The Session: Tunes - The Road To The Isles (barndance)

Barndance?

This is not a barndance. It is, of course, the air to a popular Scots song. If it were to be assigned a 'tune type', it would probably fit most comfortably into the '4/4 march' category, for which this tune database does not cater. It is probably not in the repertoire of the average Irish session, but I think it deserves to be. Whilst its Caledonian snappiness is delightful, it might be rendered more (Irish) session-friendly by smoothing out the rhythm a little. In fact, taking out the Scotch snaps and playing it with a gentle swing rather than the dotted rhythm would pretty much make it a barndance.

Here it is with the 'kinks ironed out' and a few notes added in for good measure:

I am well aware that submitting song melodies on a site devoted to *dance* music is an offence punishable by some form of musical torture, but I think this is a good tune and I am prepared to come within an inch of death for its cause.

# Posted on February 2nd 2005 by ragaman

Re barndance

I wonder if you have the chance to check this tune out on Tom Doherty's 'Take the Bull by the Horns' CD. I have a copy and he gives it his own special treatment on the single row melodeon making it sound very Irish (and very danceable) to my ear.

And it is called a barndance on his sleeve notes.

http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display.php/1210

# Posted on February 2nd 2005 by greg.box

OK

You're OK with this one, MG, at least if what you've posted is anything near the barndance version which Mary Custy recorded which I'v e always liked. I think the original was a song by by the tartan Andy Stewart and the title may have been "The Tangle Of The Isles. Don't know if whether or not he wrote either the words or melody - Rab c might know.
Hamish Imlach used to sing a parody of it, the last line of which was "You've never danced the tango wi' the piles" !

# Posted on February 2nd 2005 by Kenny

S'alright Goat Mountain Lad - - -

Yes, it is danced to, and was a feature at house dances all across Eire, and even some of the big ceilis. The most common couple dances I know that was danced to it was a take on 'The Heel and Toe' & 'The Schottische'. It could also be dances with couples around the hall as a "John Paul Jones" type mixer...

So - no apologies required... No worry at being strung up either, or a posse on your scent, which as a male goat would not be hard to trace even without dogs... Mind you, some self-appointed purists might grumble a bit as they can do...

# Posted on February 2nd 2005 by ceolachan

Whew!, I guess I need to wake up before facing singulars and plurals...

# Posted on February 2nd 2005 by ceolachan

Yes, but I didn't know any of that. I demand to be subjected to 48 hours of Daniel O'Donnell at the wrong speed! It's the only way I can keep a clear conscience.

# Posted on February 2nd 2005 by ragaman

No - No - No! - - - AAAAAAAAAA!!!

That will turn your brain to mush. It is akin to shortwave radiation...

# Posted on February 2nd 2005 by ceolachan

Actually, I think medium wave radiation will mushify a bran...er... brain. See?! It's happening! AHHHHHH... **gurgle**

# Posted on February 3rd 2005 by Pádraig

I shouldn't worry - my brain has always been somewhat mushy in consistency anyway. I think it was my mother's fondness for saltpetre during pregnancy.

# Posted on February 3rd 2005 by ragaman

The Road To The Isles

Here are Leo Maguire's words to the tune.

Leo McGuire's Song

Ah wis headin' wi ma cromack up frae Gretna Green tae Skye
But ma journey has an element of farce.
'Cos the calendar has stated - it's the middle o' July,
Yet here ah am wi' snaw up tae ma arse, Oh - yo!

(chorus) Wi' ma pipes below ma oxter an' ma sporran neatly pressed
Ma pockets full o' porridge for the road.
Wi' some Crawford's Tartan Shortbread an' some tattie scones as weel
An' ah'm jist aboot tae paint masel' wi' woad. Oh - yo!

I am headin' for sweet Afton, that's the place that ah am daft on,
Where the smell o' tattie bogle fills the air.
If ye poke amang the heather wi' a feather ye will see
Where the untamed hornie-golluck has his lair. Oh - yo!

Ah remember Annie Laurie, sure, ah had her in a quarry
On the road frae Tobermory tae the sea.
Ah remember Mountain Daisy, an' that lassie wisnae lazy,
'Cos ah remember Daisy mountin' me. Oh - Yo!

Ah remember gettin' pally wi' a peely-wally 'tally,
In a chalet doon at Butlin's camp at Ayr.
An' ah gied her a bambino as she lay an' read "The Beano"
Then she said, well how did she know ah wis there? Oh - yo!

Ah wis jist a wee bit randy as she lay an' read "The Dandy"
Then she went an' put a pot upon the hob.
An' she made me tagliatelli, which she balanced on her belly
So's ah could eat while ah wis on the job. Oh - yo!

By the time the job wis over, she wis halfway through "The Rover"
An' had started on that week's "People's Friend"
An' she made me veal escalope an' we had another wallop
Before ma strong desire came to an end.

Oh the Scottish Summers have a certain lack of charm,
Due mainly to the sudden rainy squalls.
But the Scottish lassies can aye keep her laddie warm
By their tender ministration to his knees. Oh - yo!

# Posted on March 1st 2003 by dafydd

Nice one Jocklet...

# Posted on February 3rd 2005 by ceolachan

Thanks for taking out the dotted rhythm in the comments section, Goat. But can I suggest you do it the other way around?

