Tom Anderson (1910-1991) ~ Shetland fiddler, teacher & composer
"Haand Me Doon Da Fiddle"
Book and Cassette
Tom Anderson & Pam Swing
Department of Continuing Education,
University of Stirling, 1979, 2nd edition, 1981
ISBN: 0-901636-25-8
"Da Mirrie Dancers"
Tom Anderson & Tom Georgeson
Shetland Folk Society,
2nd edition, 1985
ISBN: 0-948276-02-9
"Ringing Strings: Traditional Shetland Music and Dance"
Tom Anderson
Shetland Times Ltd, 1983
ISBN: 0-900662-40-9
"Gie's An A: Shetland Fiddle Tunes"
Tom Anderson and Shetland's Young Heritage
Shetland Times Ltd, 1995
ISBN: 189885209X
"The Tom Anderson Collection Volumes 1"
Tom Anderson
The Hardie Press, 1995
ISBN: 0946868182
ISBN13: 9780946868186
"The Tom Anderson Collection Volume 2"
Tom Anderson
The Hardie Press, 2004
ISBN: 094686828X
ISBN13: 9780946868285
Barrowburn (reel) is a Shetland tune that has been picked up by other traditions. I believe the Full-Rigged Ship and the New-Rigged Ship are also quite widely known. There's also Auchdon House, which is a Shetland wedding march that was introduced into the Irish tradition as a barndance by Joe Ryan and spread a bit wider by Cherish the Ladies under the name "Joe Ryan's".
"The Barrowburn Reel was written by the late Addie Harper, most closely associated with Wick, GaryAMartin, so it's not strictly a Shetland Reel by origin or style."
But there's a lot of musical cross-pollenisation between Shetland and mainland Scotland - and probably has been ever since Shetland was handed over to Scotland in C15th. I've only ever been to one session in Shetland - in which a number of Scottish and Irish tunes got played (and Swedish, courtesy of a family visiting from Sweden). But all the shetlanders I have played with (all fiddlers, needless to say) have had quite a broad tune base, taking in Scots, Irish and a little Scandinavian, as well as their own tunes.
...Consequently, it's not uncommon for tunes to get branded as 'Shetland tunes' just because thy are popular in Shetland. Another example is MacArthur Road, composed by Dave Richardson (a Northumbrian) http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/2221 , which was recorded by Four Men and a Dog, and got labelled 'Unnamed Shetland Reel'. A fine tune it may be. But Shetland tunes, for all the Scottish influence they may have undergone over the centuries, still have their own distinct character and it's a shame people don't recognise it.
Sorry - I never meant this to be a rant (they're from the Borders, anyway).
Some good stuff here. One old thread mentioned Far From Home. Shetlands are up there a ways.
We play Da Slockit Light. Doesn't everyone?
One of my favourite airs, Mrs. Jamieson's, was in one thread.
Found Saxaford attributed to Tom Anderson. http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3808
Found a Ronnie Cooper tune. Mickie Ainsworth - does not look like it is posted. I will add it if I cannot find it on TheSession under another title. So many tunes!
When I visited Shetland in 1985, sessions in The Lounge - Lerwick's trad bar of long standing, sessions ritualistically ended with a playing of Kate Dalrymple - a lowland Scottish standard. Otherwise, I remember star fiddler Debbie Scott playing jazz violin to "Peerie Willie" Johnson's famous swing backing - on guitar, or piano, or both. I can't name the Shetland tunes played; Irish tunes featured, for the good reason there was an Irish player there.
There were lots of fiddlers and guitarists up there. According to Aly Bain (in an on-line interview text) Shetland styles had varied greatly from person to person, never mind region; then Tom Anderson had taught large numbers of people to play the fiddle, but homogenised the music somewhat in the process. Well, it's good enough for me.
miss susan cooper (i think by ronnie cooper?)
jenna reid of quarff (by kevin henderson; fiddlers bid and boys of the lough)
andy broon's (by aly bain)
hamnataing (chris stout of fiiddler's bid)
btw fiona driver from orkney is about to release a book of recent tunes from the islands.. out next week. but will post seperately about that)
They say there's no such thing as a stupid question, if you really want to know the answer....
So--is the reel called "Shetland Reel" or "Shetland Fiddler" anything like actual Shetland tunes? Yes, I have read that it is a version of a hornpipe by James Hill, a Scotsman (see http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3146)
But does it have any resemblance to real Shetland music?
