Irish Fridays

[Globaltruth]

Now, for something slightly . . .


Vintage 1910s Music - Christine Miller - Oft In The Stilly Night @Pax41 - YouTube

Oft, in the Stilly Night (Scotch Air) by Thomas… | Poetry Foundation

Of whom was Christine Miller thinking in 1910? We know Tom Moore had some friends lost in the 98 Rebellion. We all can name missing faces and remember words once spoken.

I like to remember too.

thanks Padraig. A recording from mere 114 years ago. Wonderful.

here is another version, slightly more recent and that I’m sure you know. Both mournful - and that’s fine.

https://youtu.be/6GlrGfsV_e8?si=L7Yju7be-vdhodw7

[johncorrigan]

The wondrous Lisa O'Neil was in session on Gideon Coe's BBC Radio 6 show on Wednesday and was in sparkling form and even included a new song in the set called 'Worsens By the Day'. Otherwise familiar songs brilliantly performed and good chat too with Gid. First song is the show opener and then three more starting about thirty-eight minutes in - she's a bloody treasure.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0021hrp

[Globaltruth]

The wondrous Lisa O'Neil was in session on Gideon Coe's BBC Radio 6 show on Wednesday and was in sparkling form and even included a new song in the set called 'Worsens By the Day'. Otherwise familiar songs brilliantly performed and good chat too with Gid. First song is the show opener and then three more starting about thirty-eight minutes in - she's a bloody treasure.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0021hrp

I will always remember the solo concert she did in the theatre in Dublin in lockdown.

Forget lockdown; here she is singing one of my favourite lock-in songs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_SAMwVsb8Q

[Globaltruth]

Well this stopped me and Mrs GT in our tracks the other night when the devious Al and his Go Rhythms popped it up.
Imagine being able to take one of the most hackneyed works in the Whittaker canon and making it sound new, especially after the Pogus have made a good job of doing the same a few years previous. No need to imagine any more, just click on the link...

(I remember you went to see him alive JC and I suspect you made a wise choice.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zWHCJxAskg

[Padraig]

Happy weekend, a chairde. This weekend sees the Irish Open Golf Championship being held in County Down. Some nice coverage on TV of the beautiful scenery in a part of Ulster I have never visited. I'm impressed even.
I know the songs, though. Here are one or two . . . sort of.

Bendemeer's Stream
bendemeer's stream - Google Search

[johncorrigan]

Happy weekend, a chairde. This weekend sees the Irish Open Golf Championship being held in County Down. Some nice coverage on TV of the beautiful scenery in a part of Ulster I have never visited. I'm impressed even.
I know the songs, though. Here are one or two . . . sort of.

I hadn't heard of John Charles Thomas before, Padraig. Loved his voice and his performance of the song. Thanks. The locals will be glad to see Rory well in the mix after the first round.

[Globaltruth]

Is this corny and trite? Or, worst of all, according to elsewhere on the forum, - Light Music?? Heaven forfend...a future where heavy music is compulsatory??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5pQ5dQT8Sc

By the way, here's the very same Emma O'Sullivan doing a bit of busking in Galway, encouraging a future star.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyqIX2CUV3c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SpIRnZ9L_0

she moves her arms too - the controversy never stops!

[Padraig]

Is this corny and trite?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyqIX2CUV3c

she moves her arms too - the controversy never stops!

Certainly not in my book, Global.

But it's hard to place where Irish dancing is at this time. It has changed over the years eg from holding your arms stiffly down by your sides, to moving them loosely about. I used to go to ceilidhs (Irish dancing not ballroom) and though useless myself I saw how it should be done. We did 'set dances' and they are still done these days.
When I would go fishing in the West of Ireland I met local dancers who tried unsuccessfully to teach me their ways. They were more in the sean nos style a style that's more appealing to me and looks easier, but isn't. Watching Emma O Sullivan explains why.

Thanks for these links which I really enjoyed, Global. I have added a little set dance for you.

set dancing - Google Search

[eighthobstruction]

Fab , Padraig....The white shirt is a fabulous thing , and will get you in all sorts of places all over the world....

[Globaltruth]

Certainly not in my book, Global.

But it's hard to place where Irish dancing is at this time. It has changed over the years eg from holding your arms stiffly down by your sides, to moving them loosely about. I used to go to ceilidhs (Irish dancing not ballroom) and though useless myself I saw how it should be done. We did 'set dances' and they are still done these days.
When I would go fishing in the West of Ireland I met local dancers who tried unsuccessfully to teach me their ways. They were more in the sean nos style a style that's more appealing to me and looks easier, but isn't. Watching Emma O Sullivan explains why.

