John Drewry wrote in the original description that the dance was for Alistair Reid of Muchall’s Castle near Stonehaven.
Elsewhere the remark has been made that this dance should be called “Flour o’ the Quern” as a Quern is a grinding stone.
Ron Russell wrote the following:
As I understand it (although not a Gaelic speaker), a quern (pronounced ‘kern’) is Gaelic for ‘hollow’.
A verse is included as a dedication in James Scott Skinner’s original sheet music (see
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/scottskinner/display.php?ID=JSS0750
):
The flowers grow fair on the lowland vales,

an’ green grow the wids on the braes,

an’ saft an’ low sing the scented gales

in the lang, lang simmer days;

But dearer to me are the mountains blue

where grow the heath an’ fern,

an’ the bonniest flo’er is the ane I lo’e

that blooms ‘mang the braes o’ the Quern.
I believe this verse is by J. Gordon Phillips