Mickray - The story I heard behind The Shetland Fiddler is that a certain donegal fiddler made a trip to shetland and, at the time, James Hill's 'The Hawk' http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3146 was the height of fashion among Shetland players. He returned home to Donegal with the tune resounding his head and so, 'composed' a reel based upon it, honouring in the title the place it reminded him of.
Then again, in the comments to The Shetland Fiddler, Nigel Gatherer (a man who knows his stuff) merely states that it is a 'pipe version' of The Hawk.
Nobody seems to have mentioned Sleep Soond i da Moarnin yet - one I've heard a few times in sessions in London, although perhaps not one that's quite passed into the irish tradition. I recently read something somwhere (probably here on TheSession) casting doubt on the Shetland origins of Far From Home - backed up in part by its appearance in O'Neill's, implying that it was in the repertoire of Chicago Irish musicians at the turn of C20th.
Incidentally, I second very strongly Ceolachan's two listening recommendations. The first one for good, clean playing and the second one for some good, dirty playing (There's some pretty slick playing on there as well, but it's all field recordings, so you get to hear the fiddlers without their 'performer' hats on.
It's popular in Northumberland: some (not all) Shetland reels mesh very naturally with Northumbrian rant tunes and rhythms - although, apart from personal and musical contacts, there is no obvious social or economic link between these areas.
"Any guess about when Shetland music would have arrived in Chicago? If not in O'Neill's time."
I've never heard of there being a *community* of Shetlanders in Chicago - there probably aren't enough Shetlanders in the world to constitute a 'diaspora'. There might have been the odd Shetland fiddler in Chicago in O'Neill's time. Perhaps, not having had a community of their own to share tunes with, they would have been drawn to the Irish community, in which, broadly speaking, similar music was played (there are, of course, tunes, perhaps Scots in origin, that have travelled northward to Shetland and westward to Ireland, so that there are Irish and Shetland variants of the same tune - Lord McDonald's Reel, for example).
Re: Shetlanders and Northumbrians
What they have in common is: 1. They are both almost Scots, but not quite; and 2. They are both almost Scandinavian, but not quite.
Shetlanders travelled widely because, being very used to the sea, many worked on ships or joined the Navy. (Sometimes the latter was perforce: fishermen in open boats often far out at sea sometimes got lifted by the press-gang.)
Shetland music
Shetland music
We play at least two tunes from the Shetland Islands. Spootiskerry & Willafjord. Always fun!
Are there other good tunes played at Shetland sessions?
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by Random_notes
Re: Shetland music
The Edinburgh Shetland Fiddlers' Society
http://www.e-s-f.fsnet.co.uk/
http://www.e-s-f.fsnet.co.uk/sources.htm
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Shetland music
(Slows) The Slockit Light
Mangaster Voe
Leaving Lerwick
(Jigs) Da Shaalds O'Foula / Garster's Dream / Da Brig
(reels) Da Galley Watch
Da Lerwick Lasses
Da Scalloway Lasses
Da Underhill
(My Favorite is posted, but look in the comments as the posted tune is trash)
The Headlands March
Anything by Ronnie Cooper or Tom Anderson
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by geoffwright
Tom Anderson (1910-1991) ~ Shetland fiddler, teacher & composer
"Haand Me Doon Da Fiddle"
Book and Cassette
Tom Anderson & Pam Swing
Department of Continuing Education,
University of Stirling, 1979, 2nd edition, 1981
ISBN: 0-901636-25-8
"Da Mirrie Dancers"
Tom Anderson & Tom Georgeson
Shetland Folk Society,
2nd edition, 1985
ISBN: 0-948276-02-9
"Ringing Strings: Traditional Shetland Music and Dance"
Tom Anderson
Shetland Times Ltd, 1983
ISBN: 0-900662-40-9
"Gie's An A: Shetland Fiddle Tunes"
Tom Anderson and Shetland's Young Heritage
Shetland Times Ltd, 1995
ISBN: 189885209X
"The Tom Anderson Collection Volumes 1"
Tom Anderson
The Hardie Press, 1995
ISBN: 0946868182
ISBN13: 9780946868186
"The Tom Anderson Collection Volume 2"
Tom Anderson
The Hardie Press, 2004
ISBN: 094686828X
ISBN13: 9780946868285
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Shetland music
Barrowburn (reel) is a Shetland tune that has been picked up by other traditions. I believe the Full-Rigged Ship and the New-Rigged Ship are also quite widely known. There's also Auchdon House, which is a Shetland wedding march that was introduced into the Irish tradition as a barndance by Joe Ryan and spread a bit wider by Cherish the Ladies under the name "Joe Ryan's".
