Tunes for St. Andrew's Night

Subject: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night?
From: meself
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 01:35 PM

I'm preparing fiddle tunes to play for a St. Andrew's Night gig - for mainly ex-pat Scots in Canada. Now, I'm not worrying about having 'enough' material - but about having enough of the right material. I have a ton of Scottish dance tunes from the Cape Breton repertoire, but I'm not going to be playing for dancing, I don't think - more background music for the mingling and dining, and they want tunes that the (middle-aged) crowd will know. I've got lots of old folk songs & Burns songs in my head, but I don't know if that's enough to cut it. I'm wondering specifically if there are certain melodies -especially more modern ones (i.e. post-1900) - that I must or at least should be able to play to keep people happy. I have a fear of someone demanding some tune that 'everybody knows' but that I've never heard of ....

And while we're at it: any tunes that should be avoided for political/cultural reasons? When I used to sing Flower of Scotland back in the '70s, some of the Scots would stand, as for a national anthem - is that still done? If so, I don't want to play it during dinner!

Anyway: all suggestions welcome!

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: Jack Campin
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 01:57 PM

It isn't celebrated in Scotland so there are no traditional Scottish tunes associated with it. Make it up.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 02:39 PM

Try "Hector The Hero" by James Scott Skinner [1903]

A real tearjercker, composed on the death of a hero who was the victim of a hate campaign by the "he is not one of us" types who were not fit to lace his boots.

Jack--it may not be celebrated in Edinburgh but it is certainly celebrated in other parts of the country.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 02:45 PM

I know Hector the Hero (and various other Skinner laments & slow airs) - but is it one that is familiar to your average Scot-in-the-street?

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 03:02 PM

Sad to say but not many of our songs and tunes are now familiar to the average Scot in the street.

Too much of a piped alien "culture" now prevalent.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 03:09 PM

Yeah, that's why I'm wondering about more modern tunes ....

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: GUEST,Eddie1 - sans cookie as ever!
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 03:34 PM

Dougie McLean's "Caledonia?

Eddie

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 04:06 PM

Oh, yeah - thanks!

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: Allan Conn
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 05:14 PM

"Hector the Hero" does get played here in the Borders a fair bit. "Highland Cathedral" is another modern pipe tune -it was not written by Scots but is very popular here. What about something like "Callum's Road" or "Dundas Loch" Accordian tunes right enough but some fiddlers hereabout play them. Yes doing Flower of Scotland tends to get people singing so maybe not the best whilst actually eating. I think Jack is right in that there aren't tunes specifically for St Andrews Day. The day has only been a public holiday for about a decade and people don't celebrate it like the Irish do St Patrick's Day or even like the Scots celebrate Burns Night - but lots of people do mark it with maybe dinners etc. Quite low key though not totally ignored.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: Ged Fox
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 05:24 PM

How about "Caller Herrin'", St Andrew having been a fisherman?

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 05:47 PM

Thanks, Allan - I'll check out those tunes; I don't know them.

Ged Fox: is 'Caller Herrin' one that people know? That's really what I'm looking for. As I say, I've got lots of Scottish tunes, but I'm after 'popular' stuff.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: Jack Campin
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 05:57 PM

What were supposed to be the bones of St Andrew were sold to Nechtan, King of the Picts, by a travelling relic salesman - they subsequently got lost, so nobody's going to DNA test them and identify them as coming from a Dutch goat. But the spirit of the tradition says something like that hippie-rock number about furry things grooving with a Pict might be appropriate.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 06:07 PM

Thing is: I'm assuming no one's going to be interested in 'appropriate', or tradition, or St. Andrew, so I'm not. I just want tunes that will make someone say, 'Hey, I know that tune, and it's Scottish, and I'm Scottish! This guy's all right!' - or however that would translate into your favourite dialect.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: leeneia
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 06:14 PM

You've been given a tall order - to play songs strangers will know.

1. Plan A: ask the organizers for some suggestions. Then alternate songs with your Cape Breton tunes.

2. Plan B: visit Contemplator's Scottish page and look for good tunes. If you know some of the tunes there, chances are others know them.

http://www.contemplator.com/scotland/

3. IMHO, these are Scottish songs everybody knows

The Campbells are Coming
Loch Lomond
Where oh, Where has my Highland Laddie Gone?
Scotland the Brave
My love is like a red, red rose
Coming through the rye
Flow Gently Sweet Afton (tune written by an American)

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: GUEST,gutcher
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 06:39 PM

The guest/s above were I.