Thanks for these links which I really enjoyed, Global. I have added a little set dance for you.

set dancing - Google Search

Thanks Padraig. Glad you enjoyed them. We saw her dance once on the street in Dublin. Didn’t know who she was and almost walked past - glad we didn’t, a busked world class performance is a rare experience.

What I’d really like to see though is one of your lessons….

[johncorrigan]

One of my pals sent me the tiny desk performance from a few years back of Gaelyn Lea. Gaelyn, from Duluth in Minnesota, has brittle bone disease and holds the fiddle like a cello and plays with a looping player. She played a tune that she describes as an old Irish tune - 'South Wind'. I will post the track from her record -

https://youtu.be/xXmMwcNFAaA?si=F_pbG71Nj7Fajoaa

...however worth checking out the Tiny Desk recording to see what this remarkable woman does, if you haven't seen her before. 'South Wind' is the second piece on the video.

https://youtu.be/n6oSeODGmoQ?si=Z8OgJiJDfMr9c5PD

Happy Irish Friday.

[Globaltruth]

One of my pals sent me the tiny desk performance from a few years back of Gaelyn Lea. Gaelyn, from Duluth in Minnesota, has brittle bone disease and holds the fiddle like a cello and plays with a looping player. She played a tune that she describes as an old Irish tune - 'South Wind'. I will post the track from her record -

https://youtu.be/xXmMwcNFAaA?si=F_pbG71Nj7Fajoaa

...however worth checking out the Tiny Desk recording to see what this remarkable woman does, if you haven't seen her before. 'South Wind' is the second piece on the video.

https://youtu.be/n6oSeODGmoQ?si=Z8OgJiJDfMr9c5PD

Happy Irish Friday.

A triumph of the human spirit.

[Padraig]

...however worth checking out the Tiny Desk recording to see what this remarkable woman does, if you haven't seen her before. 'South Wind' is the second piece on the video.

https://youtu.be/n6oSeODGmoQ?si=Z8OgJiJDfMr9c5PD

Happy Irish Friday.

Thanks for that sequence, a Sheain. I add to Global's star rating.

The South Wind is a favourite tune for many players, sometimes attributed to Carolan. The title is often rendered in Irish; The Chieftans called it An Gaoith Aneas, or A ghaoith o nDeas (O wind from the South - see what I did to your Irish name above, O John.) A is O vocative; An is the, definite article.

an gaoth aneas - YouTube sic

[johncorrigan]

Thanks for that sequence, a Sheain. I add to Global's star rating.

The South Wind is a favourite tune for many players, sometimes attributed to Carolan. The title is often rendered in Irish; The Chieftans called it An Gaoith Aneas, or A ghaoith o nDeas (O wind from the South - see what I did to your Irish name above, O John.) A is O vocative; An is the, definite article.

an gaoth aneas - YouTube sic

Thanks, Padraig. The Chieftains sound great drifting through the house this morning.

[Padraig]

Here is a poem for Irish Friday. It could have been a song - it's in Jig time.
A little ballad with crafty rhyme and rhythm.

Juniper Hill

I climbed to the summit of Juniper Hill
To observe the grand view of the shore.
And indeed I could easily be standing there still
Without having finished observing my fill
From Magilligan Point to Bengore,
Though it's often I've seen it before.

When I turned to the right 'twas a beautiful sight
To look down on the town of Portrush.
And I thought to myself that I very well might
Have the time to walk down there before it fell night
To buy a new whitewashing brush
Or a billhook to thin out a bush.

Then I looked to the left and below me as well
Were the neat little streets of Portstewart.
And at once I remembered of having heard tell,
Though they might have no whitewashing brushes to sell
That the girls are all fond of a coort
That reside in the town of Portstewart.

I thought of the lasses so lovely and gay
And the notions ran round in my head.
Will I go to Portrush or the opposite way?
Will I squander my money on dancing and tay
Or buy a new billhook instead,
And go quietly home to my bed?

And while I was thinking the shadows grew long
And I turned on the heel of my fut
And went into Portstewart, and perhaps I was wrong
To go hunting for kisses and wenches and song
When the house wanted whitewashing, but -
Sure the shops would be sure to be shut.

Anonymous, 1940
from Ulster's Other Poetry, John Wyse Jackson and Hector McDonnell, The Lilliput Press 2009.