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Track
Listing - Buddy MacMaster
1. Farewell to the Glen
(J.S. Skinner)/ Mr. Dow (Dan R. MacDonald) / Mrs. Dow (Dan
R. MacDonald)
Farewell to the
Glen was published in 1957 in The Scottish Music Maker, a
handwritten compilation of the music J. Scott Skinner
assembled by J. Murdoch Henderson. It was recorded in the
early '60s by Cape Breton fiddler Dan Joe MacInnis. Mr.
and Mrs. Dow are two Dan R. reels which are often played
together, both because of a Cape Breton Symphony
recording, and their side-by-side placement in
The
Heather Hill Collection
(The Music of Dan R. MacDonald Vol.1)
2. Highlanders Farewell
to Ireland / Willie MacKenzie's / The Burning House (Brenda
Stubbert)
First published
as a two part strathspey in the mid-18th century, by 1780
The Highlanders Farewell to Ireland appeared in Robert
Ross' Collection complete with 6 turns. In the 1950s Bill
Lamey recorded a similar 6 turn setting. Buddy's 4 turn
setting is closest to what is presented in The Athole
Collection. In the Irish tradition, a 4 part reel setting
circulates as Farewell to Ireland. Buddy has a fondness
for pipe tunes. Willie Mackenzie's is a popular pipe reel
which in The
Dungreen Collection
is presented as a transcribed from the playing of Donald
Angus. Buddy learned The Burning House from a piece of
sheet music which circulated at the Gaelic College while
he was teaching there in spring 2002. Brenda had composed
it a few weeks earlier for fellow fiddler Ashley MacIsaac
after his home in Belle Cote had burned to the
ground.
3. Nicole Fakoory (J.M
Rankin)/ Gabrielle's (J.M. Rankin) / Boston Life (F. Ferrel)
/ Moll in the Wad / Spin-n-Glow (F. Ferrel)
Sally Rankin
tells us:
"Nicole
Fakoory is John Morris' niece (Genevieve's daughter)
and his first Godchild. Gabrielle
MacLellan is our next door neighbour who plays
fiddle. She spent much time with us and of
course John Morris was very aware of her love for
music. When he had completed this tune he asked me for
name suggestions and I immediately thought of
Gabrielle".
Both Spin-n-Glo and
Boston Life are in Frank Ferell's book, Music For The
Feet, published by Mel Bay. Frank writes the
following:
"Spin-n-Glo
was written back when I lived in the Pacific
Northwest, and like many of my tunes, was inspired by
a fishing lure. The big winter fish that keeps
fishermen salivating along the North Pacific coast are
called Steelhead trout. They are more like salmon and
get up to 30 lbs in weight. They are elusive,
reclusive, and wiley. Fishing is done in coastal
rivers, often in snowstorms. The nastier the weather
the better. Bright day-glo lures seem to be
consistently effective, especially if they move or
spin. The Spin-n-Glo is probably the most used and
popular of these lures. Its simply a little plastic
bullet shape with wings, like a small propeller that
rides just above a single hook, and spins and, yes,
glos in the current. I caught my first Steelhead on
one, and hence the tune. Boston Life is simply a
celebration of all the stuff of living in Boston. Its
both a statement of fact (for those who live in "The
Boston States) and a dream (for those who would like
to). It was inspired, as much by my decision to make
Boston my home, as it was by hearing the late Herbie
MacLoud's description of the promise Boston held for
so many young Canadian Maritimes dreamers."
Moll in the Wad is a
popular 19th century Irish jig which Buddy found in 1000
Fiddle Tunes.
4. Miller of Drone
(Nathaniel Gow) / The Yetts of Muckart (James Stewart
Robertson) / Lochiel's Rant/ Pigeon on the
Gate
The first two
tunes were recorded together in a medley by Angus Allan
Gillis in 1935. The classic strathspey The Miller of
Drone was composed in the early 19th century by Nathaniel
Gow. It is followed by The Yetts of Muckart, one of James
Stewart Robertson's most popular compositions. Robertson
is most famous as the compiler of the Athole Collection
(1884). Lochiel's Rant and Pigeon on the Gate two pipe
reels first recorded by Alex Gillis and the Inverness
Serenaders.
5. Hughie and Janet's
March (Andrea Beaton) / Warlocks / Tarbolton Lodge /
Alistair Hunter (B. Murray)
Andrea Beaton is
Buddy's niece, the daughter of Kinnon an Betty Lou
Beaton. Popular at the local dances, she made her first
CD last year. Sixteen of her tunes are found in her
father's book, The
Beaton Collection.
In Cape Breton The Warlocks was popularized by a Bill
Lamey 78. He had found the tune in Joseph Lowe's
Collection (1840s). The composer, Robert Lowe was the
compiler's son. Tarbolton is popular in both the Irish
and Scottish traditions, the most influential recording
being a 1934 disc by Michael
Coleman.
Aberdeen fiddler Bert Murray is perhaps the most prolific
living Scottish composer
6. Springwell (D.R.
MacDonald) / Buddy's Detour (D. Greenberg) / Francis Xavier
Kennedy (D. Greenberg) / Kathleen's Favourite Jig (D.H.
MacEachern)
A grouping of
four locally composed F jigs, the first is found
in
The Trip to Windsor
Collection, The
next two Greenberg originals are in Jerry
Holland: The Second
Collection and
the last one is from The MacEachern Collection
(Vol.1).
