Anne Gunn

'''Anne Gunn''' (née '''Young'''; 11 April 1756 – c. 1813)<ref name="kennaway 9">{{harv|Kennaway|2021|p=9}}</ref> was a Scottish music teacher and the inventor of ''Musical Games'', a set of board games designed to teach music theory to children. She was granted the first British patent for a board game, the only patent granted to a female inventor in 1801.<ref name=":0" />

==Early life and education== She was born in Haddington in East Lothian to David (d. 1758) and Janet Young (née Johnstone).<ref name="kennaway 9" /> David Young was appointed the first Doctor of the Haddington Grammar School with his duties designated as “Vocall & Instrumental Musick”.<ref>{{harv|Robertson-Kirkland|2021|pp=184–5}}</ref> He later became rector of the grammar school.<ref name="miller">{{harv|Miller|1844|p=452}}</ref> Anne was the youngest of 11 children.<ref name="kennaway 9" /> Her brother, Walter Young was also known to be a skilled musician and song collector, who consulted with Robert Burns. He was ordained as a Church of Scotland minister in 1769. Anne stated that her musical ability (particularly her knowledge of music theory) was developed by her father and brother.<ref>{{harv|Gunn|1803|p=v}}</ref>

== Early career == thumb|upright|Cover of ''An Introduction to Music'' Young worked as a music teacher in Edinburgh providing instruction for young ladies.<ref name="kennaway 10">{{harv|Kennaway|2021|p=10}}</ref> She published two musical treatises instructing on how to play and read music. The first treatise was ''Elements of Music and of Fingering the Harpsichord'' (originally published anonymously c.1790 before it was reissued with her name c.1802)<ref name="kennaway 10" /> and the second was ''An Introduction to Music'', published in 1803 shortly after she was married.

==''Musical Games''== thumb|upright|Cover of ''Instructions for Playing the Musical Games'' On 16 March 1801, Young was granted a Royal patent for her ''Musical Games'', a series of six games to teach the rudiments of music theory. The games were played on a custom board set in a mahogany box, with custom wooden pins and ivory dice. This was the first British patent granted for a board game and the only patent granted to a female inventor in 1801.<ref name=":0">{{harv|Raz|2018a}}</ref> A book of instructions was initially sold with the board; however, Gunn later revised the instructions and added more games.<ref>{{harv|Raz|2018b}}</ref>

Young advised that the board game was for children, noting that teaching musical theory was often dull for both the teacher and the pupil since it required a lot of repetition to embed the fundamental concepts.<ref>{{harv|Gunn|1803|p=v-vi}}</ref> In creating the games, she hoped to better engage children in learning music, observing that: {{Blockquote|text=‘There is one thing, however, in which all children agree, and that is a fondness for sport or play. Proceeding upon this principle, various successful attempts have been made to invent certain sports or games, which afford amusement, and at the same time communicate, or impress upon the memory, some branches of useful knowledge.’<ref>{{harv|Gunn|1803|p=ii}}</ref>}} Each of the games instructed players on how to identify clefs, intervals, cadences, scales, chords, and modulations.

''An Introduction to Music'' provided more detailed instructions on how to play each of the games. Gunn also added a new introductory game on key signatures, noting that this was in response to some criticism received after the board was initially released in 1801.<ref>{{harv|Gunn|1803|p=xvi}}</ref>

After her death, ''An Introduction to Music'' was reissued in 1820, which included six more "Elementary Games".<ref>{{harv|Gunn|1820}}</ref> These games taught the basic fundamentals of musical theory and were likely designed to be played before progressing onto the original 1801/03 games. It is unclear if Anne intended to publish these ''Elementary Games'' before her death.

== Personal life == She married writer and cellist John Gunn at St Cuthbert’s Church, Edinburgh on 20 July 1802.<ref name="kennaway 10" /> After her marriage, she no longer worked as a music teacher.

In letters to Margaret Clephane, Gunn revealed that his wife was placed in an asylum in late October 1811.<ref name="kennaway 12">{{harv|Kennaway|2021|p=12}}</ref> The exact asylum is not identified, though Kennaway suggests it was likely one of the private asylums in Edinburgh.<ref name="kennaway 13">{{harv|Kennaway|2021|p=13}}</ref> In a letter dated 31 January 1814, he mentioned that his wife had died in 1813, though he did not specify the exact date.<ref name="kennaway 14">{{harv|Kennaway|2021|p=14}}</ref>

==Notes==

==References== * {{cite journal | last1 = Ghere | first1 = David | last2 = Amram | first2 = Fred M. B. | date = 2007 | volume = 24 | issue = 1 | pages = 55–75 | title = Inventing Music Education Games | journal = British Journal of Music Education | doi = 10.1017/S0265051706007224 | s2cid = 145650025 }} * {{cite book | last = Gunn | first = Anne | date = 1802 | title = Elements of Music and of Fingering the Harpsichord | publisher = Corri & Sutherland, etc. | location = Edinburgh }} * {{cite book | last = Gunn | first = Anne | date = 1803 | title = An Introduction to Music | publisher = C. Stewart and Co. | location = Edinburgh }} * {{cite book | last = Gunn | first = Anne | date = 1820 | title = An Introduction to Music | edition = 2 | publisher = James Ballantyne and Co. | location = Edinburgh }} * {{cite book | last = Kennaway | first = George | date = 2021 | title = John Gunn Musician Scholar in Enlightenment Britain | isbn = 9781783276417 | series = Music in Britain, 1600-2000 | issn = 2053-3217 | publisher = Boydell Press }} * {{cite book | last = Miller | first = James | date = 1844 | title = The Lamp of Lothian, Or, The History of Haddington: In Connection with the Public Affairs of East Lothian and of Scotland : from the Earliest Records to the Present Period | publisher = James Allan }} * {{cite journal | last = Raz | first = Carmel | date = 2018a | title = Anne Young's Musical Games (1801): Music Theory, Gender, and Game Design | volume = 4 | issue = 2 | website = SMT-V | publisher = Society for Music Theory | url = https://vimeo.com/278344604 }} * {{cite journal | last = Raz | first = Carmel | date = 2018b | title = Anne Young's Musical Games (1803): Pedagogical, Speculative, and Ludic Music Theory | volume = 4 | issue = 3 | website = SMT-V | publisher = Society for Music Theory | url = https://vimeo.com/278578821 }} * {{cite journal | last = Robertson-Kirkland | first = Brianna | title = "Damage To Trees": Performing Ramsay's The Gentle Shepherd at Haddington Grammar School | journal = Theatre Notebook | date = 2021 | volume = 75 | issue = 3 | pages = 173–186 }}

* [Young, Anne] (c.1790) Elements of Music and of Fingering the Harpsichord, Edinburgh: Corri & Sutherland, etc.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, Anne}} Category:1756 births Category:1813 deaths Category:18th-century Scottish educators Category:18th-century Scottish women educators Category:19th-century Scottish educators Category:19th-century Scottish inventors Category:British women inventors Category:19th-century Scottish women educators Category:19th-century women inventors Category:People from Haddington Category:Scottish music educators Category:Scottish women music educators Category:Date of death unknown