Pipe Tunes From the Crypt
© Robert Burns, Oct. 2023
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For additional information pertaining to the tunes on this CD, read below.
Tune List:
1. La Llorona: La Llorona, pronounced “lah yo-ro-nah” with a quick trill of the “r”, is the air of a Mexican folk song of unknown authorship derived from the legend of La Llorona who murdered her children to accommodate a lover. There are many versions of the song. Its origins are obscure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona_(song) The setting for La Llorona based on the singing by Lüla Reyna.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIchbCVA-hUP Played on bagpipes and pennywhistles in keys of “D” and low “D” with accompaniment of sounds of a running stream and a woman moaning.
2. Siubhal Sheumais [also known as A Lament for the Departure of King James the Sixthfrom Scotland]: This tune is from the body of “classical” bagpipe music called ceol mor and is of unknown authorship and age but relates to events of 1688. Played on Bagpipes. I was taught that the air came from a keening air and, indeed, the following history found at https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/69986/pg69986-images.html
is very relevant to the theme of this CD:
The bagpipe joined in the sorrow as well as the mirth of the people. The coronach, a wailing recitation which recapitulated the good deeds of the deceased, came most immediately after death, and corresponded to the old ecclesiastical dirge and the Irish “keen” of the present day. The laments on the pipes were performed after the coronach, and 153accompanied the progress of the obsequies, a number of pipers attending the funeral of any eminent person. The coronach and the lament existed contemporaneously for some time, but gradually the coronach died out. The use of the pipes continued for many years later, more especially in the Lochaber district and also in Aberdeenshire. At a funeral in Skye of a notable chief the procession was two miles in length, six men walking abreast. Seven pipers were in attendance, and, placed at different positions in the procession, played the lament all the way from the residence of the deceased to the cemetery, and “upwards of three hundred imperial gallons of whisky were provided for the occasion, with every other necessary refreshment.” In these days a funeral was a funeral.
3. Togail Bho Thir [also known as Weighing From the Land]: This tune is from the body of “classical” bagpipe music called ceol mor and is of unknown authorship and age but is earliest published as One of the Dead’s Lament in The Campbell Canntaireachd MS Vol. 2 1814. Played on Bagpipes.
4. Cailleach an Dudain [also known as The Old Wife of the Mill Dust]: This tune is from the body of bagpipe music called ceol beag (e.g., dance and march tunes) and is of unknown authorship but several versions were collected by Alexander Carmichael who died in 1912. Played on Bagpipes. Carmichael reported in great detail of magic, death,
and reincarnation associated with the jig by the same name danced to this tune. http://carmichaelwatson.blogspot.com/2011/08/old-woman-of-mill-dust.html Bagpipes The following history from Carmichael found at
http://carmichaelwatson.blogspot.com/2011/08/old-woman-of-mill-dust.html is very relevant to the theme of this CD:
Elsewhere in Carmina Gadelica, Carmichael has a long note about the curious ‘resurrection’ dance which accompanied the playing of this jig: One dance is called, ‘Cailleach an Dudain,’ carlin of the mill-dust. This is a curious character-dance. The writer got it performed for him several times. It is danced by a man and a woman. The man has a rod in his right hand, variously called ‘slachdan druidheachd,’ druidic wand, ‘slachdan geasachd,’ magic wand. The man and the woman gesticulate and attitudinise before one another, dancing round and round, in and out, crossing and recrossing, changing and exchanging places. The man flourishes the wand over his own head and over the head of the woman, whom lie touches with the wand, and who fills down, as if dead, at his feet. He bemoans his dead ‘carlin,’ dancing and gesticulating round her body. He then lifts up her left hand, and looking into the palm, breathes upon it, and touches it with the wand. Immediately the limp hand becomes alive and moves from side to side and up and down. The man rejoices, and dances round the figure on the floor. And having done the same to the right hand, and to the left and right foot in succession, they also become alive and move. But although the limbs are living, the body is still inert. The man kneels over the woman and breathes into her mouth and touches her heart with the wand. The woman comes to life and springs up, confronting the man. Then the two dance vigorously and joyously as in the first part. The tune varies with the varying phases of the dance.