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by GaryAMartin
Re: Shetland music
Willafjord
Christmas Day Ida Moarnin
Soldier's Joy
Unst Bridal March
Da Bride's a Boannie Ting
Da Auld Resting Chair
Seven Step Polka
Hamnavoe Polka
Da Lerwick Lasses
Da Scallowa Lasses
~ just a few from "haand me doon da fiddle"
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Shetland music
"The Fiddle Traditions of the Shetland Isles"
by Peter Cooke
Cambridge Studies in Ethnomusicology
Cambridge University Press, 1986
ISBN: 0-521-26855-9
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Shetland music
Here's a couple of recommended recordings while I'm at it:
"The Silver Bow: The Fiddle Music Of Shetland"
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/1781
"Scottish Tradition 4: Shetland Fiddle Music"
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/666
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Shetland music
"The Barrowburn Reel was written by the late Addie Harper, most closely associated with Wick, GaryAMartin, so it's not strictly a Shetland Reel by origin or style."
See http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/1957/comments#comment35339
But there's a lot of musical cross-pollenisation between Shetland and mainland Scotland - and probably has been ever since Shetland was handed over to Scotland in C15th. I've only ever been to one session in Shetland - in which a number of Scottish and Irish tunes got played (and Swedish, courtesy of a family visiting from Sweden). But all the shetlanders I have played with (all fiddlers, needless to say) have had quite a broad tune base, taking in Scots, Irish and a little Scandinavian, as well as their own tunes.
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by granama
Re: Shetland music
...Consequently, it's not uncommon for tunes to get branded as 'Shetland tunes' just because thy are popular in Shetland. Another example is MacArthur Road, composed by Dave Richardson (a Northumbrian) http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/2221 , which was recorded by Four Men and a Dog, and got labelled 'Unnamed Shetland Reel'. A fine tune it may be. But Shetland tunes, for all the Scottish influence they may have undergone over the centuries, still have their own distinct character and it's a shame people don't recognise it.
Sorry - I never meant this to be a rant (they're from the Borders, anyway).
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by granama
Re: Shetland music
Some good stuff here. One old thread mentioned Far From Home. Shetlands are up there a ways.
We play Da Slockit Light. Doesn't everyone?
One of my favourite airs, Mrs. Jamieson's, was in one thread.
Found Saxaford attributed to Tom Anderson.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3808
Found a Ronnie Cooper tune. Mickie Ainsworth - does not look like it is posted. I will add it if I cannot find it on TheSession under another title. So many tunes!
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by Random_notes
Re: Shetland music
Until then . . . it goes something like this:
X: 1
T:Mickie Ainsworth
C:Ronald Cooper
R:reel
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:D
FG|ABAF Adcd|B2BA BdcB|ABde fedf|e2E2 E2FG|
|ABAF Adcd|Bggf gBdg|fAdf eAce|d2d2 d2:|
|:cd|ea^ga e=gfe|d2fd adfd|gfeg f2df|efed B2dB|
|ABAF Adcd|Bggf gBdg|fAdf eAce|d2d2 d2:|
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by Random_notes
Re: Shetland music
When I visited Shetland in 1985, sessions in The Lounge - Lerwick's trad bar of long standing, sessions ritualistically ended with a playing of Kate Dalrymple - a lowland Scottish standard. Otherwise, I remember star fiddler Debbie Scott playing jazz violin to "Peerie Willie" Johnson's famous swing backing - on guitar, or piano, or both. I can't name the Shetland tunes played; Irish tunes featured, for the good reason there was an Irish player there.
There were lots of fiddlers and guitarists up there. According to Aly Bain (in an on-line interview text) Shetland styles had varied greatly from person to person, never mind region; then Tom Anderson had taught large numbers of people to play the fiddle, but homogenised the music somewhat in the process. Well, it's good enough for me.
# Posted on May 20th 2007 by nicholas
Re: Shetland music
Donal Blue
Jack Broke The Prison Door
The Burn Of Weindalittle (or something like that...)
The Road To Houll
- and lots and lots more reels.
There used to be far fewer jigs, though I imagine many have been composed there in recent times. An intriguing older one is The Greenland Man's Tune.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by nicholas
Re: Shetland music
miss susan cooper (i think by ronnie cooper?)
jenna reid of quarff (by kevin henderson; fiddlers bid and boys of the lough)
andy broon's (by aly bain)
hamnataing (chris stout of fiiddler's bid)
btw fiona driver from orkney is about to release a book of recent tunes from the islands.. out next week. but will post seperately about that)
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by saltybrian
Re: Shetland music
They say there's no such thing as a stupid question, if you really want to know the answer....
