help needed! lively trad songs (irish)

Subject: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: mrsmac
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 10:05 AM

Hi folks,
i am trying to expand my repertoire of lively songs. I teach a couple of classes and i don't want 15 kids singing "P it stands for Paddy" etc. when it comes to competition time. i am particularly interested in songs that can be sung in fleadhs (so they'll have to be traditional.. which opens another can of worms!!) but anything you lot can think of would be great.

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: GUEST,Julia
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 10:16 AM

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: holmfirther
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 10:22 AM

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: GUEST,Julia
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 10:22 AM

oops!
You don't say how old these kids are, but here are a few suggestions-
I'll tell me Ma (when I get home, the boys won't leave the girls alone)
Goodbye Murshin Durkin(I'm sick an' tired o' workin')
The rattlin' Bog(the bog down in the valley-o)
Brian O'Linn(had no coat to put on)
The Little Beggarman(I am a little beggarman and beggin' I have been)

have fun and good luck

Julia

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: sciencegeek
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 10:38 AM

most of the lively ones are popular in the pubs, but there are a few that should work.

Wild Rover
Black Velvet Band
Wild Colonial Boy
Gilgary Mountain

and any number of rebel songs

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 01:42 PM

You don't say the age of the kids but for fleadhs I'd tend to stay away from the pop pub stuff, they've been well worn. When it comes to lively material, it's an area that traditional music didn't make a demand for it's use. In traditional styles you have the Street Singers, the National material, the Gaelic & post Galic & those infulenced by these & the more modern 20th century songs. A good percentage either concentrated on telling a story or on the melody. The styles of traditional singing showed off embellishment, ornamention, variations of rhythm & phrasing & the use of grace notes & then there's the straight foreword direct style that uses a minimum of decoration. This is a generalisation of course. Anyway these styles tend to leave behind the lively & roudy. Mind you I bring this up because you use the above the term traditional & for use at a fleadh. That said I'll toss in my 2 cnts worth of choices.

Swag All On My Shoulder (Irish-Aussie)
Limerick Rake
Darby O'Leary
Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore
Crooked Jack (contempory)
Rambling Irishman
The Night Before Larry Was Stretched
The Twangman's Revenge

Good Luck
Barry

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 05:01 PM

thanks Barry, The children range in age from 7 to 17. Some of the songs that i have given them so far are;
Jog along
going to mass last sunday
willie rambler
the road to clady
blackwaterside
the parting glass
the hiring fair (from omagh town onto strabane.. etc)
Sweet Omagh town
the one thing and the other
down the moor
tumblin' through the hay

unfortunately, i am as sick of listening to the above as they are of singing them. I just wish i could get my hands on 3 or 4 good strong songs. i was thinking of the rambling irishman.. any others????

Ciara

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: GUEST,Texas Guest
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 08:41 PM

This may help - or maybe not. I just finished a children's (?) CD,
"For Kids Of All Ages" with a friend of mine - Linda King, from the Dallas group, Amberhawk. The songs are not trad but they are all part of the Celtic community.
The list is:
A Place In The Choir
The Garden Song
The Pony Song
Leather Wing Bat
St. Patrick Was A Gentleman
Wynken, Blynken and Nod
The Orange And The Green
Molly Malone
Angels Around Your Bed
Unicorn Song
St. Brendan's Fair Isle
Waltzing With Bears
...any of these songs would work with children and I'd bet several of them are in the archives here and certainly on-line somewhere.
Have fun.

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 08:54 PM

Most are here, yes; but "mrsmac" did say that she needed traditional songs. It was a kind thought to list the contents of your cd, but most of the songs you mention are irrelevant to the question asked; though I'm sure that most would go down well with children. I doubt if any Fleadh would accept any of them, as most are not even remotely Irish; or "celtic", whatever you mean by that.

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: alison
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 02:06 AM

star of the county down

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: stallion
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 04:02 AM

Bouncy irish songs

Courtin' in the kitchen
Irish Rover
Henry my Son
The Green hills of Kerry

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: sciencegeek
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 10:57 AM

There are times when I wonder just where I missplaced my brain..:)

here is a link to the lyrics of a whole bunch of Irish songs.
http://m.nu/eirinn/ceol/

Take a poll of the kids & see which ones they want to tackle.

