott-Gatty's most popular songs were the Plantation Songs (1893–1895) for baritone solo and mixed voice chorus. These included 24 songs in total, issued in four volumes. At that time such songs were novelties in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. They remained popular and three were recorded during 1914-1918. During the 1930s, long after Scott-Gatty's death, several of these were rearranged for baritone and male voice chorus by Leslie Woodgate
Leslie Woodgate
Leslie Woodgate was an English choral conductor. He became the BBC Chorus Master in 1934.-References:*International Who's Who in Music & International Directory ; MusicWeb...
and others had their accompaniments scored for orchestra by various hands. At least one of them, a duet, Good Night, was heard on 30 January 1891, years before it was published. It was performed in the Gattys' home territory in South Yorkshire, in a concert given in the surroundings of the Marble Saloon of Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Wentworth, in the vicinity of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. "One of the great Whig political palaces", its East Front, long, is the longest country house façade in Europe. The house includes 365 rooms and covers an...
, near Rotherham, then the seat of Earl Fitzwilliam. It was sung by Scott-Gatty and his wife and the duet, according to a contemporary press report "caused a furore of enthusiasm."