Have always found that the 1940s gaelic song/tune Mo Mhathair [My Mother] was appreciated by Gaels and non Gaels and widely known.
[There should be a wee stroke above the first a].

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 06:41 PM

In theory, it's not such a tall order - it's not just a random group of strangers; it's middle-aged Scots expecting to hear music they associate with Scotland. I know lots of the old chestnuts; my concern is that there may be more recently-composed melodies that have become popular enough in Scotland to be expected, without having become so well-known over here.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: Jack Campin
Date: 26 Oct 16 - 06:44 PM

the Saint himself on YouTube

(I've never heard him live - he's supposed to be brilliant).

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 27 Oct 16 - 04:00 PM

Refresh.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: GUEST,kenny
Date: 27 Oct 16 - 04:55 PM

"Mairi's Wedding" [ "Lewis Bridal Song" ]
"Skye Boat Song"
"Scotland The Brave"
"Mingulay Boat Song"
"Cam Ye By Atholl"
"Westering Home"
"The Flooers O' Edinburgh"
"The Soldier's Joy"
"The Atholl Highlanders"
"The High Road To Linton"
"The Jig o' Slurs"
"Wi' A Hundred Pipers..."
"Loch Lomond"
"Bluebell Polka"
"Northern Lights Of Aberdeen"
"The Drunken Piper"
"Miss Rowan Davies"
"The Laird O' Drumblair"
"The Fairy Dance"
"Niel Gow's Lament For His Second Wife"
"Kate Dalrymple"
"Kafoozalum"
"Orange And Blue"
"The Banks Of The Allan"
"Jessie Smith"
"The Barren Rocks Of Aden"
"Ho-ro My Nut Brown Maiden"
"Highland Laddie"
"The East Neuk O' Fife"
"The Lass O' Patie's Mill"
"My Love She's But A Lassie Yet"
"Loch Leven Castle"
"Tarbolton Lodge"
"Jenny Dang The Weaver"
"Pretty Peg"
"The Rose Amang The Heather" [ strathspey ]
"The Inverness Gathering"

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 27 Oct 16 - 05:18 PM

Thanks, Kenny - there are some there that I'd forgotten about, and some I'd never heard of.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: leeneia
Date: 27 Oct 16 - 08:25 PM

Recently composed melodies will be under copyright. Are they worth the hassle?

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 27 Oct 16 - 09:34 PM

So far I've never been hassled about copyright, so - I'm not worrying about it ... yet.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 28 Oct 16 - 05:39 AM

We found a tune called St Andrew's Day Parade on a sheet of music from a fiddle group, but no idea where it came from or who wrote it! Guessing it's from the American side of the pond as we don't do St Andrew's Day parades! (Though we DO celebrate St Andrew's Day in Edinburgh just a bit! Cafe Ceilidh in the Scottish Storytelling Centre 2pm on Tuesday 29th November for just one of several gigs!)
For a bit of fun, play "The Drunken Piper" slowly with lots of sliding on your strings to make it sound drunken!
And yes, "Hector the Hero" is well-known enough. Usually played in D around here, to suit the whistle players, but original key was A: nice to play it in the lower ictave first, then go up the octave for second time through.
And great list from Kenny.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 28 Oct 16 - 09:31 AM

What do you get if you really annoy an old sailor?

Salt ire.


I'll get my Macintosh.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: Jack Campin
Date: 28 Oct 16 - 10:03 AM

The Northern Lights of Aberdeen and the words to Westering Home (not the tune) are still copyright, but the rest of Kenny's list is public domain everywhere now.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: GUEST,DTM
Date: 31 Oct 16 - 08:24 AM

"The Rowan Tree"
"Nut Brown Maiden" (played slowly)
"Lochanside"
"Farewell To The Creeks" (aka "Banks Of Sicily")
"Battle of the Somme"

Some relatively new tunes (not necessarily pipe tunes)
"Colours Of Cape Breton" - Phil Cunningham
"Fires at Midnight" - Wendy Stewart

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: JMB
Date: 01 Nov 16 - 08:51 AM

Hills of Glenorchy is a common tune.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Nov 16 - 11:30 AM

I looked up St Andrews Day:

"30th of November
St. Andrew's Day is the feast day of Saint Andrew. It is celebrated on the 30th of November. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Cyprus, Scotland, Greece, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, San Andres Island, Colombia and Saint Andrew, Barbados."

