Tag Archives: Irish

Bonus holiday tune: The Cameron Highlanders

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A quick unexpected update as the classes aren’t due to resume until later in the month. However, a good tune to get to help get to grips with a resonant bottom D on the flute is The Cameron Highlanders.

A composition by James Scott Skinner, which you can see here, the Traditional Tune Archive puts the date at 1880. The Cameron Highlanders were a Scottish Regiment first raised in the 18th Century.

Don’t confuse this tune (as I often do) with The Cameronian Reel or Cameronian Rant, both different tunes, possibly related, with similar structures and Scottish origins. Confused? You’re not alone.

My version is much influenced by the Irish setting (and maybe by those other tunes), where it is played as a barndance. Some discussion of the different versions can be found on The Session website.

I haven’t put up music notation for this yet, but have recorded it on whistle and flute. You can find them on the Resources page for this year.

Image: Donald Callander graduation, Sandhurst 1939 by A.D.F.Callander, some rights reserved.

The Sailor’s Bonnet

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So we finished the term with the concluding tune of The Tarbolton Set of reels associated with Michael Coleman.

The Sailor’s Bonnet sits pretty solidily in D with some B minor phrases. The first part is repetitive and rhythmic, with the B part flying out high from this with high B rolls possible. The leaps can be quite demanding for the wind player, flutes especially as the notes can easily go out of tune if not shaped correctly. However, it makes for a strong finish to the set and the phrases are relatively straightforward, especially when compared with The Tarbolton Reel.

While it is quite common for D and Bm to go together in tunes, the structure of this reel is unusual as the B part is twice as long as the A part. Certainly it is often played that way.

Alan Ng suggests that the earliest recording is Coleman’s of 1934, however while he certainly popularised it, The Fiddler’s Companion puts Leitrim flute player John McKenna and Sligo fiddler James Morrison as getting there first, citing musicologists Harry Bradshaw and Jackie Small. The alternative title The Highlander’s Bonnet hints at a Scottish connection, but it could simply refer to similar styles of hat.

Resources are up for this tune. Term begins again 24th April. In the meantime, sign up for the Scottish Flute Day on 10th of May while sitting back and enjoying the last two tunes of The Tarbotlon Set:

Image: Sailing on the North-Sea, Germany by Peter Femto, some rights reserved.

The Longford Collector

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After the recent challenges of The Tarbolton Reel, the Improvers and Beyond class looked at the next reel in the Michael Coleman set, The Longford Collector.

This tune in G sits nicely on flutes and whistle and offers some scope for variation, particularly in the B part. There is not much known abut this tune, which is strongly associated with this set. There are a few variations on the title, and an account of how Michael Coleman gave it its current title on Alan Kuntz’s Tune Archive web site.

Some information on recordings of the tune can be found on Alan Ng’s site Irishtune.info, which puts the earliest source of the tune as 1936, when it was first recorded.

I have put resources for this tune and The Sailor’s Bonnet up on the Resources page for this year.

Photo: Summer sky in Longford, Ireland by Paul Wilson, some rights reserved.

The Tarbolton: A Scottish reel in Ireland

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Tarbolton in Ayrshire has strong associations with Robert Burns, so it is sometimes a surprise to discover a very popular Irish reel that bears its name. The Tarbolton — sometimes called The Tarbolton Reel — was popularised by County Sligo fiddle master Michael Coleman in a set that is often played today.

The tune is originally Scottish, entitled Tarbolton Lodge in some collections but doesn’t seem to be as well known in Scotland, or not in my experience. It is in the Athole Collection and Skye Collection (both 19th Century), for example. Some background information on publications can be found on the Fiddler’s Companion.

Some information on recordings of this tune can be found on the Folk Music Index and at irishtuneinfo. From a flute player’s perspective it is definitely worth checking out Matt Molloy’s version on his first solo album, although this is on an Eb flute.

I have recorded the version that we learned in the class and the notation that was handed out in the lesson will go online there very soon.

Michael Coleman’s 1934 version is below. We will also be learning the other tunes in this set. Comhaltas have other versions of the set as well.

Photo of The Bachelor’s Club, Tarbolton, by Rosser1954, Wikipedia Commons.

 

A tricky jig: Tom Billy’s No.2

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To follow on from the first jig of the term, we learned Tom Billy’s No.2, a three part tune associated with the playing of Julia Clifford, who recorded it with Tom Billy’s No.1, our previous tune.

This tune shifts key through the parts and is awkward on the flute and whistle at first as the notes don’t seem to fall where the fingers would expect them and want to go. As such it is very distinctive, but can make for hard work. Listening to a recording of it certainly helps as it becomes easier with familiarity.

There are opportunities for rolls and variations in this tune and fiddles are likely to have a different approach to this from flutes and whistles. The recordings in the resources show some of the ways I approach the tune.

Here’s a video of Julia Clifford playing an air and a slide (12/8 type of jig):

You can find out more about Julia Clifford at the Rambling House web site and this interview with her on the Journal of Sliab Luachra web site. There’s a nice little appreciation of her recording with Denis Murphy on the IvyLeaf web site.

Photo of Julia Clifford (right) pictured with her sister Bridgie Kelleher (c) Journal of Sliabh Luachra no.4