> My questions: does anyone know where this tune came from? The Gaelic on the
> RR website is "Chi mi na mor-bheanna". What is the tune about? (I know what
> my Grandfather said it was about, but one time when I told the tale I was
> laughed out of the room...."That's not right! If you knew the Gaelic, you'd
> forget that story fast!")
The song was written in the mid-to-late 19th century by John Cameron of
Ballachulish, specifying the tune "Johnny's Too Long at the Fair" (which
I think is Northumbrian). It's about somebody returning to his homeland
and seeing its mountains. Still popular in both the original and in
English translation, it's been anthologized many times; I've got it in
_Coisir a Mhoid_ volume 1 1896-1912 ("arranged by John Bell Mus. Doc.",
who has a lot to answer for) but I don't know where it was originally
published. I doubt there's any traditional antecedent for the words,
they're too Victorian-post-romantic.
"Where the tune came from" is the easy one, i.e. England. Why the author
picked that tune rather than a Highland one is less answerable.
What's the RR website?
=================== <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> ===================
Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To
subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
