For Ireland, I Won't Say Her Name (Ar Éirinn ní n-eósainn cé h-í)

  1. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    "Ar Éirinn ní n-eósainn cé h-í", or
    "For Ireland, I'd Not Tell Her Name", or
    "Tweedside"

    This is a traditional Irish slow air, also used as a song air. In Scotland, it's known as "Tweedside" and sometime attributed to David Rizzio, musician and confidante to Mary Stuart, murdered on behalf of her husband.

    The harmonies I have used are from a concertina arrangement by Michel Van Der Meiren, which I have adapted to my instrumentation:

    http://www.tangosite.com/concertina/pub/for-ireland-2

    I'm playing the lead on octave mandolin for the first repetition, with mandolin harmony, and swap parts between the OM and the Ajr for the second repetition.

    Mid-Missouri M-111 octave mandolin
    1921 Gibson Ajr mandolin
    Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
    Ozark tenor guitar

    Eddie has previously uploaded his recording of this slow air in a thread called "Airs and Graces" which also covered other tunes (Link). As Barbara has asked us to have separate threads for each tune, I've started a new thread rather than posting to Eddie's old thread.



    Martin
  2. Eddie Sheehy
    Very nice . Martin. Do you have a copy of your arrangement, my son plays the concertina and this would make a nice duet...
  3. Eddie Sheehy
    Oops, just followed that link. Thanks, Martin.
  4. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Here's another one of my re-recordings of tunes that we play on a regular basis in our weekly mandolin gatherings. Same arrangement as my old 2014 recording, but different instrumentation.

    1921 Gibson Ajr mandolin (x2)
    Suzuki MC-815 mandocello
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar



    Martin
  5. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    Beautiful tune, nice playing Martin!
  6. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks, Christian -- it's a very rewarding tune to play!
  7. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    I had found this tune in a tunebook I must have loaded down some time ago, but I didn't like the melody all that much. So I gave up the tune and looked for something else to play. Then I heard Martin's version, really liked it and again tried to play it:
  8. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Lovely arrangement and very well played, Christian
  9. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    I like both of these. I have a version, not quite the same as these..I will look again. Nice song CC and Martin.
  10. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Lovely tune – very well played by both of you, Martin and Christian.
  11. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    Thanks John, Ginny and Frithjof!
  12. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Very nice playing from both of you!

    Christian, that's a remarkable story about coming to like this tune only at the second attempt. And you produced such a nice version after all that. The photos look great, too. Did you take them?
  13. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    I've never been to Ireland, so I had to find the pictures on the net.
  14. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Martin and CC - I am inspired by you both. I have recorded Sunset over Ayr and will do For Ireland next and pack them as a two- some.
  15. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks, Ginny -- looking forward to hearing your recordings!
  16. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    A big thanks to all who liked this tune from me too!
  17. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    I am posting this for Ginny. It is our latest collaboration on mandolin, octave and guitar. We did our usual file-swapping over the internet and I mixed the arrangement when we were happy with it then Ginny came up with the lovely pictures to accompany the tune and synced them to the music.

    I see it last featured in June of last year, so it was due a revival.

  18. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Thanks for posting this John and for your always marvelous partnership in our music. I was going to put the Gaelic name in but it's way too long and needs those accent marks that I don't know how to do. The pictures are all water colour paintings of lovely Irish scenes. With thanks to the artists.
  19. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    Beautiful pictures and great playing!
  20. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Thanks for your new production, Ginny and John.
    That’s the right video to settle back in the evening and enjoy the tasteful playing of your instruments as well as the chosen visuals.
  21. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Thank you, gentlemen. John and I are now on the lookout to catch the possible waves of the Sea Shanty craze and liven things up. The downside of sea shanties is that they really need a story to be told
    and instrumentals aren't always the best for that - so we are on the hunt...We have one and are looking for a couple more.
  22. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    That sounds great, Ginny and John! I especially like the way the accompaniment fills in the gaps created by the longer notes in the melody -- I always have the instinct to fill them with tremolo but should really work on not being afraid to just let sustained notes ring out. Great tone, too.

    As for shanties, how about the "Mingulay Boat Song"? Evelyn arranged that one for mandolin -- she posted her arrangement to the Cafe in her "Winter's Tale 5" collection (link).

    Martin
  23. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Thanks, Martin. Your observation about the accompaniment fills is interesting. I am not a fan of tremolo on slow airs as a means of delivering the longer notes. It works beautifully on lots of tunes, many of which you and others play so well in your videos here, but I just feel that it does not enhance the airs (and I am rubbish at it anyway). I played in a duo with a very fine young traditional fiddle player here (unfortunately she moved away to Edinburgh just over a year ago) and she was a really fine interpreter of slow airs and especially our Scottish ones. I loved accompanying her and used the guitar almost as a piano accompaniment might be played, with arpeggios and fills. She of course could hold the long notes easily on her fiddle and used vibrato very tastefully. On jig and reel and pipe-march sets I would join her on mandolin, alternating leads as a change from the guitar. I really miss our duo!

    Re Mingulay Boat song: I have never thought of it as a shanty till you mentioned it here and have never played it anything like a shanty. Evelyn has it listed as an air or rowing song in the book you linked to, so maybe this is where the idea of shanty comes from? As Ginny says, shanties really need to be sung. Maybe we will compromise and try some hornpipes? Ginny?
  24. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    I think it depends somewhat on whether you use the narrower definition of "shanty" as a sailor's work song, sung to accompany and synchronise the work action, or the wider definition to include "fo'c'sle shanties" which are ballads and other songs sung during relexation/rest periods.

    For what it's worth, I was thinking of the Mingulay Boat Song because of Richard Thompson's rendition which is included on the (fabulous) album "Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs And Chanteys".

    Martin
  25. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Martin or John...do you know where we can find the music for the Mingulay song? I quite like it as a stand-alone tune.
  26. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    ohh..I found it. Thanks.
  27. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    I have some here Ginny. I play it with my fiddling friends regularly. The link Martin gave above to Evelyn's arrangement has a lovely three-part setting. It is under the name Craig Ghuanach [Guanach] (Traditional, Scotland), not Mingulay Boat Song. Worth a look. The YouTube link you emailed me is a lovely version too.
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