Key signature: Aminor
Submitted on December 28th 2001 by ragaman.
This tune has been added to 116 tunebooks.
Also known as Chi Mi Na Mor-bheanna, Hush, Hush, The Mist Covered Mountains March, The Mist Covered Mountains Of Home, The Mist Covered Mountains.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Mist On The Mountain, The
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
R: waltz
K: Amin
A3|A3|e>de|edB| G3|G2A|B>AB|A>GE |c3|d3|
e>^fg|B>AG|A>Be|dcB|A3|A3||
e3|e3| deg|edB| G2G|d2B|e2e|d>cB|A3| c3|
d>eg|B>AG|A>Be|dcB|A3|A3||
This tune was requested recently in a discussion thread. It can be played as a waltz, but it is in fact an old Scots air, presumably from a song.
The popular jig, 'The Mist Covered Mountain' was adapted by Junior Crehan from this tune.
# Posted on December 28th 2001 by ragaman
Funeral march
Yep, this tune appears in Scots Guards, a pair of books with all the
"classic" settings of a lot of traditional Highland pipe music. It
works very well on the Highland pipes. I never thought to play it
on an Irish instrument . . . !
Also, for those of you who don't know, this is the tune that was
played by the USAF pipe band at President Kennedy's interrment. If
you go to the Book Depository museum in Dallas, they have an interesting
movie with this tune playing in the background.
Stuart
# Posted on December 30th 2001 by Sturob
The Mist on the Mountain
This tune is actually called "The Mist Covered Mountains". It is in fact in the Scots Guards tune collection, but it's really a slow march. I play this on the highland pipes, and it's really nice. Not sure I could play it on my flute. Wouldn't really want to hear that noise. It's a pipe tune and that's that, I'm afraid.
Mrs. JFK actually requested that the Black Watch Highland Reg. play the tune at the interrment, which is why it has become known as a 'funeral march'. I have video footage and commentary on a set of videos called Born in Blood/Lady's from Hell which describes the circumstances of the tune.
# Posted on December 30th 2001 by Malcolm
Perhaps this isn't the tune that was requested. But, despite what anybody might say, I like it, and it IS the ancestor of the jig, The Mist Covered Mountain. I've just noticed that the note values are all wrong (it's not my transcription), so I'll try and correct it.
# Posted on January 1st 2002 by ragaman
No, sorry. It's all right after all. Don't mind me.
# Posted on January 1st 2002 by ragaman
This tune also exists as a folk song in Scotland and is about the Highland Clearances, at time when the people were evicted from the land to make way for sheep, because sheep were seen as more profitable. Many were forcibly removed to Canada,America,New Zealand and Australia. The song is called Hush, Hush.and sings of those terrible times. There are also others words to another song of the posted title but the one I mention is better known in folk music circles.
# Posted on February 20th 2003 by Atanos
Mist Covered Mountain
There's a tune I've played at a couple different sessions...never knew the title. I recently was watching a John Sayles film (The Secret of Roan Inish)...the tune was featured, and titled 'Mist Covered Mountain'. Definitely a different tune than the one discussed on this thread, though.
Does anyone know whether the 'Roan Inish' tune has an alternate title?
# Posted on November 4th 2003 by shethanai
The Mist-Covered Mountains
I would be curious to know when this tune was first published, as it was surely used in the film "Local Hero", and I believe that all music in that movie was credited to Mark Knopler.
Sometimes a piece of music seems to have been with us for ever.........
I would love to hear the true origins of this air.
GP
# Posted on February 21st 2004 by Guernsey Pete
The Rankin Family did a vocal track of the piece on their first album, which was/is very nice to listen too. It's a very haunting piece.
# Posted on March 29th 2004 by Winnowill
Mist Covered Mountains
You can aso find this as the opening track on the debut album by Bill Jones, "Turn to Me", BOING 0008 cd, from Bedspring Music, sung by Bill, which surprised me as I mainly knew her as a flautist and whistle-player when she was in my band....... the lyrics are listed as by John Cameron, who is described as "the late" on another website.