If you don't know the tune, go to the Session & see if you can find the music there. http://www.thesession.org/

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 01:55 PM

Lanigan's ball
Rocky road to Dublin
Galway races

I would imagine you know all the ones we do, is there any particular direction

Foster and allen do a lively one called

Green fields of Ireland
Also theres Donegal Danny
Catch me if you can
Eilleen Og is a nice lively thing - like the first three - a bit of a tongue twister

and of course
Phil the Fluters ball

hope this helps - I can't help but feel I'm stating the obvious.

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: mrsmac
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 03:13 PM

thanks everyone who posted for all your help. it is really difficult to maintain the interest of children as i'm sure you all know. I find it especially difficult with my pupils aged 12-15.. too interested in boys and not interested enough in singing!! your suggestions have been noted and i will use at least some of them.
thanks again! Ciara

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: Noreen
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 10:05 AM

Finding traditional songs suitable for youngsters to sing (at fleadhanna) has always been a problem, as you have found.

The first song I sang in competition at age 11 was 'My Bonny Cuckoo' (Si Beag Si Mór). Another lively one is 'The Little Red Fox'.

Girls aged 12-15 will likely be getting into the ballads like 'Mary on the Wild Moor' and 'Month of January' (abandoned females and ruthless males....), 'My Bouchailin Dhoun' and 'Carrigdoun' which are not too difficult. Shores of Lough Bran, Lough Sheelin Side (going through the songs I sang as a teenager here).

Not a lot of lively ones though, sorry. There didn't used to be a requirement then for lively songs at a fleadh.

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: mrsmac
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 03:26 PM

noreen, i did a workshop today and every child (there were 11) told me they were going to sing "the month of january" in the fleadh. I pity the adjudicator!!2 of my own pupils are singing "the green linnet" and "Donal Og", in the same age group 12-15. I, like you never had much need for lively songs when i came up through the ranks, thankfully. The idea of adding lively songs to the singing competition was ok in principle ie to stop them dying out. However, in comparison to the standard of ballads, the lively songs i hear are very poor. too many times i've been faced with an excellent performance of a ballad and a fair to middling lively song - they just don't suit everyone, and i would love to see that addressed.

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: squeezeboxhp
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 05:08 AM

the old green backed clancy brother's song book is allways a good starting point if you can still get hold of one

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: Artful Codger
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 10:23 PM

The Devil and Bailiff McGlynn - does this qualify as traditional? Words by Cathal McGarvey (1866-1927), to a traditional tune, Moll Roe / Mall Ruadh / Red-haired Mary. It's clean enough for children to sing, naughty enough to keep their interest. And it'd be a bit of a challenge to arrange, so it wouldn't end up sounding like other, more pat pieces.

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 12:24 PM

http://www.liveireland.com/studio.shtml

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: GUEST,Rikki
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 12:28 PM

Sorry, I tried to make the liveireland.com a blue clicky but failed.
Anyway, this site plays great Irish traditional 24-7 and also has a chat. The people do not discuss music as in depth as here but you can find out who is singing or playing the songs in the moving stream.
I hope you will enjoy it.
Rikki

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: Big Mick
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 12:36 PM

I would think that one could pick up a CD of Frank Harte's Dublin Street Ballads and find quite a bit of material that would be useful and usable. I would think that The Finding of Moses would be one.

Mick

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: Felipa
Date: 11 Nov 21 - 01:52 PM

reading hrough the messages. twelve years old strikes me as young to be performing The Month of January, and Tumblin' through the Hay doesn't strike me as a song for the younger teens either. Any other views on the propriety of songs for young folk?

It was coming up to Saturday and all would get their pay,Aye, and all these jolly hay makers were feeling blithe and gay,The number of these hay makers as near as I can sayWere five and twenty boys and girls a-tumbling through the hay.

(Chorus)

When nine short months were over and all was passed and gone,
There were five and twenty boys and girls a-making their sad moan,
Hush-la ba-baby these fair maids did say,
And many a time they wished they ne'er had tossed among the hay.

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 12 Nov 21 - 01:03 PM

I know my love (by his way of walking) is a nice lively song, and it might appeal to some of your eleven year old girls because, despite the tune, it's still all about some lad that doesn't appreciate the singer enough.

I've heard it sung on recordings by The Corries and Jon Boden, but apparently it originates from Ireland.

Subject: RE: help needed! lively trad songs (irish)
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 12 Nov 21 - 01:15 PM

Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead

Well, the tunes lively anyway:-)