So--is the reel called "Shetland Reel" or "Shetland Fiddler" anything like actual Shetland tunes? Yes, I have read that it is a version of a hornpipe by James Hill, a Scotsman (see
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3146)
But does it have any resemblance to real Shetland music?
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by mickray
Re: Shetland music
I'll echo geoffwright, anything by Ronnie Cooper.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by curlew
Re: Shetland music
Don't forget Willie Hunter.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by Johannes J
Re: Shetland music
There's my two all time favourites, Da Day Dawn and Da Trowie Burn..
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by Freddy Frog
Re: Shetland music
Mickray - The story I heard behind The Shetland Fiddler is that a certain donegal fiddler made a trip to shetland and, at the time, James Hill's 'The Hawk' http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3146 was the height of fashion among Shetland players. He returned home to Donegal with the tune resounding his head and so, 'composed' a reel based upon it, honouring in the title the place it reminded him of.
Then again, in the comments to The Shetland Fiddler, Nigel Gatherer (a man who knows his stuff) merely states that it is a 'pipe version' of The Hawk.
Nobody seems to have mentioned Sleep Soond i da Moarnin yet - one I've heard a few times in sessions in London, although perhaps not one that's quite passed into the irish tradition. I recently read something somwhere (probably here on TheSession) casting doubt on the Shetland origins of Far From Home - backed up in part by its appearance in O'Neill's, implying that it was in the repertoire of Chicago Irish musicians at the turn of C20th.
Incidentally, I second very strongly Ceolachan's two listening recommendations. The first one for good, clean playing and the second one for some good, dirty playing (There's some pretty slick playing on there as well, but it's all field recordings, so you get to hear the fiddlers without their 'performer' hats on.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by granama
Re: Shetland music
And Violet Tulloch is one of the most underrated backers.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by granama
Re: Shetland music
How about New Rigged ship and Full Rigged ship?
Very appropriate today.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by Johannes J
Re: Shetland music
GaryAMartin: "I believe the Full-Rigged Ship and the New-Rigged Ship are also quite widely known."
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by granama
Re: Shetland music
Very sad actually, John.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Shetland music
I realise that but I hadn't intended my comment to be flippant. Sorry if it came over that way.
There's a tune by that name too which I've just submitted.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by Johannes J
Re: Shetland music
No worries. Big landmark round these parts, though. Kind of "flagship" (ho ho) for Greenwich.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Shetland music
Built on The Clyde though.
Lots of Scottish things down your way...ships, flute players, and Prime Ministers.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by Johannes J
Re: Shetland music
Any guess about when Shetland music would have arrived in Chicago? If not in O'Neill's time.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by Random_notes
Re: Shetland music
It's popular in Northumberland: some (not all) Shetland reels mesh very naturally with Northumbrian rant tunes and rhythms - although, apart from personal and musical contacts, there is no obvious social or economic link between these areas.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by nicholas
Re: Shetland music
I just posted Mickie Ainsworth by Ronnie Cooper.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/7242/
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by Random_notes
Re: Shetland music
Sister Jean (pair it with The Greenland man's Tune)
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/6801
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by spindizzy
Re: Shetland music
And I forgot this one - Scalloway Voe, a waltz
at http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/4599
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by spindizzy
Re: Shetland music
"Any guess about when Shetland music would have arrived in Chicago? If not in O'Neill's time."
I've never heard of there being a *community* of Shetlanders in Chicago - there probably aren't enough Shetlanders in the world to constitute a 'diaspora'. There might have been the odd Shetland fiddler in Chicago in O'Neill's time. Perhaps, not having had a community of their own to share tunes with, they would have been drawn to the Irish community, in which, broadly speaking, similar music was played (there are, of course, tunes, perhaps Scots in origin, that have travelled northward to Shetland and westward to Ireland, so that there are Irish and Shetland variants of the same tune - Lord McDonald's Reel, for example).
Re: Shetlanders and Northumbrians
What they have in common is: 1. They are both almost Scots, but not quite; and 2. They are both almost Scandinavian, but not quite.
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by granama
Re: Shetland music
Shetlanders travelled widely because, being very used to the sea, many worked on ships or joined the Navy. (Sometimes the latter was perforce: fishermen in open boats often far out at sea sometimes got lifted by the press-gang.)
# Posted on May 21st 2007 by nicholas
Re: Shetland music
Nobody's mentioned San Antonio Rose and Faded Love yet!
Willie Hunter's gotta be one of the best to listen to, try this one: http://www.musicinscotland.com/acatalog/Willie_Hunter_CDs.html
# Posted on May 28th 2007 by Bren