I recently learned that one of the songs my group does in one of our medleys isn’t a traditional song, and is actually under copyright. The song is Wild Mountain Thyme, and is not very important to us on its own, but is very important as an introduction and end to the song The Land o’ the Leal. …Okay, so both of these songs are Scottish in origin. I figured this would be the best place to ask about medleys; sorry if it’s in the wrong forum.
I’ve tried replacing Wild Mountain Thyme with its (traditional, non-copyrighted) ancestor, The Braes O’ Balquhidder. Though I prefer the sound of Balquidder as a stand-alone song, I just can’t get it to jive with The Land o’ the Leal. Any suggestions on a different song to use, or a way of playing The Braes O’ Balquidder which would mesh?
What Big Davy said; the version you play (nice go, BTW!) is attributed to Francie McPeake of Belfast, who wrote it in the late 1940s/early 50s. His great-grandson’s still alive and running a music school in Belfast; Francis the younger is a highly accomplished piper, flute player and whistler himself. You never know; for a donation to the McPeake School of Music cause they’d probably give you access to the rights
BUT I digress. Since you seem to be liking things in G and 3/4, how about an O’Carolan tune, or a waltz, or an air like Easter Snow? There are also some J Scott Skinner things that are nice, plus tunes like The Dark Isle (that’s a newish one).
And of course, there’s always stuff like The Skye Boat Song or Carrickfergus. an Paistin Fionn in G might be nice, too.
Good luck!
P.S. If you’re not getting paid for performances of WMT, would there be a problem?
though it is related to Braes of Balquidder.