Origins: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Soldier

Subject: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Soldier
From: Zipster
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 04:58 AM

I have done a search on this, (I'm never very successful in digitrad, so apologies in advance if its already there.

I have the lyrics for this, and there, to an extent is the rub. This song will I'm sure for a certain generation of Scots always remind us of the sadly departed Andy Stewart. Unfortunately this genre of Scottish music, (White Heather Club and every Hogmanay show for many years)was not a true reflection of....well anything really. However I was at Murrayfield recently and on hearing a pipe band play it I realised what a truly rousing tune it is.

Ideally I would like to play it as an instrumental on guitar, but I don't have the musical ability to transpose the melody to chords. Can anyone help. If anyone furth of these isles isn't familiar with the tune, I do recommend it. Unfortunately as yet I don't know how to link to it.

Any help much appreciated.

Roger

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 05:11 AM

Can't help with guitar transcription, but I do know it was written by Rossini which is interesting.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: GUEST,Dave Williams, Guest
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 10:16 AM

Right. The melody is from Rossini's "William Tell", which, in the 180 years or so since it was written, has been produced in its entirety exactly once. The complete opera runs over 8 hours in length. I makes me wonder how many other delightful tunes are included somewhere in that mountain of music.

Zipster, I agree that this song may not be a true reflection of anything particularly Scottish, but I think it IS a reflection of a deep human feeling - that of a love and longing for _home_. The Welsh call something similar "hiraeth" (heer'-ithe)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: MMario
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 10:28 AM

an abc for the tune is at Detail.CFM?messages__Message_ID=103929

There are several abc programs out there (including one by Pavane) that will set chords to the melody.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Zipster
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 12:01 PM

Dave, my argument is not so much with the song, the sentiment is great (I might have known the Welsh wouild have a word for it) and the hook of hills not being hills of home I like a lot. I think it maybe deserves better as the rest of the lyrics tend towards the cheesy, (I think the rhythm of the melody perhaps encourages that). I think I'm just saying I consider it a bettter tune than a song.

I'm sure you'll understand that like many Scots I had a problem with the popular image of kilt/heather/shortbread as presented on TV throughout my childhood.

Mmario haven't investigated the links as yet but info looks great many thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Helen
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 05:58 PM

I've got the sheet music tucked away somewhere, and when I get a chance in the next day or so I will type in the chords - if no-one beats me to it.

Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 07:57 PM

Thanks Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: GUEST,sheryl
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 08:35 PM

Dear Roger, I have the bagpipe music for Green Hills of Tyrol. It is in the key of A. It does not have the guitar chords, just the bagpipe music including the grace notes. Let me know if that would be of any help to you, sincerely, Sheryl

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Art Thieme
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 12:21 AM

Good song. Good story. True for some. Not true for others. I used to sing it with just a banjo accompanyment.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: masato sakurai
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 09:16 AM

GREEN HILLS OF TYROL is in the DT. Bagpipe music played by the Notre Dame Bagpipe Band is HERE. No chords, but sheet music for bagpipes and MIDI are HERE.

~Masato

Subject: Chords ADD: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Soldier
From: Kenny B (inactive)
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 03:39 PM

Lyrics from the DT. Chords by 'Trial & Error' ;>)
The tune of 'Scottish Soldier' is different, at the end of the last line of the chorus, to the pipe tune

GREEN HILLS OF TYROL (DT Lyrics, Chords added)

[C]There was a soldier, a Scottish soldier
Who wandered [G7] far away and soldiered [C]far away
There was none bolder, with good broad shoulders,
He fought in [G7] many a fray and fought and [C] won

He's seen the glory, he's told the story
Of battles glorious and deeds victorious
But now he's sighing his heart is crying
To leave these green hills of Tyrol

cho:[C] Because these [F] green hills are not [C] highland hills
Or the [G7] Islands hills they're not [C] my lands hills,
As fair as [F] these green foreign [C] hills may be
They are [G7] not the hills of [C] home..