# Posted on April 18th 2004 by Guernsey Pete
Here is my version of the tune:
Q: 120
K: Ador
A2A A>BA|e2e e>dB|G2G G2A|B>AB A>GE|
c2c d2d|e>fg B>AG|A>Be d>cB|A3 A3:|
e2e e2e|d>eg B>AG|G2G d2B|e2e d>cB|
c2c d2d|e>fg B>AG|A>Be d>cB|A3 A3:|
I was originally playing slightly different version of the tune mixing several different settings. But I had a chance to play it with a local fiddle player in Edinburgh several months ago, and modified it a little bit. Great tune.
# Posted on June 26th 2004 by slainte
Here's the link to the sound clip of my version: http://slainte.web.infoseek.co.jp/mist-mt.mid
# Posted on January 17th 2005 by slainte
Instruments for Mist Covered Mountain....
Although I love pipes, and attend many MANY games, I have to say that this song sounds lovely with harp and whistle, guitar and whistle, harp and whistle and mandolin. We have a session group in Tacoma, WA that was just started this year- Tacoma Celtic Players- (search through Yahoo to find website) come join us!
# Posted on February 2nd 2005 by lowellirish
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/3411
# Posted on May 19th 2005 by ceolachan
Sorry to jump in here, as i am new.
However, here is a site: http://ingeb.org/songs/mistcovd.html
on there, you will see the credits are as follows:
from Archibald Sinclair's "The Gaelic Songster. An t-Òranaiche" (Glasgow, 1879). Sinclair notes that the tune is called "Johnny stays long at the Fair," and that it was written on the first day of autumn, 1856, by Iain Camaron.
Hopefully this sheds some light.
If I can dig up some more, i'll post it.
Gussy
# Posted on October 14th 2005 by Gussy
I really like this tune. It did feature on the soundtrack of "Local Hero", that's where I got it from (that version differs in a few notes from the settings on this site, but it's the same tune nonetheless). I thought Knopfler's "Local Hero" theme music was brilliant, and I'm sure (well, hope) he's honest enough not to claim "The Mist-Covered Mountain" as one of his own compositions.
I'm told that the film was inspired not by the West Highland coast where it was actually made, but by Shetland at the outset of the oil boom.
And that's incidentally where I first heard the film soundtrack, working there in summer '87 with a group of archaeologists: someone had a tape, and it became our soundtrack for the duration.
# Posted on August 11th 2006 by nicholas
Laura Cortese plays a beautiful version of this on her "Hush" album.
# Posted on May 17th 2007 by creathana
The track 'After the Games' from "Bobby MacLeod - Vintage 78's Volume One"
(http://www.footstompin.com/music/celtic_dance/bobby_vol_one) starts with this tune. Slowly and quietly on a single voice then a waltzy accompaniment comes in after a dozen bars or so, and maybe the tempo picks up a bit. All it needs is the sound of the sea on the shore and you would think he was copying Mr Knopfler...
# Posted on May 18th 2007 by david_h
Not 'copying' but 'making a reference to'.
I recently heard Frankie Gavin play the jig derived from this and, possibly because I had just read read the bit above about this itself being derived from 'Johnny stays long at the Fair' , it brought to mind the three old ladies stuck in the lavatory rather than this tune
What I find remarkable is that I would not have linked this tune with either the (very similar) earlier song or the (fairly different) later jig without being told, but the jig reminded me of the song. Or maybe Mr Gavin threw in some phrases from the original.
Sorry if that's a bit obtuse - there is a fairly well-known parody of 'Johnny stays long at the Fair' (first line - 'Oh dear what can the matter be') used as a kids skipping song in jig time. They were there from Monday til Saturday, nobody knew they were there. So wrong with this tune.
# Posted on May 18th 2007 by david_h
Cor, what a ramble last year.
The Bobby McLeod version has this first line:
A3 A3|e>AB A>GE|G3 G3|B>AB A>GE|
Otherwise almost as for the main entry
# Posted on March 28th 2008 by david_h
Would this tune be a suitable one to play on flute for an Irish funeral?
# Posted on April 19th 2008 by Greg the Piano Tuner
The Mist on the Mountain
Does anyone know a version of this song -- NOT Mark Knopfler's -- that is played on a whistle and ends with the sound of waves? I've been searching forever and if anyone could help me find this, I would be forever grateful!
# Posted on May 8th 2008 by John_Murphy