Origin: Shepherd's Wife Waltz

Subject: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: GUEST,JMRnky
Date: 30 Apr 02 - 02:51 PM

Does anyone know the origin of "The Shepherd's Wife Waltz"? This is not the same as "The Shepherd's Wife" on the lyics list. Thanks for any help you may be able to give. JMRnKY

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: Jim Krause
Date: 30 Apr 02 - 02:56 PM

Oh boy, what a beautiful waltz. I learned it back in the early '70s from a fellow student who came from Boston. I have never heard anybody else play it but him. I'll be watching this thread in hopes you find an answer.
Jim

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 30 Apr 02 - 07:59 PM

I heard a man from Texas (first name Dana) play this on the hammered dulcimer. It was a beautiful piece. I tried to find a MIDI on the Net but couldn't. Does anybody of a site with a MIDI file or sheet music for this waltz?

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: ciarili
Date: 30 Apr 02 - 08:15 PM

Geez, an abc would be great...now I really wanna hear this!

ciarili

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: Sorcha
Date: 30 Apr 02 - 08:21 PM

Primarily recorded by somebody named Dulcimer Dan......
Fiddle Tab here. (Fiddle tab means less than nothing to me but I guess I could learn it.)
RA or MP3 file here.
Sheet music (Third book) here.
Guitar? tab here.

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 30 Apr 02 - 09:01 PM

Rather to my surprise, I've been playing this for years with one of the ceilidh bands; never knew what it was called until now. It's always reminded me strongly of I Belong to Glasgow; so far as I know, it's Scottish. You can find sheet music, midi, abc and so forth at JC's Tunefinder.

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 01 May 02 - 03:02 AM

Leeneia, the player you are thinking of is Dana Hamilton.

http://users2.ev1.net/~dcturner/grfest.htm upcoming Lone Star State Dulcimer Festival info (Dana is festival manager)

http://www.fb-biz.com/loosechange.htm short bio

http://home.earthlink.net/~otfiddler/pages/recordings.html info on some of his recordings here, including Shepherd's Wife Waltz

Jim, the only people I have ever heard play it would be mutual acquaintances. You would likely have seen them at the Ole Applegate Place, SDC, and perhaps other places as well. I don't recall that they ever told me their source for the piece. If I think of it, I will ask when I write to them next. I vaguely recall someone else in the Mountain View area playing it, but can't think who it would be at the moment.

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: GUEST,JMRnKY
Date: 01 May 02 - 11:54 AM

Thank you all for your help. Aother friend also found references on Ceolas:Fiddler's Companion but I'm not sure it is the same tune.

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: Jim Krause
Date: 01 May 02 - 02:36 PM

Guest Dale, would the person in the Mountain View AR. area you are thinking of be DeeAnn Gillispie?
Jim

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: GUEST,Guest DD
Date: 01 May 02 - 04:57 PM

The tune known as The Shepherds's wife Waltz is the Robert Burn's song A rosebud by my Early Walk, and has been around in Scotland for a couple of centuries or more. DD

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 02 May 02 - 01:57 PM

No, it wasn't DeeAnn as I remember it, though that is a possibility. I'll try to check it out when I go up tomorrow. By the way, Jim, did you know she plays the banjo now?

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 May 02 - 05:07 PM

To Malcolm Douglas: I went to JC's Tunefinder, but it says there are no matches for shepherds wifes waltz, shepherds wife, or even shepherd. There must be a trick to this.

To DD: Robert Burns wrote poems, wrote songs. Maybe someone put his rosebud poem to music, but if so, the tune was either already around or someone made it up to fit the words. Usually, people use a tune that's already around so as to reduce the effort of promulgating the work.

To Dale: You're right, it was Dana Hamilton. A good musician and teacher.

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 May 02 - 05:41 PM

Leenia, don't know what went wrong, but this link should take you to the choices for Shepherd's Wife. If you click on the GIF, wait for it to load, then click on MIDI, you can minimized the midi player screen and watch the sheet music while you listen.

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 02 May 02 - 09:44 PM

I'm afraid I mis-typed the link; sorry about that. Sorcha has sorted it, though; you must just have been unlucky getting no results for shepherd's wife. It may be called a waltz now, but was probably not originally written as one, so that part is maybe best left out of a search.

The tune Burns used for A Rosebud by my Early Walk bears no resemblance that I can hear to Shepherd's Wife; maybe DD and I are thinking of two different tunes, or perhaps -as often, with Burns- the song was later set to a different tune.

Subject: RE: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 May 02 - 11:35 PM

Thanks to Malcolm and Sorcha, I have now copied this piece to Noteworthy. We will be playing it next Sunday, I'm sure.

Subject: RE: Origin: Shepherd's Wife Waltz
From: GUEST,John F
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 05:55 PM

I just played it after dinner with friends as a way to demo my five string fiddle. There was an Irish woman there who remembered the tune with a different name, but couldn't remember what. I will see her again tomorrow, so perhaps she will remember by then.