Lyr Add: A Scottish Soldier / Green Hills of Tyrol

Subject: Green Hills of Tyroll
From: Alexander (Sandy) Wilkinson
Date: 28 Jan 97 - 10:10 AM

Anyone got the words for this?

Subject: Lyr Add: A SCOTTISH SOLDIER (Andy Stewart)
From:
Date: 28 Jan 97 - 05:14 PM

I'm not sure if this is what you're after - it's on the net at http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1690/lyrics.html

Tony Hurley
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A SCOTTISH SOLDIER (GREEN HILLS OF TYROL)
Words by Andy Stewart, arranged by Iain MacFadyen, ©1960
As recorded by Andy Stewart

1. There was a soldier, a Scottish soldier,
Who wandered far away and soldiered far away.
There was none bolder, with good broad shoulder.
He'd fought in many a fray and fought and won.
He'd seen the glory; he'd told the story
Of battles glorious and deeds victorious,
But now he's sighing; his heart is crying
To leave those green hills of Tyrol.

CHORUS:
Because those green hills are not highland hills
Or the island hills, they're not my land's hills,
And fair as these green foreign hills may be,
They are not the hills of home.

2. 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 in that far 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 those green hills of Tyrol.

CHORUS: Because those green...etc.

3. And now this soldier, this Scottish soldier,
Will wander far no more, and soldier far no more,
And on a hillside, a Scottish hillside,
You'll see that piper play his soldier home.
He's seen the glory; he's told the story
Of battles glorious and deeds victorious.
The bugles cease now; he is at peace now,
Far from those green hills of Tyrol.

CHORUS: Because those green...etc.

REPEAT CHORUS

Subject: RE: Green Hills of Tyroll
From: Tom G
Date: 30 Jan 97 - 01:15 AM

A couple of minor corrections to the above, verse two: Fade away in that far (not dark) land. Bade him sound a lay (not away). A lay is a tune on the bagpipes and a pibrock (note spelling) is a dirge or sad, slow song. The bugles cease now (not but he will cease now). This is sung by a Scottish singer/guitarist named Alex Beaton, whose recordings are always good.

Subject: RE: Green Hills of Tyroll
From: Sandy Wilkinson
Date: 30 Jan 97 - 09:36 AM

Thanks for the response guys. Ehm, Tom, there's bits of yours I don't understand. I'm a Scot who has been playing the pipes for some 22 years in grade 1 pipe bands. I've never heard of a "lay". Well not in that context anyway. Tony's spelling of pibroch is fine for English. "Pibrock is, well, ehm, wrong. A pibroch isn't a dirge or sad, slow song. It's more like an exercise made up of a number of variations on a central theme (like classical music). There are various long running arguments as to it's origins or validity. Some would say it's decended from the ancient MacCrimmons. Others would say it was the produce of a madman who was the personal piper to Queen Victoria. Either way it's an established artform which is pretty difficult to play. Personally I prefer the Ceol Beg to the Ceol Mor.

Sandy

Subject: RE: Green Hills of Tyroll
From: Tom G
Date: 30 Jan 97 - 09:56 PM

Don't know why above message got posted twice!

I won't argue scottish songs with anyone named Sandy, but my source is an Alex Beaton CD containing the song, which includes the lyrics and annotations of the unusual words. It defines "lay" as I have above and spells pibrock, which it defines as a slow,sad song or dirge(and so does my dictionary!)

Since a lot of "real" scots have no use for Alex Beaton, maybe he is not that good an authority. He plays and sings good, though!

Tom

Subject: RE: Green Hills of Tyroll
From: Sandy
Date: 31 Jan 97 - 06:31 AM

Must say I've not heard of Alex Beaton. For the record though, the true spelling of Pibroch is Piobaireachd.

Thanks for your help,

Sandy.

Subject: RE: Green Hills of Tyroll
From:
Date: 01 Feb 97 - 07:17 PM

As long as we're correcting, the first line of the second verse should begin, "Because these green hills are not Highland hills, not the Islands' hills, they're not my land's hills". And the correct spelling is "Tyrol".

A lay is a long narrative poem or song. The word comes from French, and I don't particularly associate it with Scotland, except that Sir Walter Scott made himself famous with "The Lay of the Last Minstrel".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Scottish Soldier (Andy Stewart)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Oct 18 - 11:38 AM

Andy Stewart wrote this song, as he says in this video on YouTube. In the video he refers to it by the title A SCOTTISH SOLDIER and it appears that way on all the recordings carried by Spotify (and there are many; he seems to have recorded it more than once, and his recordings appear in many collections) but it appears on the sheet music as A SCOTTISH SOLDIER: GREEN HILLS OF TYROL, as can be seen in the catalog entries of several libraries here (I haven’t seen the actual sheet music; it is still under copyright and therefore not viewable online).

Interestingly, the songwriting credit from the sheet music says: “words by Andy Stewart ; arranged by Iain MacFadyen”; it doesn’t specifically identify the music. From this I infer that Stewart probably fitted his words to a traditional pipe tune, but I don’t recognize the tune.

There happens to be an entirely different song called GREEN HILLS OF TYROL with words by George Linley and music by G. Rossini, published “between 1827 and 1836.” You can see the sheet music at Internet Archive, and other places. This song seems to have nothing to do with Scotland. Tyrol is in Austria.

