Can anyone here recommend me some tunes, resources or sites relating to Cornish traditional music?
i know its not Ireland, but its part of the celtic fringe and all that.
Im particularly interested in the Isles of Scilly as my great-grandfather came from there. I would love to hear what the people listened to doon there in the olden times.
What a Scilly question!
'Fraid I can't help you, apart from doing a Google search, but had a great holiday on Bryher a few years ago. There are no cars on the island. You can walk across to Tresco when the tide is out, which we did once. Pretty amazing. There's a children's movie called "When the Whales Came" based on the book by Michael Morpurgo, which has great footage of the island.
The Isles of Scilly are, I am sure, so named because they contain some of the scilliest topographic names in the British Isles - Great Cheese Rock, Great Wingletang, Wee...
Of course, back in those days before subtropical freeloading holidays for premiers, Harold Wilson the Prime Minister used to like to holiday there, and was thus known as "Scilly Wilson".
I would be pleasantly surprised if there was much known of Scilly traditional music. They did have a reputation for taking what they could from the sea, including from the bodies of drowned sailors. Sir Cloudsley Shovel to name but one.
Let us know how you get on googling, Dub. Post some tunes if you get any good ones. I suspect like Welsh one of the main defining national features is the (revived) language. I looked at one or two links and this seems quite a good one:
"Canow Kernow" ~ which includes song, and I think there were two editions, but I'm not finding them. When and if I do I'll add the rest of the information. Another is:
"Hengan: Traditional Folk Songs, Dances and Broadside Ballads Collected in Cornwall"
Merv Davey
Dyllansow Truran, 1983
ISBN: 0-907566-71-5
Sorry, nothing for the Scilly Isles...not as yet anyway...
Years ago I had a tape of a band who sang in Cornish as well as playing some excellent tunes. Unfortunately my brother 'borrowed' it and it was subsequently stolen out of his car (Grrrr...). I'm desperately trying to remember the name of the band...
Which was 'Bucca', and the album was called 'The hole in the harper's head' (the name of one of the Cornish tunes). It would be well worth seeking out a copy if you can find one - and letting me have a copy of it
It included a version of 'Some say the Devil is dead' sung in Cornish with local lyrics - I seem to remember the translation of one line went 'No, you're wrong, cat's arse, he's working in a car park in Trevithick' or something along those lines. It's still one of my favourite insults - just wish I could remember the phrase for 'cat's arse' as I'm sure it would come in handy on my next holiday down there.
One of the best resources for Cornish tunes I know of is a book with accompanying 2xcd, by the name of Fooch by Neil Davey. The cd gives a recording of 68 tunes played "straight" and slow, then up to speed with variations. The tunes are performed unaccompanied, mostly on Bouzouki/Mandola but also some on Mandolin, fiddle or box and are a treat to listen to. Neil also gives hints on learning, playing and on Cornish dance. ISBN: 903963 03 6.
The only place I have seen it in a shop is Hobgoblin Wadebridge, Cornwall who I am sure would be happy to help.
I have the LP "Hole In The Harper's Head" - a great tune I've always meant to learn, and post here. I met the Davey brothers at Lorient in 1983, and had a great time with them, and the rest of the Cornish contingent. I think it was Neil Davey who played mandolin with the Edinburgh-based band "Anam" some years back. He turned up at a session in Aberdeen one night, and I only found out who he was three months later.
bc_box_player - e-mail me.
I have the Bucca recording and a few others knocking about here somewhere. We've played a few Cornish tunes, having Cornish dances and music as part of our classes and monthly twmpath in Cymru / Wales. Many of their tunes, like in Cymru / Wales, have filtered out or in via 'elsewhere', those damned 'outside influences', 'foreigners', and consequently many would fit the basic humour of this site. I'll add one for you today ~ with a bit of controversy attached to its playing in the 'Comments'... I'll see if I can find a few others that would fit nicely here on site, the hornpipes are the first that come to mind. I've some hornpipes and polkas and assorted other things. I also have other recordings for the dances, and those tunes are similar to comparable Welsh and English tunes.
There is an active ceilidh scene in Cornwall too, and regular festivals that feature Cornish dance and music (Lowender Peran ~ October) , and there is a Cornish Dance Society, An-Daras, that has published books and recordings. I have no idea what is happening on the Scillies...
"Canow Kernow: Songs and Dances from Cornwall"
Compiled and edited by Inglis Gundry
Publishers: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1966
Soundpost Publications, 1966
Redruth: Dyllansow Truran ~ & ~ post 1965
Hyperion Books, 1989
Hello everyone!
Right......The band you must check out is Dalla
They are fantastic and Neil from bucca and anam that some of you said about is in dalla with his wife hilary. http://www.dalla.co.uk/
Concur with the above recommendations. Also for history plus 140 tunes as collected get Ilow Kernow 4 from Mike O'Connor. He also does transcripts of a number of MSS. Mike, Merv Davey, Frances Bennett, and Susan Skinner are all working at the Institute of Cornish Studies now. (no, they're not getting paid - quite the reverse) Lot of stuff is being discovered, so its a good scene to stay abreast of.