7. Silverwells ( J.S.
Skinner) / The Lass of Corrie Mills / The Duchess of
Buccleuch (Wm Marshall) / The Highlands of Banffshire (Simon
Fraser) / Carnie's Canter (J.S. Skinner)
Silverwells is
one of Buddy's favourite airs by James Scott Skinner. It
comes from Skinner's first book The Miller O'Hirn
Collection (1880). Skinner also added the variations to
Simon Fraser's strathspey, The Highlands of
Banffshire.
Winston Fitzgerald
recorded both The Lass of Corrie Mills and Carnie's
Cantor on a 78 disc. Angus Chisholm popularized The
Duchess of Buccleuch.
8. Little John's Hame (
J.S. Skinner) / The Forth Bridge Strathspey /The Forth
Bridge Reel (both by W. Blyth) / Scourdiness (C. Sherritt) /
Miss Baigrie Reel (Robert Baillie)
Little John's
Hame is found in James Scott Skinner's most popular
compilation, The
Scottish Violinist.
The Forth Bridge strathspey and reel was published in J.
Murdoch Henderson's Flowers of Scottish Melody (1935).
According to the notes in The Fiddle Music of Scotland
(James, Hunter, 1979) Williamson Blyth (1821-1897) wrote
these two tunes to celebrate the 1890 opening of the
magnificent cantilever bridge just north of Edinburgh.
Buddy met the late Charlie Sherritt during one of his
trips to Scotland. Charlie published many of his
compositions and Scourdiness is one of his most famous
tunes. Miss Baignie Reel comes from Kohlers's Violin
Repository, a late 19th century compilation by W. B.
Laybourn.
9. The Real Thing /
Upper Denton Hornpipe / Catching Rabbits (Ian
Powrie)
The Real Thing is
a hornpipe found in O'Neills
Music of Ireland
(1903). Many Cape Bretoners associate it with fiddler
Angus Chisholm. Upper Denton was first published in the
late 19th century in Kerr's Collection of Merry Melodies.
It was recorded by Bill Lamey. Catching Rabbits is a 20th
century composition from Scottish fiddler Ian Powrie. In
the 1980s Powrie's tunes were published in two small
volumes.
10. Margaret's Waltz
(Patrick Shuldham-Shaw) / The Rosewood Jig (Skinner) / The
Judique Jig
Pat Shaw composed
Margaret's Waltz for Margaret Grant on her retirement in
1959 as English Folk and Country Dance Society
representative in Devon. The Rosewood Jig was written for
Skinner's concert agent, George Rosewood of Aberdeen.
Buddy got his version of The Judique Jig from a
handwritten setting based on performances Dan J. Campbell
and Angus Allan Gillis and supplied by Westmount, Cape
Breton music enthusiast Danny Fraser.
11. Happy-Go-Lucky Clog
(Donald MacLean) / Saratoga Hornpipe / The Irish American
Reel
Happy Go Lucky
Clog was composed by Donald MacLean, who was Sydney Mines
railway operator when Buddy worked in Sydney. A favourite
of Angus Chisholm it was later published in Jerry
Holland's Collection of Fiddle Tunes (1988). The Saratoga
Hornpipe and The Irish American Reel are late 19th
century American tunes originating in Ryan's
Mammoth Collection (1883).
12. High Bass
Set&endash; Christy Campbell Strathspey, Anthony Murray, The
Bridge of Bamore / Marquis of Tullybardine /The
Margaree
For this medley
the fiddle is tuned AEAE. The tunes are written out
in
The Dungreen Collection.
For the first three tunes, and for raised bass music in
general, Buddy particularity remembers the playing of
Hughie MacDonald. Originally from Mabou , Hughie spent
most of his life in the Detroit area where he was a
member of The Five MacDonald Fiddlers. The Margaree Reel
got it's name in the '60s after Dan Joe MacInnis recorded
it with that title. Dan Joe associated the tune with
fiddlers from Margaree. The name stuck.
13. Sir Wilfred
Laurier's Jig / Gordon's Trip to Sydney (D.R. MacDonald)/
Kohler's Jig (Alex Deas) / Miss Sophia Campbell (Robert
Mackintosh)
Sir Wilfred
Lauriers' Jig is found in
Brenda Stubbert's
Collection.
Gordon's Trip to Sydney was written for Gordon MacQuarrie
and he included it in The Cape Breton Collection (1940).
Miss Sophia Campbell was first recorded on 78 disc by
Angus Chisholm
14. The Bell Piano
Strathspey (D.H. MacEachern) / Snowplough Reel (D.H.
MacEachern) / Mrs. Smyth of Methven / The King's Reel / Miss
Lyall / Sandy Cameron / Miss MacLeod's Reel
The first two Dan
Hughie tunes are amongst the most popular tunes composed
in 20th century Cape Breton. Mrs. Smyth of Methven is
from Niel Gow's Repository. Sandy Cameron's was recorded
on 78 as a duet by fiddlers Bill Lamey and Joe Maclean.
The other three are all Scottish favourites found
in
The Skye Collection.
15. The Grey Seal's
Lament for its Pup (W.R. Aim) / Miss Ann Moir's Birthday /
The Duke of Gordon's Birthday (Wm. Marshall) / London
Lasses/ West Mabou
The first air is
a modern Scottish composition. The next two 18th century
strathspeys are ever-popular for stepdancing. The last
two reels both have 19th century Irish origins. The
current Cape Breton setting of London Lasses likely
originated from Donald Angus Beaton. According to local
legend the popular version of The West Mabou Reel
comes from Dan 'The Tailor' Beaton.
More Buddy
recordings -The
Judique Flyer
- Judique
on the Floor
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Cranford
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3/25/03
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