Spoot O' Skerry

reel

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on July 25th 2002 by MichaelBolton.

This tune has been added to 203 tunebooks.

Also known as Fateful Head, Spoot Askerry, The Spoot O' Skerry, Spootiskerry.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• áthas by áthas
• Beyond The Shore by Deby Benton Grosjean
• Celtic Music And Songs From Scotland by Ossian
• Explosive Fiddlers by The Explosive Fiddlers
• Fiddlers Five by Fiddlers Five
• Harpes D'Irlande by Katrien Delavier
• In Season by Wild Asparagus
• Live At West Mabou Hall by Howie MacDonald, Dave MacIsaac And Mac Morin
• Live: Rough Around The Edges by Syncopaths
• Our Favourites by Lewis And Harris Accordion And Fiddle Club
• Out Of The Blue by Alan Kelly
• Rhythm Of Life (Various Artists) by NE66
• Roaming by Jeremy Kittel
• Souvenir Of Scotland by Hamish MacGregor And The Blue Bonnets
• Syncopace by Syncopace
• The Final Fling Part One by NE66
• Torch And Fire by Dan Beimborn
• Traditional Fiddle Music From The Glens Of Antrim by Dominic McNabb
• Tri by Far From Home
• Tuned In by Johnny Murphy
• Where Else Would You Be by The Pub Scouts

X: 1
T: Spoot O' Skerry
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
DE | G2 DE GDEG | DEGA B2 AB | G2 DE GABd |eged B2 AB |
G2 DE GDEG | DEGA B2 AB | g2 ed edBA | B2 G2 G2 :|
ef | g2 ed ed B2 | BABG E2 DE | GABd eged | B2 A2 A2 ef |
g2 ed ed B2 | BABG E2 DE | GABd eged | B2 G2 G2 ef |
g2 ed ed B2 | BABG E2 DE | GABd eged | B2 A2 A2 DE|
G2 DE GDEG | DEGA B2 AB | g2 ed edBA |B2 GB G2 ||

Spoot O'Skerry

This is a reel, not a hornpipe. Works well on the whistle in "A", (but the fiddlers didn't like it!)

# Posted on July 25th 2002 by Kenny

Works well on the whistle in G too. I think it's by a Shetland fiddler called Burns (no relation). A great tune if you like syncopation. You wouldn't play it in a Comhaltas session, though.

# Posted on July 30th 2002 by granama

My husband and I introduced it to one of the local Comhaltas sessions as a Shetland tune by Samuel Ian Rothmar Burns and now they are requesting we play it each time we attend. Are they breaking the rules? They do have a playlist, but other tunes there seem to be allowed.

# Posted on August 1st 2002 by vonnieestes

Well , I'm only going on hearsay - perhaps they're more tolerant than I think.

# Posted on August 2nd 2002 by granama

Spootiskerry

This reel was composed by Shetland fiddler Samuel Ian Rothmar Burns (Ian Burns for short) in 1980. Spootiskerry, as it is more appropriately named, is the name of a farm in the Burns family. A "skerry" is a group of rocks which is covered by the sea, but can sometimes be visible depending on the tide. At the session I attend, we play this tune with Reel de Montréal. One of my brainchilds adopted by the group. Is this a session without rules? Mostly.

# Posted on August 3rd 2002 by SPeak

This is a quite popular session tune in Scotland: in fact, almost all the Scottish musicians know it. Just like an Irish tune the High Reel, it's a fun to play very fast with other players.

# Posted on September 22nd 2002 by slainte

Spootiskerry

A magic tune. The correct title is "Spootiskerry" (as noted by SPeak). Very popular in sessions in the northeast of England. It was recorded by Northumbrian concertina virtuoso Alistair Anderson's band Syncopace in c. 1995.

# Posted on September 17th 2005 by SiGarb

See also

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/1655

# Posted on December 25th 2005 by gian marco

Da Fitful Head

The (in Shetland dialect, "Da") Fitful Head is a high bluff with steep drops to the sea at the south end of the Mainland island of the Shetland group. I don't know if the name means "fateful" or has some other meaning. Anyway, I learned the tune as "The Fateful Head", which obviously refers to the place I have described - whatever the original, or correct, name of the tune may be.

# Posted on August 5th 2006 by nicholas

As SPeak says: Spootiskerry = name of farm; skerry = sea-covered group of rocks. To add: spoot = razor clam

# Posted on March 10th 2007 by benhall.1