# Posted on February 3rd 2005 by Phantom Button

There he is again, railing against that dreaded dumpty dumpty... Talk about brain damage from wave radiation, only in this case it is 'swung waves'. Don't click on the sound file Jack, don't, it will just scramble your brain cells worse than a swung cat in the low ceiling environment of a fo'cs'le - poor kitty... No, don't do it...

# Posted on February 4th 2005 by ceolachan

:-P

# Posted on February 4th 2005 by Phantom Button

Jack - I thought it better to post the tune as I have heard it, rather than my off-the-cuff arrangement of it, which I would not wish to be immortalised in sheet music..

# Posted on February 4th 2005 by ragaman

Keneth Horn

Heard it on 'Round the Horn' . . . antique radio show . . . as: "with a sporran full of porridge and a feather up yer kilt, ye'll never smell the tangle o'er the Isles"

# Posted on February 6th 2005 by Alancorsini

Jack - There's another good reason for leaving the dots in the submitted version and putting the undotted version in ther comments: the comments section doesn't allow opposing dotted groupings in abcs, since everything falling between the 'less than' and greater than' signs is interpreted as HTML code, whcih is automatically deleted from the text.

# Posted on February 7th 2005 by ragaman

Yea, I can see your point Goat. I guess I'm really talking about the hornpipes that people submit where the claimed source has no resemblance to what appears in dots. In this case it's a Scottish tune that actually does resemble that.

# Posted on February 7th 2005 by Phantom Button

Felix Kearney's "The Ould Road From Omagh To Dromore"

My Great-Grandfather, Felix Kearney wrote this song(The Ould Road From Omagh To Dromore) using the air of the song, "The Road to the Isles", which is an original Scottish Gaelic Song.

The Ould Road From Omagh To Dromore.

I am going back to Ireland, to the County of Tyrone,
To the spot from which misfortune made me roam.
In this city of thousands I am lonely and alone,
So hurrah, boys, for Ireland and for home.
I don't mind the journey, though the road be rough and long
If tomorrow i shall see the Irish shore,
And the day beyond tomorrow I'll be marching with a song
On the ould road from Omagh to Dromore.

Don't i know every turning of the road I love so well,
Every landmark in my mind is graven still,
whith my face turned to Granan and my back to Bessie Bell,
I'll be halfay home at Allen's Mill.
Though im weary of the journey and theres blisters on my feet,
Ach, its soon I'll be forgetting these old sores.
When i feel the hearty greetings from the friends that I will meet
On the ould road from Omagh to Dromore.

When i reach Clannabogan, with its shadows long and cool,
i will sit me down and rest an hour there;
And that little voice of reason whispers: "Boy you were a fool,
that ever left a country half so fair."
Then forgetting all my troubles and the citys noise and throng
And the light of other days that are before,
Though my feet are growing weary, in my heart i'll lilt a song
On the ould road from Omagh to Dromore.

There's a wee whitewashed cottage a mile outside Dromore
In the corner there is still a vacant chair.
And for years I've been dreaming of the welcome there for me
From a little grey haired lady waiting there.
So I'm going home to mother and no more i mean to roam,
And i'll tell her that my roaming days are o'er.
And i know she'll give her blessings to the road that brought me home-
'Twas the ould road from Omagh to Dromore.

# Posted on July 8th 2007 by Tir Eoghain Abu!

Road to the Isles

You've read the parodies/spoofs above, so for good measure, here are the original lyrics:

A far croonin' is pullin' me away
As take I wi' my cromak to the road.
The far Coolins are puttin' love on me,
As step I wi' the sunlight for my load.

Chorus:
Sure, by Tummel and Loch Rannoch
And Lochaber I will go,
By heather tracks wi' heaven in their wiles;
If it's thinkin' in your inner heart
Braggart's in my step,
You've never smelt the tangle o' the Isles.
Oh, the far Coolins are puttin' love on me,
As step I wi' my cromak to the Isles.

It's by 'Sheil water the track is to the west,
By Aillort and by Morar to the sea,
The cool cresses I am thinkin' o' for pluck,
And bracken for a wink on Mother's knee.

It's the blue Islands are pullin' me away,
Their laughter puts the leap upon the lame,
The blue Islands from the Skerries to the Lews,
Wi' heather honey taste upon each name.

P.S. For the benefit of any who may not know, a "cromak" is a crooked stick. A related word occurs in the Cumberland (English Lake District) dialect: "crummock" - q.v. "Crummock Water" (a particular lake in that region that has a crooked shape).

# Posted on September 11th 2008 by Mix O'Lydian

It's the far northland that's a callin' my away

I learned a version as a child in camp in the Adirondack Mountains of upper state New York. Always thought this was some sort of Swiss mountaineering song, adapted to the U.S. Here are the incomplete (and perhaps inaccurate) lyrics:

"It's the far Northland that's a-callin' me away,
(I forget the words to this next line)
It's the call on me from the forest to the north,
As step I with the sunlight for my load.

From Mount Regis to Mount Marcy to Clear Junction I will go,
To see the loon and hear his plaintive wail,
If you're thinking in your inner heart, (I forget the rest of this line)
You've never been along the Northern Trail.

# Posted on November 8th 2008 by wagneja