Do any of you play the Flowers of the Forest?
There’s a couple of versions and not sure which would be the traditional one to play for the Flowers of the Forest ceremony during the Kirkin O The Tartan. I would really love to hear a sound clip somewhere to get the right feeling. Hope somebody out there knows what I’m talking about. Gm
I play this tune. There are two basic variations that I know of. One is as a pipe tune and the other is as a song. The main difference is the song version having a lovely and poignant minor third in the b part. This version actually can be played on the pipes with cross fingering but I have never heard anyone other than myself do it. I am at work right now so I don’t have access to my music software. If nobody beats me to it I will try to send you both versions this evening after I get the kids to bed.
Cheers,
David
Thanks David ~ I appreciate it your help. Gm
Hello, Grannymouse! And a very happy UnBirthday to you, too.
I’m going to add to the confusion a little by saying that I know of four ( 4 ) different versions of “Flowers of the Forest.”
- The first version, Scottish, I found was on Taylor’s Traditional Tuneweb as a “bagpipe” midi, now accessible through …
… then follow the link to Taylor’s old site.
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The second version, also Scottish, is on the Contemplator site itself, also as a midi. Leslie has a short history of the song there, with words, so you can learn a bit about it while you listen.
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There is a rather spare setting, with the words, in a three-volume set of books containing what appear to be more antique versions of Scottish folk tunes. ( You may guess these contain some real gems. ) I am at work, and the books are at home, so I cannot give you what you need to find them. I can only remember that the publisher is Ossian.
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I found the sheet music to an Irish version on JC’s Tuneweb.
ALL of these versions are distinctly different. Indeed, it would be difficult to recognize them as the same song were it not for the title! 
My sense of it is that version two above, Leslie Nelson’s version, is probably closest to the one you want; but you’ll be able to decide when you listen to it. I used a copy of Noteworthy to convert the midi files to sheet music, and then edited out everything but the melody.
Thanks Neil ~ I think it is the one on the Contemplator and hopefully that will be in the music that Dave sends. I had the words before but had misplaced them.
Enjoy the turning leaves…I miss them.
GM