The Foggy Dew - Irish Folk Song

  1. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison

    John Kelly and I have put this tune together with the help of my daughter, playing the flute. We did search for it on the site and couldn't find a previous post and John said to blame him if we are wrong.
    The Foggy Dew may have a few different origins, but the most prominent one is that it is an Irish Rebel Song from the Easter Uprising of 1916 in Dublin.
  2. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Ginny, the finished product is certainly worth the efforts we put into making it. Your pictures really blend so well with the music. Thanks for all your and Bethany's work on it. I am delighted to be part of another Canadian/Scottish collaboration.
  3. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    That's quite some production, Ginny and John! I really like that combination of instruments. Nice to have the flute in there. Presumably the other instruments are two (?) mandolins, OM and guitar?

    Without any need talk to talk about blame, there is actually a previous SAW thread for this tune with versions by me and by Mark Gunter:

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/g...235&do=discuss

    The tune is on my own list for a fresh recording as well -- in fact, I did record it a couple of months ago but didn't like the result so didn't upload it. Still like the arrangement I used for my old 2015 version in the other thread.

    Martin
  4. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Thank you Martin - and thank you John for all the hard work you did on this tune. John, I said if anyone could find a lost thread to a song, who would it be? Was I right or was I right? Thank you, Martin, I knew you could find it. We were hoping others might do this tune as we didn't think there were any others. Maybe you can add yours in here too.
  5. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks, Ginny. Here is my 2015 version:



    And here is Mark Gunter's 2020 version:



    Three very different approaches to transferring this tune to mandolin!

    Martin
  6. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Ginny - you were right. Martin came out of his den and found the missing link to earlier postings of the tune.
    Martin, as far as I remember Ginny did mandolin, her daughter Bethany played flute and I added octave and guitar to their tracks that she sent me. Ginny has added another instrumental sound at the very start as far as I can hear. It is a shame in some ways that we have all posted purely instrumental versions, as this song has such great lyrics. The three versions, as you point out, do demonstrate the very different approaches we have all taken. Wonder if there will be any more offerings?
  7. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    With such great lyrics I think John should sing it for us...??
  8. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    Ginny, Bethany and John, this is a great video with delightful music! The pictures and the flute add some beauty to the mando content. First class!
    But Martin's version with the tremolo back up and Mark's solo mandolin are also very fine.
  9. Michael Romkey
    Michael Romkey
    Love it, Ginny. Nice collaboration. Like the layering in yours, Martin.
  10. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Thank you, CC and Mike, always appreciate it.
  11. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    That's great to have Bethany's flute in the mix. The mandolin has a lot of sustain compared with the banjo, for example, but I always think it sounds nice to combine it with an instrument that can hold longer notes. You have produced a very enjoyable arrangement and video, and it seems as if the transatlantic band had grown by a new member!

    Like John, I always "hear" this song with lyrics in my head. I can't remember who it was, but there was a singer who just "nailed it" in my opinion, and the sound hasn't left my memory since. But as the three versions in this thread show, the melody works well as an instrumental, too.
  12. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Thank you Dennis. The one thing I found about the flute is that playing with strings it is hard to have the same exact pitch. She checked and doubled checked her pitch as did John and i and eventually just put them all together. My ear hears it slightly different than strings but c'est la vie.
  13. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    There's a challenge well met - I mean, how can you do Foggy Dew without Luke Kelly? Easy: you do it with John Kelly, add a flute to make it sound truly Irish and you're good to go
    And The Dark Hedges in fog - priceless!
  14. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Thanks for all the recent comments on Ginny's, Bethany's and my collaboration. It is one of those tunes that just gets into your head when you hear it first, then it stays there!
  15. Brian560
    Brian560
    I like the ensemble playing on your Ginny John and Bethany's version. The flute fits in well and the presentation is perfect. Martins version is also excellent, especially the tremolo. Marks more casual approach is notable too in its interpretation
  16. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Thanks, Brian.
  17. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks for the nice comments on my old recording. I like that arrangement by Jan Wolters -- although the melody and harmony parts were written for flute, playing a high tremolo harmony on mandolin does add something special. Simple to play but effective.

    Martin
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