Wednesday, August 6, 2008

A few insights into our tunes.

Dream Angus.
A popular traditional lullaby from the Scottish Highlands which sits nicely in the pipe scale.
The legendary perception of Scottish “thriftiness” might make people think that only in Scotland would Dream Angus have the temerity to “sell” his dreams to bairns !!!
Dreams to sell, fine dreams to sell,
Angus is here with dreams to sell.
Hush now my bairnie and sleep without fear,
Dream Angus has brought you a dream, my dear.


Major MacLennan.
Composed by G.S. MacLennan of the Gordon Highlanders.
This march was composed by GS in honour of his favourite cousin, Major John MacLennan, a great character who was RSM of the1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders in the Boer War when he won the Distinguished Conduct Medal . He was commissioned in 1902. Sadly Major MacLennan was badly injured in France in 1916 as a result of a fall from his horse which had been startled by shell fire. He was evacuated to Aberdeen where he was frequently visited by GS. He died of his injuries in August 1916.


Shoals of Herring
This song by Ewan MacColl (1915-1989) tells of the perilous lives of the North Sea herring trawlermen, chasing the fish often referred to as “the silver darlings”. Many of these trawlermen sailed out of such ports as Aberdeen, Peterhead, Fraserburgh in the north east of Scotland.

Blairbegg.
This is the CEPB’s own tune, inasmuch as it was composed by Jim Cottnam while he was a piper and bass drummer in our band. The tune was later entered in a composition competition in Victoria and won first prize. Jim was a stalwart of our band for many years. He had two sons who played pipes (David and Colin) and another who played the drums (Robert) in the band. Blairbegg (strictly Blairbeg) was a place in Jim’s native Scotland that obviously left a lasting impression on him.

Old Angus

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The song Dream Angus was written in about 1850 by Mary Fraser of Edinburgh, but the tune is reputed to much older. Seems to be a Gaelic Air by the name of "Nam bu leam fhin thu thaladhainn thu"


Reference :- http://www.kistodreams.org/dream_angus_g.asp