"Jim Tweedie's Sea Legs"- whistle & concertina

[kenny]

Here's a good one. I'm sure many of you here will know John Skelton and his music. John was a member of a great London-Irish band in the early 1980s, "Shegui". They recorded a very unusual Scottish Highland bagpipe hornpipe called "Jim Tweedie's Sea Legs". This is a great whistle/concertina duet between John and Willie Haines, concertina player originally from Dundee. They are joined by Jimmy Finnegan, on bagpipes, who was the source of the tune for them. If you want to play along, you need an Eb whistle.

https://youtu.be/dRPybqRg6hg

[ytliek]

Thanks for posting, that is a good one.

[OBrien]

It’s on The Session, if anyone wants the dots.

[pancelticpiper]

In the Highland piping world it's still heard fairly often.

Here's a great rendition by Gordon Duncan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfGx5L88O4Q

(BTW the jig he goes into afterwards is in the G Lydian mode which has always been popular on the pipes.)

It was extremely popular back in the 1970s.

Seems that the 1960s and 1970s were sort of a Golden Age for hornpipes in the Highland piping world, with loads of them being composed and pipers and pipe bands playing them all the time.

The Highland pipe hornpipes of that era were actual hornpipes, and usually in D Major. (Not to be confused with the so-called hornpipes that became hugely popular in the 1990s and 2000s which don't have the hornpipe rhythm, but are played with even note values, and are usually in a Pentatonic A mode.)

Of the tune's origin, Tracey Williams wrote:

"Jim Tweedie’s Sealegs. This tune in 5 parts was composed by John Allan Macgee in commemoration of Jim’s first trip from New Zealand to the UK – an epic 6-week journey in the 1950s which involved the crossing of 5 seas or oceans. Each of the parts also tells a section of the story of the gaining of Jim’s sealegs – from jauntily leaving the harbour to entering the high seas, to 'feeding the fish' and gradually onwards towards gaining his sealegs. A mighty tune for a great friend and a true gentleman."

John Wilson composed a 6th part.

I am told that the Jim Tweedie of the title is not Jim Tweedie the bagpipe maker, who passed away a number of years ago.

[Polara Pat]

What a great, catchy tune. Bring back the hornpipes!!

[pancelticpiper]

Now if you want a Scottish hornpipe that's not often heard, and another 5-part one to boot, give a listen to Rathven Market

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy5xoooNKPw

on the 1979 album by the Scottish group Kentigern, on Scottish smallpipes, whistle, and fiddle.

The ABC and the dots https://thesession.org/tunes/17859

[PeterHansen]

[Thread revival. - Mod]

I was fortunate enough to know Jim Tweedie and as a child he would always call me on my birthday and play me "Happy Birthday" on the bagpipes.

I also attended his funeral in 2001 where "Jim Tweedie's Sealegs" was played.

I don't know much about piping but the church was overflowing with mourners that day and there was not a dry eye to be seen as the coffin was piped out of the church. A great man who is sorely missed.

https://knowledgebank.org.nz/text/newsp ... -stalwart/

[kenny]

Thanks to contributors above for further information about the tune and Jim Tweedie himself. I remembered that I had posted a clip on Youtube of Dougie Pincock of the Battlefield Band playing it on a Scottish TV folk music programme [ second tune ] :
https://youtu.be/To6beuyeT9E