TOW#2: Mo Chailin Dileas Donn

[nigelgatherer]

Tune of the Week No.2:

Mo Chailin Dileas Donn



This is one of my favourite slow airs, and seems to be quite a well known tune/song in the Gaelic music world. I fell in love with it after hearing the Ossian CD The Carrying Stream - Billy Ross's vocals and Billy Jackson's clarsach slayed me!

• Standard Notation with Chords
• Standard Notation with Mandolin Tablature
• MP3 Soundfile
• Video of Me Playing Mo Chaillein Dileas Donn
  

[Tosh Marshall]

I made the fatal error of going down to TAMCO yesterday and bought a Weber Gallatin Mandocello! Wonderful instrument, no better way to learn it than with a slow air. The scale length is frightening but I'll get used to it I'm sure.
Anyway I had a bash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRe3jPa3CQs

[nigelgatherer]

That's a beautiful looking instrument, Tosh!

[Tosh Marshall]

I'm really happy I made the decision Nigel, it was eating away at me and I went down to see Trevor and dealt with the temptation! It's fantastic and the low end is awesome. As I said earlier, the longer scale will take some adjusting to, but I'm more than happy I made the choice I did. You only live once and you have to enjoy it, and there's no better way!!!!!

[Trish Santer]

I knew it as a song before hearing it in Nigel's sessions, and have it on a CD by Gaelic supergroup Cliar: here's part of it, with Arthur Cormack the lead male vocalist.
http://www.sound-ideas.net/cliar/sound/M...20donn.mp3

Other versions by Capercaillie and by Mary Ann Kennedy (who is also a member of Cliar) but both these versions are a bit up-tempo with (IMHO) rather unnecessary funky rhythms. I also heard a lovely version by one of the young Gaelic singers, either James Graham or Darren Maclean, singing it in a concert i was at, but I can't find a recording of either of them doing it.

[Tosh Marshall]

Thanks for that link Trish, it's really good to have a reference to the tune. I'll have to check out the Ossian version.
Where's Dick, he started it!!!! I know, he's sneaked off to the Cafe!!!!!!!

[Jack Campin]

Very similar to "Flora the Lily of the West" (which is an American version of a folksong from southwest England that somebody made into a hymn) and the Irish tune used for "The Lakes of Pontchartrain".

© Ug and the Mammothmunchers, 10000 BC, presumably. It's going to be hard not to mutate into one of the others, particularly since I've known "Flora" since I was about 7.

[Trish Santer]

I don't really see the resemblance there, Jack. Not a bit like LoP to me!

Mark Knopfler does "Flora, Lily of the West" to the "Lakes of Ponchartrain" tune, but most singers use a different tune in a minor key (as in Joan Baez's version, which was where I first heard "Flora")

[Trish Santer]

And here are the two "Floras"
Joan Baez:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTegin1capU&feature=fvw
And Mark Knopfler, to the Lakes of Ponchartrain tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRIxqKOug...re=related

And to complete the picture: Lakes of Ponchartrain sung by Paul Brady
(very young!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad8RVexRUoQ

[John Kelly]

This tune has certainly generated a lot of interest. Here is my offering, arranged this time as a waltz, and played on mandolin, guitar and with added string and cello synths. Hope this does not cross the boundaries of what is acceptable in a mandolin-based group, and apologies if it does!

Thanks to Nigel for making this group possible and giving it a home on the site.

John
[url=<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/02BKX4fPgoY&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1?color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/02BKX4fPgoY&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1?color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>]Mo Chailin Dileas Donn[/url]

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Oops! I seem to have not quite got the embedding of the YouTube code as the others have done, or so it seems from the way it looks in the posting. Help, please?

John