With my OM back from refretting, Regina and I thought of recording this Manx lament - and here goes: Allegedly, the story behind this is one very cold blast of winter, when all the sheep died. The ABC differs a bit from what you find on thesession.org - B minor instead of B dorian (their extra G# just won't go with the Randal Bays version I know this from): X: 1 T: Sheep Under The Snow, The M: 3/4 L: 1/8 R: Lament K: Bm Bc|d2 F2 FE|F2 A2 BA|F2 f2 fe|f4 fg| a2 g2 af |fe c2 Ac|BA FE FA|B4 Bc| de f2 df |ec A2 Bc|d2 e2 fg|a4 Bc| de f2 df |ec A2 dc|BA FE FA|B4z2| Regards from Regina to all of the SAW group!
Simply beautiful, what a gem of a tune and great playing by both of you.
Yes, that's a lovely tune and wonderfully played.
Nicely played duet!
The flute and OM sound wonderful together. Tell Regina thanks so much for the lovely tune.
Good stuff. I live in the isle of man and am desperatelylooking for manx tunes for mandolin. Preferably fast temper and upbeat.
Thanks all for the kind words. David & David, yes, it definitely is a fine tune with a great potential for harmonization. Michael, with all your hyperfect productions I felt I had to make amends with a second instrument I cannot even play. Marcelyn, I'll give Regina your regards, she'll be very happy.. peddrmac, I do feel extra honored by the appreciation from an actual Manx resident. However, it is not easy to do something upbeat about dead sheep, I guess
Great tune, and playing, Bertram and Regina. I've only known this tune under its Manx name "Ny Kirree fa Naghtey" (and various spelling variations -- Manx isn't really a written language) because it appears on one of my lodestone recordings, the "Drive The Cold Winter Away" Christmas album by Horslips, with sung Manx lyrics. There are English lyrics too, and I found the ABC below: X: 1 %Music T:Ny Kirree Fo-Snaightey (Isle of Man) B:Broadwood, L, 1893, English County Songs, London, Leadenhall Press S:Tune from Elizabeth Cookson, Words from Notes and Queries, Ser 4, ii Z:Lucy Broadwood F:http://www.folkinfo.org/songs M:3/4 %Meter L:1/8 % K:Bb (G3/2A/) |B2 D2 (D3/2C/) |D2 F2 (G3/2F/) |D2 d2 ^c2 | d4 w:One_ ve-ry keen_ win-ter and_ spring-time of frost, (d3/2=e/) |f2 =e2 (f3/2d/) |(d3/2c/) A2 F2 |(G3/2E/) (D3/2C/) (D3/2^F/) | G4 w:The_ young lambs were_ saved_ and the old_ sheep_ were_ lost; (G3/2A/) |(B3/2c/) d2 B2 |(cA) F2 G3/2A/ |(B3/2c/) d2 =e2 | f4 w: Oh!_ rise_ now my shep--herds to the moun--tains up go! G3/2 A/ |(B3/2c/) d2 B2 |(c3/2A/) F2 (B3/2A/) |(G3/2F/) (D3/2C/) (D3/2^F/) | G4 |] w: For the sheep_ are all bur--ied deep_ un--der_ the_ snow Martin
In some of the photos the sheep are under the snow.
Bertram, sorry if I didnt sound appreciative. I am. I jsut find that lots of Manx tunes are slow airs/laments etc which are nice, but there must be some barnstormers too?
Bertram, Regina, thank you for this lovely tune. It's always good to hear both of you play. David, very solid blend. Thanks to all.
Awesome job, David, really haunting, I love it.
Oohh David, I'll need a nice hot cup of tea after all that snow - the concertina is the topper again (generally, free reed instruments seem to be the choice for cold areas, thinking of the russians with their accordians). No problem peddyrmac. The only barnstormer, however, I know mentioning anything Manx is "The Crack was Ninety in the Isle of Man" (which isn't Manx, of course) Thanks Martin and Mike for the credits.
Nice tune nicely played Bertram! OM refretted? What are you holding those strings down with - a 9lb hammer???
Hi Bertram and David, really like both of you videos for this beautiful tune/song. I started playing Octave Mandolin about a year ago and am enjoying playing this tune from the Abc you posted. Like both of your versions accompanyment really brings it out, and to that end my daughter wants to play accompanyment on guitar but we are struggling to work the chords out . Any chance of adding chords to the ABC . Thanks for any help, Pete
Thanks Tavy, and if you ask my fellow session players, I suspect they'll tell you the 9lb hammer analogy is spot on... Velo, I kind of feared someone would ask for chords. My doublestop playing is always leaving room for interpretation, but here is kind of an approximation of what I do: X: 1 T: Sheep Under The Snow, The M: 3/4 L: 1/8 R: Lament K: Bm "G"Bc|"Bm"d2 F2 FE|"F#m"F2 A2 BA|F2 f2 fe|"Bm"f4 fg| "A"a2 g2 af |fe c2 Ac|"Bm"BA FE FA|"E"B4 "Em"Bc| "Bm"de f2 df |"A"ec A2 Bc|"Em"d2 e2 fg|"A"a4 "G"Bc| "Bm"de f2 df |"A"ec A2 dc|"G"BA FE FA|"E"B4z2|
Bertram and Regina, that was beautiful. And David, yours was too. Were you bowing the bass? I was listening on the laptop so I don't hear the bass very well.
This is a lovely tune! And, easy to learn and do a little experimenting with! It's a very fine difference between Bertram's posted abc's and the one on session tunes....
Here's mine (in Polka Dot!)..... I am playing this a bit differently. I'm playing the first part, with the high g natural, and with the g# in the second part... I'm playing my Collings MT2O mandolin.
Oooh Barb - the Sheep Under the Flannel Interesting with that G# - this made Regina want to dance a menuet.
Bertram (and Regina)... thanks! I was going more for a slow dance tempo, rather than a lament.....
Aha! Peddyrmac, there you go - Barb provided you with a barnstormer
Indeed Bertram. Well done Barbs. I found a discussion about Manx tunes on the session http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/23939 A couple that have potential for being 'upbeat' are 'Ta Cashen ersooyl dys yn aarkey' and 'the flitter dance (daunsey)'.
I posted a link to a site I've just come across over in the current discussion on Manx music in the Celtic part of the main forum: http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/catalog/j48.htm This site has full transcriptions of four complete Manx songbooks published between 1896 and 1914, including words and tunes (in standard notation set for piano). Mostly songs -- ballads, laments, hymns and carols -- but also a number of dance tunes. Well worth browsing. There are several non-lament fast dance tunes there in the "Manx National Music" book (direct link), many of which look interesting and lively although I haven't tried playing them yet. Martin
And all this time I thought Manx was a cat!
Manx cats must be one of our most famous exports. We also are home to a world champion cyclist Mark Cavendish, the largest water wheel in the world, are the 5th most likely nation to go into space and (until recently) had a higher credit rating than the US of A. It's a peaceful place for most of the year, but the world famous Isle of Man TT races attract over 30,000 visitors a year and see motorbikes doing over 200mph on coutnry roads and through narrow village streets.