Just think the of variety of music available for St Andrew's Night!
=======
Seriously, meself, please come back to the Mudcat and let us know what you selected and how the Night went.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: Jack Campin
Date: 01 Nov 16 - 01:25 PM

These folks will probably have some sort of knees-up in Edinburgh on St Andrew's Day:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrew%27s_Ukrainian_Catholic_Church

I've never been in it - apparently they have a memorial inside to a commander of the Ukrainian wing of the SS.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 01 Nov 16 - 01:31 PM

Oh, I haven't gone anywhere! Still here, following along - and thanks for all the contributions so far. The result to now is that I've been reminded of a number of melodies that I'd forgotten about, but that I already 'know' either in the sense of having deliberately learned to play them at some point in the distant past or having the sound of them back in the hidden recesses of my head. And, judging by this thread, there may be some newer stuff that would be suitable, but not imperative - so I think I can ignore a couple of tunes that don't appeal to me enough for the effort it would take me to learn them well enough to perform.

Now, the other part of the story is that I'm starting to think that this gig has fallen through - it needed to be confirmed by 'the club', and I haven't heard anything but crickets lately. So I'm trying to keep up some enthusiasm for getting the tunes up to speed, but .....

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 03 Nov 16 - 08:19 PM

What a shame: hope it all still happens after all this research!

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 03 Nov 16 - 10:22 PM

Well - Burns' Day/Night is just around the corner!

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: leeneia
Date: 04 Nov 16 - 09:21 PM

Meself, I suggest you call the venue and see if the event is still scheduled. Many people communicate so erratically* that waiting for the organizers to 'confirm' could be like waiting for Godot.

Besides, the purported gig gives you a reason to play your instrument. Never bypass the chance to play your instrument.
==========
*I play music for country dancers, and communicating with the potential musicians is like herding cats. I ask them questions, and they don't answer. I send them music, and they don't print it. To make up for it, they reply recklessly, sending mail to musicians who have clearly stated they won't be coming.

One month a musician wanted rehearsal to be at her house. I had to ask her for her address 4 times before she gave it to me. I think this kind of thing occurs because people are trying to use phones to do a computer's job.

Worst of all, they don't update their Re lines. Grrr!

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: meself
Date: 06 Nov 16 - 12:28 AM

I never need an excuse to play my instrument! However, I've got stuff I'm working on, and that's what I'd rather be working on, so ....

As for calling them up, etc., I have no doubt you're right about all that - but it's just not the way I operate. I let them know I'm willing and able - then if they aren't keen enough to get back to me, I let it slide. That's how I've become the international star I am today.

I get you about modern communication though. You ask, Shall we meet Monday or Tuesday? You get the answer: I can't meet Wednesday because I'll be busy all day. ... Jeesh!

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: JMB
Date: 07 Nov 16 - 01:23 PM

He's also the patron saint of fishermen. Fishing songs would be good too. John Allan Cameron's "Fisherman Song", The English version of Runrig's "An t-Iasgair" ("The Fisherman"). Those are some vocal ones.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: leeneia
Date: 07 Nov 16 - 11:24 PM

Meself, thanks for the chuckle you gave me! It is so nice to talk to somebody who knows what I'm going through with other people's tech foibles.

I'm happy to hear you are playing. I get the feeling that few people on the Mudcat ever actually make any music.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: GUEST,Big Englander
Date: 08 Nov 16 - 08:12 PM

So the Scots (bless 'em) get two bites of the proverbial cherry whilst poor old St George hardly ever gets a mention (23rd April by the way).
Cheers with tongue firmly stuck in cheek.

Subject: RE: Tunes for St. Andrew's Night
From: leeneia
Date: 08 Nov 16 - 09:46 PM

Actually, we have a thread for St George's Day every time it comes around. Check back in April.

Subject: Mo Mhathair
From: Felipa
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 04:56 PM

on 26 Oct 2016, guest Gutcher recommends the waltz tune "Mo Mháthair" Notation, a youtube link and the Gaelic-language lyrics are all on The Session site
https://thesession.org/tunes/13541