I have edited the above lyrics to add the songwriting credit, and have made some corrections to the text, so that it should now exactly agree with what Stewart sings.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Scottish Soldier (Andy Stewart)
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 25 Oct 18 - 11:43 AM

Wonder if anybody can remember the anti-war parody from CND days, which began - There was a soldier, a British soldier" - I think that was Scots too
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A Scottish Soldier (Andy Stewart)
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 25 Oct 18 - 07:03 PM

There are literally dozens of images of sheet music of the retreat march pipe tune "Green Hills of Tyrol" on Google and other search engines, transcribed by Pipe Major J Macleod. It is also slightly different from how Andy Stewart sang it.
See also- pasted from another website:
The Green Hills of Tyrol is one of the best known, and oldest, tunes played by pipe bands today. It was originally from the opera "William Tell" by Rossini, but was transcribed to the pipes in 1854 by Pipe Major John MacLeod after he heard it played by a Sardinian military band when serving in the Crimean War with his Regiment, the 93rd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

Subject: ADD: Green Hills of Tyrol (broadside)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Oct 18 - 08:37 PM

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: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: Jim McLean
Date: 26 Oct 18 - 03:33 AM

Tattie Bogle is correct. Just to add a bit, Iain MacFadyen was the head of BBC Scotland when Andy wrote the tune and gets credits for editing "arranging" the trad tune Green Hills of Tyrol. This way he shared royalties with Andy and it was a quite lucrative "arrangement" considering the amount of plays given by The BBC.

Subject: RE: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Oct 18 - 06:44 AM

The tune "Green Hills of Tyrol" is in Kerr's first collection of Merry Melodies. p51. I knew I had it somewhere, though I'm sure I also have a different version of it somewhere. I'll keep looking.
Richard

Subject: RE: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: leeneia
Date: 26 Oct 18 - 01:53 PM

I'm going to be vague here. A couple of years ago I tried out an old piece of music, maybe a country dance, maybe a baroque piece, maybe a German tune. And I said to myself "Funny! That's the tune to the Green Hills of Tyrol."

I wish I could remember where I encountered the tune, but I can't. Nonetheless, the reason they say that Iain MacFadyen arranged is that he didn't compose it, he borrowed it.

Subject: RE: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: leeneia
Date: 26 Oct 18 - 01:58 PM

Re spelling: German speakers spell it Tirol. We spell it Tyrol.

Check out this. Beautiful yodeling!

Andi

Subject: RE: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: Jim McLean
Date: 27 Oct 18 - 03:32 AM

Leeneia, by saying he arranged a public domain, traditional, song MacFadyen can claim copyright on that version thus sharing all royalties with Andy Stewart.

Subject: RE: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: leeneia
Date: 27 Oct 18 - 10:08 PM

I'm just explaining why it says arranged by him rather than composed.

Subject: RE: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Oct 18 - 01:24 AM

If it was the Crimean War (1853 to 1856) then it would have been the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders came into existence with the Childers Reforms in 1881.

Subject: RE: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: Jim McLean
Date: 28 Oct 18 - 03:36 AM

Leeneia, I'm agreeing with you, I was only explaining why MacFadyen and Andy Stewart decided on how to split the royalties.

Subject: RE: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: leeneia
Date: 29 Oct 18 - 09:59 AM

Okay. Thanks

Subject: RE: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: GUEST,Jon Bartlett
Date: 29 Oct 18 - 06:20 PM

The answer to this song is Hamish Henderson's magnificent "Freedom Come All Ye" with the lines:

Nae mair will the bonnie callants
Mairch tae war when oor braggarts crousely craw,
Nor wee weans frae pit-heid and clachan
Mourn the ships sailin doon the Broomielaw.
Broken faimlies in lands we’ve herriet
Will curse Scotland the Brave nae mair, nae mair;
Black and white, ane til ither mairriet
Mak the vile barracks o their maisters bare.

Jon Bartlett

Subject: RE: ADD:Scottish Soldier/Hills of Tirol - Andy Stewart
From: Jim McLean
Date: 30 Oct 18 - 03:37 AM

Unfortunately, Jon, it doesn't work. The "Jock" is still proud to fight in the Falklands, Afghanistan or wherever for Queen and country. When will they ever learn, eh?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Scottish Soldier / Green Hills of Tyrol
From: leeneia
Date: 17 May 23 - 04:23 PM

I have a little collection called 'the Waltz Book' by Bill Matthiesen, and on page 46 is a tune called 'Spanish Waltz.' The B part of the waltz is the music for the chorus of 'Green Hills of Tyrol.'

The A part of the song and of the dance seem unrelated.

Matthiesen says "The tune goes back at least to the 1820's but is still popular at vintage dances today to accompany a waltz-circle mixer of the same name."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Scottish Soldier / Green Hills of Tyrol
From: Lighter
Date: 18 May 23 - 12:28 PM

Rossini's melody was published in New York as "Cinderella Waltz" in 1831.

This is unfortunately the only audio I can find online:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDpM050ppy0

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Scottish Soldier / Green Hills of Tyrol
From: leeneia
Date: 23 May 23 - 05:43 PM

Here's a video of people dancing to the "Spanish Waltz" I mentioned. The piece has three parts, and the music used for "Green Hills of Tyrol" is the B and C parts. It starts at 1:22.

The A part is a mazurka. It's in 3/4 time, but the stress is on the second or third beat most of the time.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Scottish Soldier / Green Hills of Tyrol
From: Lighter
Date: 23 May 23 - 06:59 PM

This one, Leeneia?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsuh08jefds

The tune seems never to have caught on widely in the U.S. outside of "William Tell."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Scottish Soldier / Green Hills of Tyrol
From: GUEST,Dave Hanson
Date: 26 May 23 - 09:31 AM

Bloody awful song IMHO.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Scottish Soldier / Green Hills of Tyrol
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 26 May 23 - 08:03 PM

I don’t regard it as THAT bad, but much prefer just playing the tune as played by pipe bands.