Cornish Music
Cornish Music
Can anyone here recommend me some tunes, resources or sites relating to Cornish traditional music?
i know its not Ireland, but its part of the celtic fringe and all that.
Im particularly interested in the Isles of Scilly as my great-grandfather came from there. I would love to hear what the people listened to doon there in the olden times.
thanks in advance
# Posted on January 15th 2007 by DubChieftain
Re: Cornish Music
What a Scilly question!
'Fraid I can't help you, apart from doing a Google search, but had a great holiday on Bryher a few years ago. There are no cars on the island. You can walk across to Tresco when the tide is out, which we did once. Pretty amazing. There's a children's movie called "When the Whales Came" based on the book by Michael Morpurgo, which has great footage of the island.
# Posted on January 15th 2007 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Cornish Music
The Isles of Scilly are, I am sure, so named because they contain some of the scilliest topographic names in the British Isles - Great Cheese Rock, Great Wingletang, Wee...
No offence meant, of course, DubChieftain.
# Posted on January 15th 2007 by granama
Re: Cornish Music
Check back in a couple of days- I'm trying to remember the name of someone who's done a book of Cornish tunes. All I've managed so far is 'Mike'!
# Posted on January 15th 2007 by c.g.
Re: Cornish Music
Of course, back in those days before subtropical freeloading holidays for premiers, Harold Wilson the Prime Minister used to like to holiday there, and was thus known as "Scilly Wilson".
I would be pleasantly surprised if there was much known of Scilly traditional music. They did have a reputation for taking what they could from the sea, including from the bodies of drowned sailors. Sir Cloudsley Shovel to name but one.
# Posted on January 15th 2007 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Cornish Music
://www.myspace.com/cornishmus
# Posted on January 15th 2007 by patsy
Re: Cornish Music
Sorry, posted that link incorrectly. This should work:
www.myspace.com/cornishmus
# Posted on January 15th 2007 by patsy
Re: Cornish Music
and again...
www.myspace.com/cornishmusic
# Posted on January 15th 2007 by patsy
Re: Cornish Music
cheers patsy. checking out the myspace page now.
thanks for you help anyway.
im about to embark on a google mission
Peace.
# Posted on January 15th 2007 by DubChieftain
Re: Cornish Music
http://www.cornishmusic.com/
http://www.musicofcornwall.co.uk/
# Posted on January 15th 2007 by dafydd
Re: Cornish Music
A song book entitled Canow Kernow comes to mind.
# Posted on January 16th 2007 by oldstrings
Re: Cornish Music
Let us know how you get on googling, Dub. Post some tunes if you get any good ones. I suspect like Welsh one of the main defining national features is the (revived) language. I looked at one or two links and this seems quite a good one:
http://www.cornishlanguage.co.uk/history.htm
# Posted on January 16th 2007 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Cornish Music
Wilson was the most cynical so-and-so Britain has had as PM since the war. I know this isn't a political site but I can't help rising to this one.
# Posted on January 16th 2007 by nicholas
Re: Cornish Music
"Canow Kernow" ~ which includes song, and I think there were two editions, but I'm not finding them. When and if I do I'll add the rest of the information. Another is:
"Hengan: Traditional Folk Songs, Dances and Broadside Ballads Collected in Cornwall"
Merv Davey
Dyllansow Truran, 1983
ISBN: 0-907566-71-5
Sorry, nothing for the Scilly Isles...not as yet anyway...
# Posted on January 16th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Cornish Music
nicholas: search the back issues of Private Eye for "Mrs. Wilson's Diary". You'll feel better afterwards.
# Posted on January 16th 2007 by oldstrings
Re: Cornish Music
Years ago I had a tape of a band who sang in Cornish as well as playing some excellent tunes. Unfortunately my brother 'borrowed' it and it was subsequently stolen out of his car (Grrrr...). I'm desperately trying to remember the name of the band...
Which was 'Bucca', and the album was called 'The hole in the harper's head' (the name of one of the Cornish tunes). It would be well worth seeking out a copy if you can find one - and letting me have a copy of it
It included a version of 'Some say the Devil is dead' sung in Cornish with local lyrics - I seem to remember the translation of one line went 'No, you're wrong, cat's arse, he's working in a car park in Trevithick' or something along those lines. It's still one of my favourite insults - just wish I could remember the phrase for 'cat's arse' as I'm sure it would come in handy on my next holiday down there.
Eno
# Posted on January 16th 2007 by bc_box_player
Re: Cornish Music
One of the best resources for Cornish tunes I know of is a book with accompanying 2xcd, by the name of Fooch by Neil Davey. The cd gives a recording of 68 tunes played "straight" and slow, then up to speed with variations. The tunes are performed unaccompanied, mostly on Bouzouki/Mandola but also some on Mandolin, fiddle or box and are a treat to listen to. Neil also gives hints on learning, playing and on Cornish dance. ISBN: 903963 03 6.
The only place I have seen it in a shop is Hobgoblin Wadebridge, Cornwall who I am sure would be happy to help.
