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11 Feb 97 - 10:10 PM (#2143) Subject: History of Celtic Songs From: Valery Malin What is a good source for the history behind Celtic songs? Appreciate any help!
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12 Feb 97 - 04:36 AM (#2149) Subject: RE: History of Celtic Songs From: Martin Ryan How long is a piece of string? Mention a few of the songs you are currently interested in and I might be able to point you in the right direction Regards |
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12 Feb 97 - 09:59 PM (#2169) Subject: RE: History of Celtic Songs From: Valery Malin Hello, Martin! Thanks for your reply. I was thinking more along the lines of books that give detailed information about the histories, along with the music. I currently have 2 such books of collections -- 1 is simply called "Irish Ballads" and goes into great detail about approximately 20 traditional Irish songs. The other is a Soodlum's "Irish Ballad Book", which gives much shorter backgrounds on about 100 songs. The reason behind all this is that we are Celtic musicians who want very much to be able to share the "histories" of the music we perform with our audience. Plus, we are all truly into our Celtic heritages. Hope this clarifies the request. Please let me know if I can do any research for you as well. A couple of songs we're curious about are "The Ramblin' Rover", "Nancy Whiskey" and "Red Is The Rose/Loch Lomond". I'm one of those people who lives & breathes Celtic music, so I'm sure I can think of some others later. There is a song on "The Best of the Bothy Band" whose English translation of the title is "The Twisted Rope" that I would LOVE to find the English translation for. Or even the actual Irish Gaelic lyrics, for that matter, as I could either translate them myself or ask one of the native Gaelic speakers that we know. Thanks, Martin! Val
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12 Feb 97 - 11:38 PM (#2179) Subject: RE: History of Celtic Songs From: Barry Ramblin Rover is from Andy Stewart.Nancy Whiskey is more of a morden version of the Carlton Weavers. Red Is The Rose goes aways back. The version I got came from Joe Heaney who said he got it from his grandfather. The tune is almost the same as Makem's. In the chorus he has clear is the water that flows from the stream. The verses are also slighty different from Makem's. Joe also stated that he belived the tune to be Irish and older than Loch Lomond. |
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13 Feb 97 - 11:20 AM (#2191) Subject: RE: History of Celtic Songs From: Martin Ryan Valery A good basic start would be two books called "Irish Street Ballads" and "More Irish Street Ballads" They wer bublished about 40 yrears ago but reprinted as a paperback a few years ago. Lots of songs, tunes and notes. Thre was also a set of small books by a publisher called Gilbert Dalton called "SOngs of COrk", "SOngs of Dublin" etc. Again, out of print but reissued. You can probably contact a suitable bookseller through the Net. The Digital Tradition itself is a great source - often showing up the connections between versions of a song as it wanders the world. Mind you, you have to remember that many "Irish" or celtic songs are in fact English or Scots - its just that we Irish kept singing them longer! Barry's message makes the same point, really. "Twisting the Rope" is a translation of a Gaelic song called "Casadh an tSugain". I'll find a text if I can. Regards Martin |
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15 Feb 97 - 04:43 PM (#2259) Subject: RE: History of Celtic Songs From: re Loch Lomond: Burn's version relates (allegedly, you can't be sure with these Romantics) to a letter he found dating from the '45 rebellion. The rebel writes to his girlfriend before his execution referring to the 'high' and 'low' roads as life and death, with the aim their idealised Scotland... It's nearer Scots than Celtic, though. |
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16 Feb 97 - 10:29 AM (#2272) Subject: RE: History of Celtic Songs From: Anne Cormack Valery, One of the best sources of information on Scottish songs is the five volume set "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads" edited by Frances Child. It's available in paperback and used to be published by Dover Publications Inc, 180 Varick Street, New York, N.Y. 10014. For more Scottish stuff, try "Ord's Bothy Songs and Ballads" published by John Donald Publishers Ltd, 138 St Stephen Street, Edinburgh, EH3 5AA Scotland. The Greig-Duncan Collection is also currently being brought out in several volumes - I'm not sure who is publishing it though. Anne |
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16 Feb 97 - 09:50 PM (#2289) Subject: RE: History of Celtic Songs From: Valery Malin Martin, Barry, Anne & Unknown, I really appreciate your replies & info! All of you are so knowedgeable -- we're curious about how you all got that way? Are you musicians, music teachers, from a Celtic nation or just "into" all this as much as we are? Our email address is given below, so if any of you nice people would like to drop us a line, please do so. Tell us about yourselves & if we have do anything to help you. The info you've provided is something we've been seeking for a long time! Thanks again! Val Malin vmalin@ix.netcom.com |
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04 Mar 97 - 02:27 AM (#2783) Subject: RE: History of Celtic Songs From: walkerje@aviano.af.mil Barnes and Noble is currenltly selling a paperback three-volume set of Scottish Folk Songs (words, chords, and melodies) with some historical notes in the back. They run something like $15.00 for the set. I have them and have used them extensively (e.g., Burns Night '97). Also, the "low road" referred to in Loch Lomond is the road the spirits travel, or the fairy road, which is why the guy who is about to die says he'll be back in Scotland before his surviving true love, who has to return by the earthly "high road." Jeff Walker |
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05 Mar 97 - 10:29 AM (#2849) Subject: RE: History of Celtic Songs From: Valery Malin vmalin@ix.netcom.com Thanks, Jeff! There is a Barnes & Nobles very close to our home (in Dallas, TX). I will give them a call (or a visit). Great price, too! Thanks also for the interesting explanation of "low road" -- I've always wondered what the expression meant & others probably have, too. My email address is above should you wish to contact us directly. We have a Celtic band & a rather large library of songbooks, music, etc. that might be of help to you. Collections are never quite large enough to cover everything, though, are they? Thanks again, Val
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