And now this soldier, this Scottish soldier,
Who wandered far away and soldiered far away
Sees leaves are falling, and death is calling
And he will fade away, on that dark land

He called his piper, his trusty piper
And bade him sound a lay, a pibroch sad to play
Upon a hillside but Scottish hillside
Not on these green hills of Tyrol

And now this soldier this Scottish soldier
Who wanders far no more, and soldiers far no more
Now on a hillside, a Scottish hillside
You'll see a piper play this soldier home

He's seen the glory, he's told the story
Of battles glorious and deeds victorious
But he will cease now, he is at peace now
Far from these green hills of Tyrol

---

Note from Joe Offer: these are the lyrics we have in the Digital Tradition (with chords added). Apparently, these lyrics were written by Andy Stewart, but the tune is traditional. There is no entry on this song in the Traditional Ballad Index.

Roud Number 13781, also called "Green Hills of Tyrol," is a different song.

---

Thread #613   Message #3958405
Posted By: Joe Offer
25-Oct-18 - 08:37 PM
Thread Name: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
Subject: ADD: Green Hills of Tyrol (broadside)

Well, just to confuse things a bit, there is a broadside with a completely different song with the same title.

GREEN HILLS OF TYROL

Green hills of Tyrol, again I see
The home of childhood so dear to me,
Again I press your verdant shade,
Where oft my footsteps have wildly strayed
    Once more I am near him
    My own one, my fond one
    Again I shall hear him,
    Love's accents repeat.
While to his sighs my heart replies,
And e’ery glance is soft and sweet.
Green hills of Tyrol &c.

From yonder woodlands sounding clear,
His merry bugle note I hear,
With eye of hawh and falcon keen,
He comes, be comes — my Tyrolien.
    Once more I behold him,
    My own one, my fond one,
    To my bosom I’ll fold him,
    My own Tyrolien.

Haste, haste, my love, why linger now,
The sun is shedding its parting glow,
The chamois seeks his peaceful shade,
And homeward wanders the mountain maid.
    Oh, come then, and cheer me,
    Again thou shalt hear me,
    Sing love’s tender strain,
While every note my lips repeat,
As soft and sweet tbou breathe again.

Hark, hark! I hear his well known cry,
While answering echoes makes reply.
Now, now he wavs his scarf so green,
He comes, he comes my own Tyrolien.
    Once more I behold him,
    My dear one, my fond one,
    To my bosom I'll fold him,
My own Tyrolien.


Bodleian Ballads has a number of broadsides with these same lyrics. Here's one: http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/static/images/sheets/05000/01125.gif

Roud 13781


Is there a standard melody that goes with these lyrics?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Helen
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 06:33 PM

I had a quick trawl through my boxes of music last night. Why didn't you ask me this two weeks ago, because I saw it then when I was looking for something else. (Murphy's Law: grin)

Anyway, thanks to Kenny B for the lyrics and chords. I'll still look for mine and compare the chords, if you like.

Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Helen
Date: 23 Feb 02 - 12:46 AM

A Scottish Soldier (Green Hills of Tyrol)

Key of C Major

/from sheet music copyrighted 1960 Intro (3 bars) //C G7 /
C G7 / C G7 / C Am7 / G7 /
C G7 / C G7 / C Am7 / G7 /
C G7 / C G7 / C Am7 / G7 /
C G7 / C G7 / C Am7 / G7 /

Chorus

C / F / C A7 / Dm G7 /
C / F / C A7 / Dm G7 /
C G7 / C G7 / C / /

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish
From: GUEST,Zipster sans cookie
Date: 24 Feb 02 - 09:43 AM

Many thanks Helen and Kenny B. Have just printed off and will start messing around on the 'tar.

Thanks again

Z(R)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 17 Oct 05 - 09:00 PM

...and this song with 5-string banjo backup will be on my soon to be CD to be called Art Thieme--CHICAGO TOWN AND POINTS WEST.

I figure that if you go west from Chicago, Illinois USA, eventually you might get to Scotland ;-)

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish
From: Reagle
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 10:03 AM

Its quicker to travel east at I did out of O'Hare a couple of years ago. Will this CD be available in all good music stores, Art.

R, (the 'catter formerly known as Zipster)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Mr Happy
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 07:09 PM

Don't understand what conflict Scottish soldiers would've been involved in, in the Tyrol- isn't it in Switzerland?

