A Dossan of Heather
Irish traditional music from Packie Manus Byrne of Donegal
compiled and edited by Stephen Jones & Jean Duval
Product Number: 98635BCD
ISBN: 0786653752
Publisher: Mel Bay Pub., Inc.
Difficulty Level: Beginning-Intermediate
Format: Book/CD Set
This is not just another book of Irish session tunes. It represents the relatively unknown repertoire of a single Irish traditional musician, Packie Manus Byrne of Donegal. There has been considerable interest in the music of Donegal over the past 10 years or so, especially with the rise of groups such as Altan. Packie Manus Byrne is a familiar name to traditional-music lovers in Ireland and the UK, where he enjoyed a successful career as a folk performer for more than 20 years. Almost all these tunes were being played in Packie's home area between 1925 and 1935; the collection is thus something of a "time capsule" with a unity of origin and style that sets it apart from other collections. The 85 genuine old traditional tunes are being made public for the first time. This unique collection, with all the background information and stories, gives the reader a real sense of the community out of which the music came and the characters who played it. Suitable for fiddle, tin whistle, flute and other traditional instruments. The CD includes 33 of the tunes performed by Jean Duval, Stephen Jones, Johanne St. Laurent, Lynda Dowker, and Reinhard Görner on a variety of instruments.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Sources of the music and types of tunes
A story for every tune
The cast of musical characters
How the collection was compiled
Characteristic features of the tunes
Packie's whistle style
Acknowledgments
A note on the Irish orthography used in this book
Notes on the transcriptions
Guide to the speed of dance tunes
* indicates tunes on the CD
Jigs
*1. Forgetting the lesson
2. McShane's rambles
*3. The storm
4. The dark girl dressed in blue
*5. Stepping stones
6. The Byrnes of Gleann Cholm Cille
7. Merry hours of gladness
8. Crossing the Oily river
*9. A dossan of heather
*10. Teelin rowdies
11. The sheigh o' rye
12. The sapper
13. The lazy wife
14. Willie dear
*15. Showers of autumn
*16. Foyne's legacy
*17. Away and over
*18. I'll marry you when me garden grows
19. The peeler and the goat
20. Socks on the crane
21. The wheels of the train
22. The half door
23. An t-éan sa chrann
*24. An fear dall
25. The buckasheen landy
26. The collier laddie
27. Paddy Bhillí na rópaí
Slip jigs
*28. An cailín rua (The red-haired girl)
*29. Piddling Peggy
30. The dawn pack
31. Humours of whiskey
Marches and polkas
32. The Tummel march
33. The fumbling chorister (march)
34. A besom of heather (polka)
35. The belling march
36. I've got a bonnet (polka)
37. Mín na hÉireann (march)
*38. Captain Taylor's march
39. The swamp reed march
40. The gap of Glenshane (march)
41. The Fernden polka
Highlands
*42. Piddling Peggy
*43. A Gweedore highland
*44. The forgotten highland
*45. Mín a'Churráin
46. The crow's claw (Johnny Haughey's highland)
47. Welcome home Rosie
48. An fharraige chiúin (The calm sea)
49. An highland fada (The long highland)
*50. The last star
*51. An t-altán buí (The yellow-faced rock)
52. We're having a drop
53. Behind the ditch in the garden
*54. Lilting Ann
*55. Unnamed highland
56. The Willighan bush
*57. Weans in skirts
Reels
58. The dark girl dressed in blue
*59. The ghost's welcome
60. Call the horse!
*61. Blow the bellows
62. An coileán cú
63. An bata tí (The house stick)
*64. The three stars
Hornpipes and germans
65. Unnamed german
66. The Bonnie hop (german)
67. The stuttering auctioneer (hompipe)
*68. The tatty hokers (hornpipe)
69. Barefoot Biddy (hornpipe)
*70. The schoolmaster's sister
Mazurkas and waltzes
71. Father Murphy's topcoat (Shoe the donkey)
72. Alla Pio
73. Rosie's brachán (mazurka)
*74. Home from France (Sa bhaile ó'n Fhrainc)
75. Unnamed mazurka 1
76. Unnamed mazurka 2
*77. The dangers of men
Airs
78. Suan cloch teineadh (The firestone lullaby)
*79. An bothán (The little turf house)
80. The true lovers' discussion
81. The barley field (air and hornpipe)
82. The spinning wheel
*83. The Glen Finn lass
84. A Welsh chapel hymn
*85. Ar thaobh na Carraige (By the side of the rock)
Index
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