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James Scott Skinner was born in August 1843 in Banchory in the North East of Scotland. His father, a fiddle player turned dancing master, died when James was 18 months old. As he grew up he was taught to play fiddle by ear by his brother Sandy and to ‘vamp’, or play a bass line on the cello in order to assist him at dances. By the time he was eight, James was playing the cello at dances with local fiddler Peter Milne (1824–1908), who came from Kincardine o’ Neill, Aberdeenshire. As there were no village halls, dances were usually held in barns. Young James often had to trudge many miles to play at these dances. For this, Peter Milne paid him five shillings (25p) a month.
After a brief stay with "Dr Mark’s Little Men," a travelling orchestra, his brother arranged to have him trained as a dancing master. He went on to enjoy a varied career which included that of gardener, orchestra player, dancing master and, most successfully, composer. He had a prolific output, writing more than 600 compositions, and was known as the "Strathspey King."
In 1868 his first Collection was published followed by the Miller o’ Hirn Collection in 1881, the Elgin Collection in 1884, the Logie Collection in 1888, and the Harp and Claymore Collection. Between approximately 1906 - 1909 Skinner lived and worked in Monikie. He was frequently short of money and could not always afford to publish his compositions. Instead he sent them to friends who copied them and played them and thus created a market for them. One such friend was James McPherson of Kirriemuir. Angus Archives holds many famous compositions which were originally written on the backs of envelopes and advertisements and sent to McPherson.
James Scott Skinner died on 17 March 1927 at the age of 84 and is buried in Allenvale Cemetery, Aberdeen. He left behind him a legacy of music that has had a great effect on Scottish fiddling and traditional music in general.
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