# Posted on January 16th 2007 by len
Re: Cornish Music
I have the Bucca album on tape somewhere,I seem to remember that it was titled "Y Tol Yn Y Pen Y Telynor"
# Posted on January 16th 2007 by dafydd
Re: Cornish Music
thanks for the information.
i will check out the links when i get in from work.
this is a subject ive just started looking into so any info is greatly appreciated.
cheers.
# Posted on January 16th 2007 by DubChieftain
Re: Cornish Music
I have the LP "Hole In The Harper's Head" - a great tune I've always meant to learn, and post here. I met the Davey brothers at Lorient in 1983, and had a great time with them, and the rest of the Cornish contingent. I think it was Neil Davey who played mandolin with the Edinburgh-based band "Anam" some years back. He turned up at a session in Aberdeen one night, and I only found out who he was three months later.
bc_box_player - e-mail me.
# Posted on January 16th 2007 by Kenny
Re: Cornish Music
I have the Bucca recording and a few others knocking about here somewhere. We've played a few Cornish tunes, having Cornish dances and music as part of our classes and monthly twmpath in Cymru / Wales. Many of their tunes, like in Cymru / Wales, have filtered out or in via 'elsewhere', those damned 'outside influences', 'foreigners', and consequently many would fit the basic humour of this site. I'll add one for you today ~ with a bit of controversy attached to its playing in the 'Comments'... I'll see if I can find a few others that would fit nicely here on site, the hornpipes are the first that come to mind. I've some hornpipes and polkas and assorted other things. I also have other recordings for the dances, and those tunes are similar to comparable Welsh and English tunes.
There is an active ceilidh scene in Cornwall too, and regular festivals that feature Cornish dance and music (Lowender Peran ~ October) , and there is a Cornish Dance Society, An-Daras, that has published books and recordings. I have no idea what is happening on the Scillies...
An-Daras ~ http://www.an-daras.com/
# Posted on January 18th 2007 by ceolachan
Also, almost forgot ~ music: http://www.an-daras.com/music/m_index.htm
# Posted on January 18th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Cornish Music
"Canow Kernow: Songs and Dances from Cornwall"
Compiled and edited by Inglis Gundry
Publishers: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1966
Soundpost Publications, 1966
Redruth: Dyllansow Truran ~ & ~ post 1965
Hyperion Books, 1989
ISBN: 0907566251
# Posted on January 18th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Cornish Music: "Plethen Peswar Luf" ~ hornpipe / reel
Key signature: D Major
Submitted on January 18th 2007 by ceolachan.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/6656
# Posted on January 18th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Cornish Music
cool.
thanks ceolachan
thats the type of thing i was looking for.
thanks everyone for the information
now i can expand my Cornish heritage beyond my love of pasties.
;)
# Posted on January 18th 2007 by DubChieftain
Re: Cornish Music
Pasties ~ damn, I'm sounding like Homer Simpson... I love pasties... Have you ever tried the Greek take on it? ~ lamb and feta and mmmmmmm....
# Posted on January 18th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Cornish Music: "Pybcorn Boscastle" / "The Boscastle Breakdown"
Key signature: G Major
Submitted on January 19th 2007 by ceolachan.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/6663
I'd take a pastie over a doghnut anyday...
# Posted on January 19th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Cornish Music: "Myghtern Sweden" ~ polka
Key signature: D Major
Submitted on January 20th 2007 by ceolachan.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/6671
# Posted on January 20th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Cornish Music
I think it was Mike O'Conner who published a book of Cornish Tunes.
# Posted on January 21st 2007 by alexboydell
Re: Cornish Music: "An Culyek Hos" ~ single jig
Key signature: b minor
Submitted on January 23rd 2007 by ceolachan.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/6683
# Posted on January 23rd 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Cornish Music: "Pencarrow" ~ air / waltz
Key signature: E Dorian (& simplified C Dorian, "Hengan" based)
Submitted on January 24th 2007 by ceolachan.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/6689
# Posted on January 24th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Cornish Music
Hello everyone!
Right......The band you must check out is Dalla
They are fantastic and Neil from bucca and anam that some of you said about is in dalla with his wife hilary.
http://www.dalla.co.uk/
Also check out......
http://www.cumpas.co.uk/
hilary is part of this too and it has some good info on it!
Fooch is a great tune book which you can probably find through cumpas!
Hope it helps!
check out my band too for cornish tunes etc at.........
http://www.myspace.com/leskikernow
# Posted on June 8th 2007 by Cornish Fiddler
Re: Cornish Music
Concur with the above recommendations. Also for history plus 140 tunes as collected get Ilow Kernow 4 from Mike O'Connor. He also does transcripts of a number of MSS. Mike, Merv Davey, Frances Bennett, and Susan Skinner are all working at the Institute of Cornish Studies now. (no, they're not getting paid - quite the reverse) Lot of stuff is being discovered, so its a good scene to stay abreast of.
Check out:
http:/www.lyngham.co.uk
# Posted on August 30th 2008 by crowdercref