Saturday 2 July 2011

Francie & Mickey Byrne - Ceol na dTéad (1992)

320 kbps



Francie 'Dearg' & Mickey 'Bán' Byrne - Ceol na dTéad: Traditional Irish Music Played on the Fiddle from Donegal (Cló Iar-Chonnacht - CIC078 - 1992)

A raw blast of fiddle music from the Byrne brothers of Kilcar, County Donegal, probably recorded some time in the late 1970's, shortly before Mickey passed away. There are hardly any sets here, only individual tunes, and the sound quality is that of a field recording, not a studio album. A little gem of pure Donegal fiddle music from an earlier age.

You can watch Francie Dearg playing Dinky Dorrian's Reel with Peter Carr here.

Some of the names are a little suspect, and any help in identifying those that have gone astray would be appreciated.

1. Franc a'Phoill [Jig]
2. Donegal Castle [Hornpipe]
3. Seán Ó Laidin (Danny Meehan's) [Reel]
4. Ríl Sheáin Parnell/An Cailín Rua [Reels]
5. Dúlamán na Binne Buí [Highland]
6. Jenny Rocking the Cradle [Reel]
7. Máire Mhaitiú [Air]
8. Gan Ainm [Hornpipe]
9. Gan Ainm [Reel]
10. The Scolding Wife [Reel]
11. Toss the Feathers [Reel]
12. O'Rourke's [Reel]
13. Clúine Meallta [Air]
14. Lough Isle Castle [Reel]
15. The Gravel Walks [Reel
16. Ríl Phadaí 'n Atharaigh [Reel]
17. The Oak Tree [Reel]
18. Nell's [Hornpipe]
19. The Dublin [Reel]
20. Limerick House [Reel]
21. Master Crowley's (Miss Patterson's Slipper) [Reel]
22. Stirling Castle [Strathspey]
23. Agnes Campbell [Strathspey]
24. Dinky Dorrian's [Reel]
25. The Glory [Reel]
26. An Bunnán Buí [Air]
27. Hudi Gallagher's [March]

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6 comments:

  1. Another gem. Hope you have more to come.

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  2. Aye, there are a few more knocking about. I'll get on the case...

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  3. Here are the titles you have different from the tape itself. This is how they are on the tape:

    01 The King of the Pipers
    06 On the Road from Glen to Carrick
    14 Lough Isle Castle. This is not Seán sa Cheo (the tunes are related, but in Lough Isle Castle the third part is just a variant of the first, as here. In Seán sa Cheo there is a distinctive third part. Also, Seán sa Cheo is played in G minor in Donegal.)
    17 The Northern Lights (also called The Old Oak Tree, this is nearly the same version John Doherty played.)
    19 Tom Morrison's Reel
    21 Miss Patterson's Slipper (This title is always used in Donegal for this tune, which is one Master Crowley’s reels, but is a very odd 3-keyed version here, certainly not the Sligo version.)
    27 Hugh Gallagher's March (a 6/8 march, not a jig).

    I get the impression that this is slightly slower (and therefore slightly flatter) than it should be. It's certainly slower than on the tape I have of this.

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  4. Thanks for that Fiddlerdemon. A few of the titles are the ones that I prefer, among the many that are available. Track 14 was a mistake altogether.

    It's quite possible that whoever I got the recording from changed the speed. I didn't actually make the digital copy myself.

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  5. For some reason, most of the tracks on this album are showing up as Unix Executable Files that I can't open. Any suggestions?

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  6. I've uploaded a new version. Try it again now.

    ReplyDelete