Haunting and Memorable slow airs

Tommy · Post by **Tommy** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:58 pm

Eanach Chuin, I think this is a sad one about a lake where a boat of people sank in a storm.

Taimse im Chodladh, (I am asleep do not wake me).

Arron Boat, I found a CD that has a harp playing this, and I play whistle along to it.

Buachaill on Eirne (Come by the Hills)

An Ghaoth Aneas

Baidin Fheidhlimidh About a small boat I think?

Boolavogue

bud · Post by **bud** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 7:27 am

The Parting Glass
Hector the Hero
Neil Gow's Lament on the Death of his Second Wife
Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go

Tootler · Post by **Tootler** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:05 pm

Da Slockit Light
Jock o' Hazeldean
Rothbury Hills
Ashoken Farewell

If you are going to play the Niel Gow lament on D flute or whistle, then play it in G rather than the D that fiddlers usually play it in. Playing it in D means a number of octave jumps which spoils the character of the tune, IMHO.

Of course, if you are playing with fiddlers, you will likely not have the choice, but then the octave jumps are not so obvious when playing with others.

Geoff

bud · Post by **bud** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:13 pm

Hmmmm. I haven't time to try it out, but perhaps if the fiddlers insist on D, you could take up your A whistle and play it in D from there.

Thanks for reminding me of Jock of Hazeldean. The melody is great and the lyrics by Scott are superb, especially if you can persuasively handle the dialect.

Ceili_whistle_man · Post by **Ceili_whistle_man** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:15 pm

Mmmmmm......reading through some of the tunes mentioned here, I notice there are a lot of tunes that are not really slow airs but laments and marches.
I always thought Jock O' Hazeldean was a march? I must try it as an air, interesting!
How does 'Bennachie Sunrise' grab you, or Season's of mist?

Tootler · Post by **Tootler** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:32 pm

Playing the Gow Lament in D on an A whistle should work - or even Eb on a Bb whistle - I'll have to try that sometime

. I like to play it on the flute, though. I just like the sound of it on the flute. I Actually first heard the tune played in "G" on the Northumbrian Pipes and it sounded stunning.

Ceili_whistle_man wrote:Mmmmmm......reading through some of the tunes mentioned here, I notice there are a lot of tunes that are not really slow airs but laments and marches.
I always thought Jock O' Hazeldean was a march? I must try it as an air, interesting!

Maybe it's a matter of definition, but I always think of laments as a form of slow air.

The tune for Jock o Hazeldean is a standard part of the Northumbrian Pipe repertoire as a slow air and is normally played pretty slowly.

As a bit of trivia, the tune is thought to be older than the song. AFAIK, Scott himself said the song was based on an older ballad.

Ceili_whistle_man · Post by **Ceili_whistle_man** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 9:56 pm

You could be right tootler, it may be a matter of definition. I know that a lot of airs I have heard over the years have been played with a form of broken timing, meaning that if you were to put a metronome to them the tune would not stay in sinc with the metronome. Some airs (and laments for that matter) are very hard to play along with any sort of guitar accompaniment, one example of this is Ned of the Hill.

samiam590 · Post by **samiam590** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 12:34 am

Na Connerys is a really nice, really angsty-sad air, but at the same time, it's quite nice. I've only heard it sung, and it was wonderful.

Tootler · Post by **Tootler** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 2:26 pm

Ceili_whistle_man wrote:... I know that a lot of airs I have heard over the years have been played with a form of broken timing, meaning that if you were to put a metronome to them the tune would not stay in sinc with the metronome. Some airs (and laments for that matter) are very hard to play along with any sort of guitar accompaniment, one example of this is Ned of the Hill.

Very true, which is why airs are often played solo, even on recordings. The player needs the freedom to interpret the tune in his or her own way. When airs are played in sessions, they tend to be played in fairly strict time. You can't really play them any other way in such circumstances.

Incidentally, the formal musical term for what you describe above is "rubato" (or in full, "tempo rubato") which my music dictionary says means literally "robbed time". I like that way of putting it; basically you pinch some time at one place and pay it back at another.

Ctrl Alt Del · Post by **Ctrl Alt Del** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:48 pm

Can anyone point me in the direction of some good recordings that show off some of the tunes mentioned above? Being new to whistling and pretty new to the appreciation of the whole Celtic music scene, I still have pretty limited music stock to listen to.

I must admit, I do love the 'airs' - or the tunes that are played in the style of an 'air' - or the pieces that are played rubato.

s1m0n · Post by **s1m0n** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 4:34 pm

Ceili_whistle_man wrote: I always thought Jock O' Hazeldean was a march? I must try it as an air, interesting!

In this form, it's actually a song. The first verse is traditional* and the rest were written by Sir Walter Scott to match it.

