- TITLE
- Music for 'The Highland Polka' by Scott Skinner, page 2
- EXTERNAL ID
- Z_GB1796_GRANT_979_65_MISC_004_025_002
- SOURCE
- Inverness Museum and Art Gallery
- ASSET ID
- 6748
- KEYWORDS
- dances
fiddlers
fiddling
composers
dancing-masters
strathspeys
polkas

This is the sheet music for 'The Highland Polka', composed by Scott Skinner. The polka was a very popular ballroom dance in the nineteenth century and Skinner wrote many to use in his dance classes. The 'Highland Polka' was his first published composition; it appeared in a magazine when Skinner was only 17 years old.
James Scott Skinner (1843-1927) was a major figure in the development of Scottish traditional music. A native of Banchory, he learnt to play the violin and cello from an early age and was performing at local dances from the age of eight. He went on to become a celebrated fiddle tutor, dancing-master and performer, initially putting on concerts in the Northeast but eventually performing throughout Scotland. He even toured the United States and Canada in 1893. Skinner was also a prolific composer - over 600 of his tunes reached print. He published various collections from 1861 onwards, earning his title as 'The Strathspey King'