Red Haired Boy - Fiddle Tune a Day

Red Haired Boy - Fiddle Tune a Day - Day 130

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Күн бұрын

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Tonight, I went to the Fort Collins String Teachers' Association meeting, and when I got there I found out that we were supposed to bring our instruments because it was a workshop where we were going to sight read some music. Michael Schaefer was leading the program, and he had a lot of cools stuff to teach us about working with middle school orchestras. And, he was willing to lend me his violin for the evening, a nice old violin with a soft warm tone.
As we were reading through a bunch of middle school orchestra pieces, I was thinking about what I could do for fiddle tune a day, and since Eric Levine was also at the meeting, asking him to join me was a no-brainer. Eric taught me fiddling when I was in Junior High, and Red Haired Boy was one of the tunes he taught me.
Red Haired Boy according to the Fiddler's Companion
RED HAIRED BOY, THE (An Giolla Ruad). AKA and see "The Duck Chewed/Chews Tobacco," "The First of May [3]," "Gilderoy [2]" (Ire.), "Giolla Rua" (Ire.), "Johnny Dhu," "The Little Beggarman" (Ire.), "The Little Beggar Boy," "An Maidrin Rua(dh)" (The Little Red Fox)," "The Old Soldier (with a Wooden Leg) [2]" (W.Va.), "Old Soldier," "The Red Haired Lad," "The Red Headed/Haired Irishman" (Ky.), "Wooden Leg" (W.Va.). Irish (originally), Scottish, English; Air or Hornpipe: American, Canadian; Reel or Breakdown. A Mixolydian. Standard. AABB (most versions): AA'BB' (Moylan). 'Red Haired Boy' is the English translation of the Gaelic title "Giolla Rua" (or, Englished, "Gilderoy"), and is generally thought to commemorate a real-life rogue and bandit, however, Baring-Gould remarks that in Scotland the "Beggar" of the title is also identified with King James V. The song was quite common under the Gaelic and the alternate title "The Little Beggarman" (or "The Beggarman," "The Beggar") throughout the British Isles. For example, it appears in Baring-Gould's 1895 London publication Garland of Country Song and in The Forsaken Lover's Garland, and in the original Scots in The Scots Musical Museum. A similarly titled song, "Beggar's Meal Poke's," was composed by James VI of Scotland (who in course became James the I of England), an ascription confused often with his ancestor James I, who was the reputed author of the verses of a song called "The Jolly Beggar." The tune is printed in Bunting's 1840A Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland as "An Maidrin Ruadh" (The Little Red Fox). The melody is one of the relatively few common to fiddlers throughout Scotland and Ireland, and was transferred nearly intact to the American fiddle tradition (both North and South) where it has been a favorite of bluegrass fiddlers in recent times.
***
Bandits, fairies and the tune all come together in an Irish tale, representing the capricious results of humans coming in contact with fairy-induced music. In the tale "The Red Haired Boy" was played somewhat under duress by uilleann piper Donnchadh Ó Sé from Lóthar, one of the best pipers in the parish of Priory. Donnchadh came by some of his music from contact with the supernatural, a not uncommon claim, but this time with a twist. It seems that he and his brother were gathering seaweed at Faill an Mhada Rua when they heard beautiful ethereal music nearby; Dónall stood by, afraid, but Donnchadh followed the sounds up the cliff and was able to commit them to memory. Returning home he strapped himself into his pipes and played the melody he heard, but afterwards was stuck down ill, becoming bedridden for three months before recuperating. Each time he played the tune the same would happen-he would suffer, for illness always followed. One day Donnchadh had the ill fortune to meet with a ruffian, who evidently knew of the circumstance and demanded at the point of a pistol that the piper play the fairy tune. Donnchadh obligingly reached for his pipes, and soon found that the brute was ignorant of the music and so was able to placate him with "An Giolla Rua" (Breathnach,The Man and His Music, 1997, pg. 38.

Пікірлер: 26

@pauloconnor6331 2 жыл бұрын

Sounds great - fun and games for the ears!

@vithefiddler 2 жыл бұрын

Recording this tune with Eric was a fun and special moment for me.

@martynspeck 7 жыл бұрын

That is awesome. You two could put together a fine CD sometime.

@michelerinaldi5299 11 жыл бұрын

I could listen to this all day! I'm so sad that I've discovered you after your year was over...but at least I have a year's worth of songs to get through :)

@debbach 6 жыл бұрын

Absolutely gorgeous!

@yahmartay 6 жыл бұрын

...wow...Wow...WOw...WOW!!!

@vithefiddler 11 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Yvonne. We were looking at each other's fingers to decide what harmonies and accompaniments we were going to play.

@yvonnesmith9107 11 жыл бұрын

I love this! Im learning to play the violin grade 2 now working on grade three in just one year! It can be done,what i thought was well sweet was your x music teacher checking your playing as you played! You can see his eyes look at your fingering! Brilliant i love it :)

@olmmbill 12 жыл бұрын

Sweet! Beautiful harmony. Thanks.

@chestercromwell 12 жыл бұрын

Hi Vi, all i can say is simply stunning it really gives me something to aspire to!.

@LarryFlashAlexander 12 жыл бұрын

Yo Vi, finally a lengthy musical treat. I made it all the way through my inbox and was thoroughly entertained from start to finish.

@vithefiddler 11 жыл бұрын

Well, This is me playing with the man who taught me fiddling as a young teen. We haven't played together many times since I was about 15, but he is still a friend. We picked a tune that we both know and went for it. This is improvisation around the melody of Red Haired Bow, and accompanying each other. It was lot's of fun. I don't have the sheet music for our arrangement posted anywhere yet, but I'm sure you can find the melody on google by searching for red haired boy sheet music.

@vithefiddler 11 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Michele. You can subscribe on my website to watch the year from the start. :) Thanks for joining in.