Re: [scots-l] Tempi and other not so dumb questions
Stuart wrote: > The retreat march is not, as Stan suggests, necessarily a march time tune > which would be marched to - as often as not it was played as part of the > evening ritual in the military camp as day duties gave way to night ones. > It > was not linked to the military manoeuvre of retreating in or from battle > but > was linked to the idea of refuge and safety in the camp. Some contemporary > players, assuming that the retreat march is to be marched to, crank it up > to ... This is from a note to a CD by the Household Division (they do the Changing of the Guard stuff I think): - The beating or sounding of Retreat has its origins in the sixteenth century when it was possibly the same ceremony as Tattoo, 'ye retrete to beat att 9 att night and take it from ye garde'. A book of 1598 says 'ye Drumme Major will advertise (by beate of Drum) those require for watch'. In the seventeenth century the Drummers are 'to beate the Retreat through the large street and to be answered by all the dummerrs of ye Gardes'. Nowadays the ceremony, usually at sunset, denotes the end of the working day and heralds the mounting of the Guard. - There you are then. My most memorable retreat was at Gleneagles during the 1977 Conference of Commonwealth Prime Ministers, when I watched the retreat being beaten with Pierre Trudeau. Derek Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [scots-l] Optional snaps and Wendel's Wedding
Peter wrote: > This reminds me of an earlier post, which gave an abc of Tony Cuffe's > tune, Wendel's Wedding. By the way, I'm very glad to have that, and > grateful for that post. Anyway, I noticed that in the first part of the > tune, most of the "pairs" of notes were weighted, either long-short or > short-long, while in the first line of the B-part, there were few if any > weightings in the pairs. I assumed that was intended, and have got used > to playing it that way. Now I wonder whether some freedom of > interpretation would be intended here. I've heard the tune on the radio, > but so long ago that I can't remember that kind of detail. Any > information welcome, sorry Peter, I missed this till now. I posted the tune so feel obliged to respond... I transcribed the tune from memory, and that's how I'd heard it played. Using strong 'pointing' (dotted notes) for some phrases, and rounding out others is used a lot by traditional players to give variety. Try playing Wendel's Wedding in that dotted way right through and you'll see. Personal interpretation is a big part of that, but depends a lot on whether you're playing with others, which restricts your scope. I tend to add pointing to phrases in reels where it won't usually be written. Making some notes small helps emphasise the note before or after if you want to give it more attack. How you do it is largely a matter of personal style. Derek Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [scots-l] Gaelic Help, Please?
A long time ago, Nigel wrote: > A couple more tunes from The Wick Scottish Country Dance Band - I > wonder if anyone can decipher the Gaelic for me? Addie Harper's > Hawaiian guitar has to be heard to be believed! He plays a mean tenor > banjo > > X:320 > T:Innis Dhombs' Ca'l Cadal > D:Wick S.C.D., The Sound of the North (1970) > O:Scotland > Z:Nigel Gatherer > L:1/8 > M:4/4 > K:A > ff e>def e>d B2|ff e>dee d>B A2:| > Ad e>df>d|Ad e>d B2|Ad e>df>d|Ae d>B A2:| Just catching up with a load of old messages. This tune is also known as the strathspey 'Macanirish'. Not sure of the origin or spelling because I have it by ear from a piper. Derek Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
RE: [scots-l] Hermitages
> A hermitage would originally have been the home > of a hermit, or holy man who placed himself in seclusion for religious > reasons. As such, they often became sacred sites at a late stage. Im > not sure why either Dunkeld or Lord Breadalbane should be associated > with them. The word isnt specifically English the Spanish equivalent > is La Ermita, so its probably of Latin origin. Spain has hundreds of > them, usually dedicated to local or national saints. A book about hermits etc was serialised on BBC Radio 4 a few weeks ago. >From my memory, the story goes something like this... There is of course an ancient history of hermits, etc, often people of religious persuasions. The 'Hermitage' though comes from the court of Louis XV, who had a retreat built as a place of refuge from the excesses of Versailles. This supposedly simple and rustic retreat was called L'Hermitage. It got popular, and bigger, as more hingers-on moved to be close to their king... >From this, a craze for such things spread across Europe, and a genuine Hermitage became de rigeur for any aspiring aristo. They sprung up like the 'follies'. Usually a small stone thing, preferably cave-like and set in the remotest part of one's estate. Visited a beauty a few weeks ago on the south side of Loch Tay. Those with sufficient cash would also employ a hermit. One such was taken on, and offered wages and full board and lodging, on condition that he never cut his hair or shave his beard. He did a bunk shortly after getting his first pay packet. Not sure where hermits go these days, since all the lighthouses were made automatic. Derek Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [scots-l] Composers
Nigel wrote: > According to Jerry Holland, Altan credit Derry fiddler Dermot > McLaughlin as the source, but the title suggests he got it from > elsewhere. Aly Bain played a set of "The Hawk" by James Hill going into > a Shetland version of "The Hawk", and I'd bet that that was the > original source. More likely. The Shetland Fiddler was around in the mid-70s at least. Aly Bain recorded the Hawk with Alistair Anderson on the 1972 album 'Alistair Anderson plays English concertina'. Trailer LER 2074. He plays it in G (the notes say this is a Northumbrian version learned from Billy Pigg, N pipe legend) and D (a Shetland version). Hill's original is in E. The Shetland Fiddler is like the D version, with the second part changed to make it easier, and maybe a little funkier. Other tunes... > Lady Dorothy Stewart (jig) Credited to Aeneas Rose (1832-1905) pipe major of the Atholl Highlanders. Written for Lady D (daughter of said Duke) on her marriage to Harold Ruggles-Brise. Don't know how many tunes he had named after him. Written as a 6/8 march, by the way. Source is said to be in D Glen's Collection, vXI. My source is J Murray Neil's The Scots Fiddle v1. > Birsay Beach (jig) Recorded by Jim Cameron Band and the Wrigleys, but source unknown. Birsay Beach is in Orkney. Derek Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
