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Driven Bow: Alasdair Fraser & Jody Stecher
Alasdair Fraser joins forces with legendary
guitarist Jody Stecher in an album
featuring tunes taken mainly
from the 1884 publication
of The Athole Collection.
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1
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Lady Louisa Gordon (William Marshall) * Mrs Garden of Troup (Robert Petrie) * The Fisher's Wedding * Lady Harriet Hope * The Mill of Laggan
Mrs Garden of Troup is well known in Cape Breton, and the final three tunes are all in the Athole Collection. |
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2
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Blue Bonnets Over the Border * There Was An Old Woman Tossed Up in a Blanket * The Rock and the Wee Pickle Tow
There are many settings of the first tune, including a song by Sir Walter Scott and a pipe tune. The second and third tunes are very alike - possibly Irish and Scottish versions of a very old tune. A rock is a spinning wheel and tow a small piece of flax. |
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3
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Jessie Smith * The Braes of Mar * Jenny Dang the Weaver * Pretty Peggy
We play a four-part setting of The Braes of Mar which Jody pieced together from several Cape Breton players. This tune has been attributed to John Coutts of Deeside. Jenny Dang the Weaver was first published as Jenny Beguil'd the Webster in Orpheus Caledonius in 1733. |
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4
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Domhnall Dubh * The Nine Pint Coggie * Ladar Mor a' Chogain * Calum Finlay
Domhnall Dubh is a popular puirt-a-beul (mouth music) tune from the Scottish Gaidhealtachd (Gaelic-speaking area). The next two tunes, from the Athole Collection, refer to the cog or coggie, a wooden container made of staves. Calum Finlay is commonly played in Cape Breton. |
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5
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Father John MacMillan of Barra (Norman MacDonald) * The Devil in the Kitchen * Miss Drummond of Perth * MacKinnon's Rant * Traditional Reel * Margaree Reel
The first tune is one of the most popular tunes in the Highlands; The Devil in the Kitchen is often used for the Highland Fling. Miss Drummond of Perth, possibly written by Niel Gow, is better known in some Gaelic-speaking areas as Calum Crubach (lame Malcolm). The reels which follow were taken from the playing of Buddy MacMaster and are typical of the older Highland reels played in Cape Breton. |
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6
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The Conundrum (Peter MacLeod Jnr) * The Sprig of Ivy (B. Seton)
A couple of pipe marches.
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7
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Captain Campbell * Calum Breugach * King George IV * The King's Reel * Old Time Wedding Reels * The Cape Breton Symphony's Welcome to the Shetland Isles (Willie Hunter) * Father Francis Cameron (John Campbell) * Sandy MacIntyre's Trip to Boston (John Campbell)
The monster set! Captain Campbell appeared in print as early as 1789. Calum Breugach is played in Cape Breton and can be found in the Athole Collection. King George IV is a very old tune, attributed to Captain Daniel Menzies in K. N. MacDonald's Skye Collection of 1887; a Cape Breton setting is played here. The three Old Time Wedding Reels have become a standard medley in Cape Breton as a result of an old recording by Dan J. Campbell and Angus Allan Gillis. The first is without a title; the other two are Och a' Chaillain (Hamish the Carpenter) and Cuir's a' Chiste Mhoir Mi (Put Me in the Big Chest). |
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8
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The Lea Rig
The lea rig is the part of a field left in pasture. Best known as a song by Robert Burns. |
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9
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The McNeils of Ugadale (P/M John Mackenzie) * Dr Angus and Emily MacDonald's Trip to San Francisco (Alasdair Fraser) |
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All tunes traditional Scottish unless credited, arranged by Fraser/Stecher.
Produced by Fraser/Stecher. |
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Alasdair Fraser (fiddle)