According to the fiddler's companion, Scott similarly adapted an earlier scots melody to fit his new words:

JOCK O' HAZELDEAN. Scottish, "Fling" or Air (2/4 time). F Major (Hardings): E Major (Neil). Standard tuning. AB (Neil): AABB (Hardings). The original melody can be found in the Leyden MS under the title "The Bony Brow," and an early version appears in Lady Margaret Wemmyss’ lute manuscript from the 1640’s under the title “My Lady Binnis Lilt.” The lyrics were substantially reworked (as was the melody), with additional words, by Sir Walter Scott, adding on to a stanza accredited to Thomas Pringle. They tell the tale of a young woman forced into an arranged marriage by her family who elopes on her wedding day with her true love, Jock O' Halzeldean. It was first published by Scott’s old music teacher, Alexander Campbell, and was also published in The Songs of Scotland (1854). Scott’s daughters were musical, and one, Sophia, copied ballad airs into her music book, among them “Jock O’ Hazeldean.” Purser (1992) remarks that her father loved to hear her sing it, preferring her rendition to Madame Caradori’s, and James Hogg reported that:

***
She loved her father so…I shall never forget the looks of affection

she would throw up to him as he stood leaning on his crutch and

hanging over her harp as she chaunted to him his favorite old

Border Ballads or his own wild Highland Gatherings…

***

Harding’s All Round Collection, 1905; No. 167, pg. 53. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 31, pg. 40. Lochshore CDLDL 1215, Craob Rua - “The More that’s Said the Less the Better” (1992).

*The FC claims Thomas Prongle, the father of south african poetry wrote the first verse. I'm not sure on what grounds.

Tia · Post by **Tia** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 7:00 pm

Berti66 wrote:Eamonn a' Chnoic : ned of the hill
blind mary (carolan tune)
and don't hate me for it: danny boy

yaa me to, sometimes when its not too cheesy and I like it more when its just instrumental
also lament for lost books and Give me her hand, think thats what its called anyways

WyoBadger · Post by **WyoBadger** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 7:37 pm

I Will Go Home to Kintail
Molly Halpin
Carrickfergus
The Job of Journeywork

That last isn't really an air. But I learned it from the Chieftains (we go way back, you know) and they perform it as an air. The first one I learned and still my favorite.

Tom

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 8:12 pm

By the Side of the Rock from the Dossan of Heather book of Packie Manus Byrne tunes. I've played this one at several funerals and it seems to fit. I love most everything in this book. Also from the same- and not technically an air, but it's a beautiful one- Home From France.

http://www.rogermillington.com/dossindex.html

As for haunting? Can't get anymore haunting than this- The Chieftans with Ry Cooder's version of Dunmoor Lassies from their Long Black Veil cd. You can hear a clip here- it's easy to get by ear and play along- again, technically perhaps not an air, but it's all in how you play the thing.

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Black-Veil-C ... dogpile-20

Tootler · Post by **Tootler** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 2:55 pm

s1m0n wrote:
Ceili_whistle_man wrote: I always thought Jock O' Hazeldean was a march? I must try it as an air, interesting!
In this form, it's actually a song. The first verse is traditional* and the rest were written by Sir Walter Scott to match it.

According to the fiddler's companion, Scott similarly adapted an earlier scots melody to fit his new words:

JOCK O' HAZELDEAN. Scottish, "Fling" or Air (2/4 time). F Major (Hardings): E Major (Neil). Standard tuning. AB (Neil): AABB (Hardings). The original melody can be found in the Leyden MS under the title "The Bony Brow," and an early version appears in Lady Margaret Wemmyss’ lute manuscript from the 1640’s under the title “My Lady Binnis Lilt.” The lyrics were substantially reworked (as was the melody), with additional words, by Sir Walter Scott, adding on to a stanza accredited to Thomas Pringle. They tell the tale of a young woman forced into an arranged marriage by her family who elopes on her wedding day with her true love, Jock O' Halzeldean. It was first published by Scott’s old music teacher, Alexander Campbell, and was also published in The Songs of Scotland (1854). Scott’s daughters were musical, and one, Sophia, copied ballad airs into her music book, among them “Jock O’ Hazeldean.” Purser (1992) remarks that her father loved to hear her sing it, preferring her rendition to Madame Caradori’s, and James Hogg reported that:

***
She loved her father so…I shall never forget the looks of affection

she would throw up to him as he stood leaning on his crutch and

hanging over her harp as she chaunted to him his favorite old

Border Ballads or his own wild Highland Gatherings…

***

Harding’s All Round Collection, 1905; No. 167, pg. 53. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 31, pg. 40. Lochshore CDLDL 1215, Craob Rua - “The More that’s Said the Less the Better” (1992).
*The FC claims Thomas Prongle, the father of south african poetry wrote the first verse. I'm not sure on what grounds.

The Ballad on which Scott very likely based his song can be found as Child Ballad 293, "John of Hazelgreen"

Geoff