March Tunes - 2024

A couple of tunes with a couple of sharps (#’s)

And neither one is in D major. If you are interested in the classical modes - major is called Ionian mode.

A lot of Scottish tunes come from the bagpipe’s Ceòl beag repertoire, and this month’s tunes are a traditional march in the A modal (Mixolydian) pipe scale , and a piper friendly B minor (Aeolian) reel by a contemporary Scottish fiddler.

The pipe march The Highland Lassie Going to the Fair is also called  Bó Mhín na Toitean, The Bull’s March, Doherty's March, and Johnny Doherty's March. It appears in many pipe music collections: I found it in the Seaforth Highlanders tune book.  You can listen to Dick Glasgow playing on hammered dulcimer, here -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtH_2aUgdaA

A Hairy Coo

The Bm reel Maggie’s Pancakes is an early composition by Scottish fiddler Stuart Morrison of the Tannahill Weavers, in honor of the culinary skills of Maggie Moore. I first learned it from Katie McNally who presented it at the Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle School in 2010.  

You can find many versions on YouTube: I like the one Altan plays - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s04TE7cWZlY

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As a possible MSR (March, Strathspey, Reel) concert set idea, Alasdair Fraser plays these tunes as a set along with the strathspey Captain Horne (V2 - 9.15) which is already in our repertoire .