Alasdair
Fraser joins forces with legendary
guitarist Jody Stecher in an
album
featuring tunes taken
mainly
from the 1884 publication
of The Athole Collection.
1
Lady Louisa Gordon (William
Marshall) * Mrs
Garden of Troup (Robert
Petrie) * The
Fisher's Wedding * Lady
Harriet Hope * The
Mill of Laggan
Mrs Garden of Troup is well known in Cape Breton, and
the final three tunes are all in the Athole Collection.
2
Blue
Bonnets Over the Border * There
Was An Old Woman Tossed
Up in a Blanket * The
Rock and the Wee Pickle
Tow
There are many settings
of the first tune,
including a song by
Sir Walter Scott and
a pipe tune. The
second and third tunes are very alike - possibly Irish
and Scottish versions of a very old tune. A rock
is a spinning wheel and tow a small piece of flax.
3
Jessie
Smith * The
Braes of Mar * Jenny
Dang the Weaver * Pretty
Peggy We play a four-part
setting of The Braes of Mar
which Jody pieced together
from several Cape Breton
players. This tune
has been attributed to John
Coutts of Deeside. Jenny
Dang the Weaver was first
published as Jenny Beguil'd
the Webster in Orpheus Caledonius
in 1733.
4
Domhnall Dubh * The
Nine Pint Coggie * Ladar
Mor a' Chogain * Calum
Finlay
Domhnall Dubh is a
popular puirt-a-beul
(mouth music) tune
from the Scottish Gaidhealtachd
(Gaelic-speaking area). The next two tunes, from the Athole Collection,
refer to the cog or coggie, a wooden container made
of staves. Calum Finlay is commonly played in
Cape Breton.
5
Father
John MacMillan of Barra (Norman
MacDonald) * The
Devil in the Kitchen * Miss
Drummond of Perth * MacKinnon's
Rant * Traditional
Reel * Margaree
Reel The first
tune is one of the
most popular tunes
in the Highlands; The
Devil in the Kitchen
is often used for the
Highland Fling. Miss
Drummond of Perth, possibly
written by Niel Gow, is better
known in some Gaelic-speaking
areas as Calum Crubach (lame
Malcolm). The reels
which follow were taken from
the playing of Buddy MacMaster
and are typical of the older
Highland reels played in
Cape Breton.
6
The
Conundrum (Peter
MacLeod Jnr) * The
Sprig of Ivy (B.
Seton)
A couple of pipe marches.
7
Captain
Campbell * Calum
Breugach * King
George IV * The
King's Reel * Old
Time Wedding Reels * The
Cape Breton Symphony's
Welcome to the Shetland
Isles (Willie
Hunter) * Father
Francis Cameron (John
Campbell) * Sandy
MacIntyre's Trip to
Boston (John
Campbell)
The monster set! Captain Campbell appeared in
print as early as 1789. Calum Breugach is played
in Cape Breton and can be found in the Athole Collection. King
George IV is a very old tune, attributed to Captain
Daniel Menzies in K. N. MacDonald's Skye Collection
of 1887; a Cape Breton setting is played here. The
three Old Time Wedding Reels have become a standard
medley in Cape Breton as a result of an old recording
by Dan J. Campbell and Angus Allan Gillis. The
first is without a title; the other two are Och a'
Chaillain (Hamish the Carpenter) and Cuir's a' Chiste
Mhoir Mi (Put Me in the Big Chest).
8
The Lea Rig The lea rig is the
part of a field left in pasture. Best
known as a song by Robert
Burns.
9
The
McNeils of Ugadale(P/M
John Mackenzie) * Dr
Angus and Emily MacDonald's
Trip to San Francisco(Alasdair
Fraser)
All
tunes traditional
Scottish unless credited,
arranged by Fraser/Stecher.
Produced by Fraser/Stecher.
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