It is played by a piper or a fiddler, or sung as a ‘port-a-bial,’ mouth tune, by a looker-on, or by the performers themselves. The air is quaint and irregular, and the words are curious and archaic. In his West Highland Tales Iain F. Campbell of Islay mentions that he saw ‘cailleach an dudain’ danced in the house of Lord Stanley of Alderley. He does not say by whom it was danced, but probably it was by the gifted narrator himself. In October 1871, Mr. Campbell spent some time with the writer and his wife in Uist. When driving him to Lochmaddy, at the conclusion of his stay, I mentioned that there were two famous dancers of ‘cailleach an dudain’ at Clachan-a-ghluip. We went to their bothy, but they were away. The neighbours told us that they were in the direction of Lochmaddy. When we reached there we went in search of them, but were unsuccessful. Some hours afterwards, as I was coming up from the shore after seeing Mr. Campbell on board the packet for Dunvegan, I saw the two women racing down the hill, their long hair and short dresses flying wildly in the wind. They had heard that we had been inquiring for them. But it was too late. The packet, with Mr. Campbell on board, was already hoisting her sails and heaving her anchor.
With regard to the name of the jig itself the cailleach may well refer to the Corn Dolly or Maiden, the last sheaf to be taken in from the harvest which in some regions of the Highlands and Islands was referred to as the cailleach. And if this is the case then the dust even on the mill floor could still retain the spirit of grain. Perhaps the ‘resurrection’ dance associated with the tune can be interpreted
as mimicking the life, death and rebirth of the cailleach while she is meant to represent the spirit of the grain.
5. The Floo’ers o’ the Forest [also known as Flowers of the Forest]: This tune is from the body of bagpipe music called ceol meadhonach (song tunes). It is a lament for the army of James IV, the flower of Scottish manhood, slain with its king on the field of Flodden, September 1513. The composition of this song began with a fragment of a very old ballad. Alison Cockburn of Ormiston drew on this fragment to write a full song. She died in 1794. I have been taught that this is a military funeral tune and it is usually required of me by Scotch families. Played on Bagpipes.
6. Marche Funèbre [also known as Funeral March by Chopin]: This tune was composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1827-1829 and is commonly used in horror movies and funerals including those of U.S.A. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, U.S.S.R. dictator Josif Stalin, and U.S.S.R. President Leonid Brezhnev.
https://www.npr.org/2010/03/01/124039949/chopins-iconic-funeral-march#:~:text=It’s%20 also%20appeared%20in%20various,at%20the%20University%20of%20Pennsylvania. Played on Bagpipes with inclusion of horse-carriage sounds.
7. Danny Boy [using the tune Londonderry Air]: This tune is of unknown authorship first published in score form in 1855. The lyrics of the song address death and remembrance. Played on Bagpipes.
8. She Moved Through the Fair: This is a traditional Irish song using an air from Ireland and Scotland of some antiquity of unknown authorship first published in score form in 1909 with the air. The lyrics of the song address death recounting the story of a young couple’s love and wishes to marry but for whom the wedding will not take place because the woman previously died though she as a ghost does meet him, with the setting being a fair which was a traditional place to meet romantically in ould Ireland. Played on Bagpipes.
9. Chi Mi Na Mòr-Bheanna [translates to I Will See the Big Mountains but commonly known as The Mist Covered Mountains of Home]: This song was composed in 1856 by Iain Camshroin (John Cameron) of the Scotch hielands. This tune is from the body of bagpipe music called ceol meadhonach and is (song tunes). This tune was played by the U.S.A. Air Force Pipes and Drums and nine pipers form the Black Watch at Arlington National Cemetery as the coffin of U.S.A. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was moved from the caisson to the burial site, being that President Kennedy had commented on how much he love the tune played by the Black Watch Pipes and Drums on the White House lawn just nine days before his assassination (which the current President of Mexico, AMLO, labels a “state assassination”). More on this is found at
https://pipingpress.com/the-last-happy-day-the-great-highland-bagpipe-in-jfks-camelot/ Played on Bagpipes
10. Amazing Grace: The song was set by William Walker in 1835 to the tune known as New Britain of unknown authorship which was first published under other names in the early 19th century. This tune is commonly performed as a dirge at funerals of various faiths and ethnicities in the U.S.A. though it properly is an upbeat song with a joyous theme. Played on Bagpipes.