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Snuffy
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 08:33 AM

Scots (and most other nationalities) served as mercenaries in just about every European army.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Jim McLean
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 09:15 AM

The song was written by Andy Stewart and Iain McFadyen who was the 'boss' of BBC Scotland at the time, hence the use of a pseudonymn. The TYROL connection is, I assume, a nod to the composer Rossini's composition William Tell whence the tune.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish
From: Wolfgang
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 10:46 AM

Tyrol's in Austria and the Southern part now in Italy.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 10:55 AM

Reagle---

The CD will be on (and available from) Folk Legacy Records at www.folklegacy.com Also at some select discerning shops around the folk scene.

Thanks for asking.

Art

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Jim McLean
Date: 20 Oct 05 - 12:25 PM

Wolfgang is of course correct in saying that Tyrol's not in Switzerland but the William Tell Overture was first performed in 1829. It would obviously take a few years for Pipe Major J MacLeod(the composer) to hear this tune and adapt it as a pipe tune called The Green Hill of Tyrol. It would appear therefore,that it has nothing to do with Scottish mercenaries. I think, as I suggested, it was a nod to William Tell and Macleod probably thought Tyrol, with its mountains etc. and Switzerland was a common connection ... or maybe it was pure geographical ignorance, I don't really know.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Jim McLean
Date: 20 Oct 05 - 12:34 PM

PS. McLeod called his tune The Green Hills of Tyrol and it was Andy Stewart and Iain McFadyen who wrote the lyrics about a Scottish soldier (in the sixties I think), so it could be that MacLeod was really composing a tune about the Tyrol!

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish
From: GUEST,redhorse
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 04:57 AM

I saw the Rossini tune as a piano piece under the title "Tyrolean Dance" in a collection published in the fifties.
nick

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Jim McLean
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 05:32 AM

That's interesting, Nick. The credits for The Scottish Soldier say it was published in 1960 and there is no mention of the tune being trad. Stewart/McFadyen obviously knew it as a pipe tune and either assumed it was trad which would mean that the pipe major, to whom The Green Hills of Tyrol is accredited, had been dead for 50 (now 70) years which is unlikely or his contribution was ignored.

Subject: Tune Add: GREEN HILLS OF TYROL / TRIPPING DOWN...
From: clueless don
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 10:21 AM

None of the links given earlier in this thread worked for me, but I still get the impression that we are not talking about the tune "The Green Hills of Tyrol" that *I* know. This is a popular reel in Irish music circles, and is given in Henrik Norbeck's ABC collection as follows:

X: 1
T:Green Hills of Tyrol, The
T:Tripping down the Stairs
R:reel
Z:id:hn-reel-124
M:C|
K:G
BG~G2 BGAc|BGDC B,CDC|B,G,B,D ECEG|FDEF GFGA|
BGGF ~G3A|BGDC B,CDC|~B,3D ~E3G|1 FDEF G2GA:|2 FDEF G2ga||
|:bg~g2 egde|cdBc ABGA|FGEF DECD|B,CA,B, G,A,B,D|
GABc dBGB|ABcA BGDC|B,G,B,D ECEG|1 FDEF G2ga:|2 FDEF G2GA||
"variations"
|:BGGF ~G3c|BGDC B,EDC|B,G,B,D ~E3G|FDAF GFGA|
BGGF ~G3A|B2dB BAGD|~B,3D E2CE|1 FDEF G2GA:|2 FDEF G2ga||
|:bg~g2 egdg|caBg AfGe|FdEc DBCA|B,GA,F G,A,B,D|
GABc dBGB|ABcA BGDC|B,G,B,D ECEG|1 FDEF G2ga:|2 FDEF G2GA||


Don

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Jim McLean
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 01:23 PM

It's not your tune, Don. It's a slow march on the Scottish pipes and Andy Stewart sings to it a bit more up tempo.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: Jim McLean
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 01:26 PM

PS You'll find it here
http://ingeb.org/songs/thrwasas.html

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Green Hills of Tyrol/Scottish Sold
From: JennieG
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 09:16 PM

I heard this tune last night in a lovely arrangement, I think it was "Dances from William Tell" by Rossini arranged by someone else. The solo was a flute - not a bagpipe in sight. It was on a mostly classical station where some little gems turn up from time to time.

Cheers
JennieG