I’ve recently been listening to Paul McGrattan and Paul O’Shaughnessy’s CD “Within a Mile of Dublin”–an old favorite of mine. Anyway, listening to some of the highlands played on the CD got me thinking a bit…
In some of the recordings I’ve heard of John Doherty, highlands tend to be played in a steady yet pointed 4/4 rhythm, quite similar to Cape Breton-style strathspeys (when I first heard a recording of Doherty, his playing strongly reminded me of that of C.B fiddler Alex Francis MacKay). However, on relatively recent recordings, such as those by Altan, the rhythm of the highlands they play is much more evened out, more like a reel played at a very even, mid-paced tempo than a strathspey. O’Shaughnessy’s playing of highlands on the “Dublin” CD sounds like it has a slightly more accented approach than on his recordings with Altan (or their subsequent recordings with Ciaran Tourish), but it still sounds very different to me than Doherty’s way of playing them.
I realize John Doherty’s style of playing was very idiosyncratic and not necessarily common among most Donegal fiddlers of his generation (unfortunately, he’s the only “old” Donegal fiddler I’ve heard). Would any Donegal music aficionados out there care to comment about this funny little dichotomy in highland playing? Could it be regional differences within the Donegal fiddling (or dancing) tradition? New style of playing vs. old style?
I wouldn’t think John Doherty was that far removed from the Donegal tradition, that his playing of highlands would be considered unusual. His rhythm is fairly typical.
At the risk of making a sweeping generalisation which may not stand up to analysis of individual players on particular recordings, but generally the older generations played highlands with much more of a scottish dotted rhythm thatsome of the current batch of younger players. It may be easier to player a more even rhythm in sessions. Many of the recordings we have of the older lads tend to be one or two fiddlers together.
Try to listen to some of the older recordings such as Francie Dearg & Mickey Ban O’Beirn from the early 50s onwards (RTE CD The Donegal Fiddle), which includes Jimmy Lyons and John and Simon Doherty, among others. Also the Byrnes are on The Brass Fiddle LP and Clo Iar Connachta tape Ceol na dTead. James Byrne has a nice Claddagh record too.
Dermott McLaughlin who did the sleeve notes etc on the Claddagh records plays in the old Doherty style and if you get a chance, he would be well worth seeking out.
Do players ever make much of a distinction between highlands and flings, then? Would dancers object to a fling like Lady Mary Ramsey that’s long on runs of triplets? Aside from its unsuitability for dancing.
I like to dot the rhythm of the things myself, it’s great fun, and makes them sound more distinct from hornpipes and reels.
I tried getting a friend who knows a gazillion tunes to play some barndances - he didn’t know what they were! The new “Round the House and Mind the Dresser” Topic CD has lots of great examples of these lesser known tune types.
[quote=“Kevin L. Rietmann”]Do players ever make much of a distinction between highlands and flings, then? Would dancers object to a fling like Lady Mary Ramsey that’s long on runs of triplets? Aside from its unsuitability for dancing.
You play those triplets as two sixteenths and an eight, not as three even triplets. Otherwise, you’re breaking 4/4 into 6/8 and you’ve got a jig, not a strathspey. A fling is in fact just one dance called a strathspey.
You can also break into triplet runs and play them even if they don’t destroy the basic Swmw pulse of the dance, as in Lord Alexander Kennedy, which is often played with the even triples in the last bars rather than “strathspey triplets.”
Could somebody post definitions of a highland, a fling and a barndance? I do know some barndances, but I don’t know what makes them barndances. The person I learnt them of plays them like hornpipes, but I have heard them played as slow reels.
Terminology is specific to a particular region and some of the comments already made seem to relate more to Scottish than Irish music terminology, so the following comes once again from that excellent source on Donegal music, Caoibhin MacAoidh.
Fling - possible term for a highland but not used in Donegal - more common in say Clare, probably applied to a variant of a hornpipe.
Highland - tunes in 4/4 related to specific dances. Highlands were generated by Donegal fiddlers by adapting strathspeys or substandard reels. Played faster than the scots would play a strathspey but slower than reels, extended runs of triplets in the original would be reduced or simplified.
He adds that in Ulster they use schottische for anything the Donegal fiddler would call either a German, a highland or a barn dance.
The Roche collection offers some “Flings” which O’Neill publishes as either reels or hornpipes. I suspect it’s a matter of choice in tempo, rhythm not any particular combination of note patterns in the basic tune.
The best illustration is Harry Bradley and John Blake playing a couple of well known reels as “schottisches” on the Tap room trio CD. Great CD by the way.