11. Fear a’ Bhàta [translates to The Boatman]: This tune was composed in the late 18th century by Sìne NicFhionnlaigh (Jean Finlayson) of Isle of Lewis, Scotland. This tune is from the body of bagpipe music called ceol meadhonach (song tunes). It is a song of
unrequited love for a young fisherman full of despair.]: Played on a pennywhistle in key of “D” accompanied by the sounds of cenotes at the ocean shore of County Clare, Ireland. 12. Chì Mi Na Mòrbheanna [See selection no. 9, above.]: Played on a pennywhistle in key of “D”.
13. Ian MacDonald’s “E” Minor Air: This is a traditional old Scotch Gàidhlig tune of unknown name and authorship collected by Cathal McConnell of the traditional Irish band Boys of the Lough from the accordion playing of Ian MacDonald in Skye, Scotland. Played on a pennywhistle in key of “D”.
14. Cumha Phadruig Oig Mhic Cruimein [also known as Lament for Patrick Og MacCrimmon]: This tune is from the body of “classical” bagpipe music called ceol mor said to have been composed by blind Ian (John) Dall MacKay of the Scotch hielands who died in 1754. There is good cause to suspect that the tune was actually older named Cumha Culodair (Lament for Culloden) composed by John MacIntyre of Rannoch. https://www.piobaireachd.co.uk/archives/9127 Played on Bagpipes with a 1785 Black Kintail chanter replica by Hamish Moore 1785 Black Kintail chanter replica by Hamish Moore pitched to concert pitch “A” accompanied by the sounds of cenotes at the ocean shore of County Clare, Ireland.
Credits:
Performer: Robert Burns
Producer: Jeff Dewine d.b.a. Infinote Music
Engineering: Jeff Dewine, Infinote Music
Recording: Jeff Dewine, Infinote Music; Robert Burns
Recording sites include:
a. Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary mausoleums
https://www.greenwoodmemorial.com
b. Sunset Cliffs, San Diego City, California
c. Mount Laguna, San Diego County, California
d. Los Peñasquitos Lagoon, San Diego County, California
e. Creek feeding into Lake Hodges, San Diego County, California
f. County Clare, Ireland
Recording equipment, software, and instruments used include:
a. Tascam HD-P2 Field Recorder with Sennheiser AKG
b. Sennheiser MKH-416P 48V shotgun microphone
c. GarageBand https://www.apple.com/mac/garageband/
d. Engine https://www.bestservice.com/en/downloads.html
e. Studio Piper http://www.epipes.co.uk/
f. Ross MIDIPipes https://www.rosspipes.com/
g. “D” and “Low D” whistles https://www.burkewhistles.com/
h. Strathmore Bagpipes https://www.murrayhendersonpiping.com/strathmore-bagpipes/
i. 1785 Black Kintail chanter replica by Hamish Moore pitched to concert pitch “A”.
Photograph:
The crypt portrayed is The Mount a.k.a. Chapel at The Mount a.k.a. Carnsalloch Chapel at the Mount, in Kirkton, Nithsdale using a public-domain or
free-licensed-copyrighted photo shown at
Copyrights for arrangement, compilation, and sound recording: © 2023 Robert Burns
Robert Burns is a professional bagpiper, composer, poet, and lawyer with a background in electronic music and traditional Gàidhlig (Scotch) and Gaeilge (Irish) music and culture. For more on the Robert Burns and these tunes: https://robertburns.biz/