Peat Fire Flame, solo mandola

[Colin Botts]

Here's a solo arrangement of the traditional Scottish tune "Peat Fire Flame," performed on my Pomeroy mandola. Thanks for listening, hope you enjoy it!

[John Kelly]

This is one we play a lot around here, Colin, but I have never previously heard it at your chosen fast tempo. You give the tune a whole new perspective as an instrumental piece, and I enjoyed your change of octaves and the varying textures in your playing. I found myself trying to fit the lyrics in to it, but unsuccessfully. Here are the lyrics of the chorus:

By the light o' the peat-fire flame,
Light for love, for lilt o' laughter,
By the light o' the peat-fire flame,
The light the hill-folk yearn for.

[JAMaantay]

Beautiful, Colin, one of the best renditions of this tune. As usual, I'm going to try to learn your version of it, and hopefully won't butcher it too much! Cheers.

[Colin Botts]

This is one we play a lot around here, Colin, but I have never previously heard it at your chosen fast tempo. You give the tune a whole new perspective as an instrumental piece, and I enjoyed your change of octaves and the varying textures in your playing. I found myself trying to fit the lyrics in to it, but unsuccessfully. Here are the lyrics of the chorus:

By the light o' the peat-fire flame,
Light for love, for lilt o' laughter,
By the light o' the peat-fire flame,
The light the hill-folk yearn for.

Haha, yeah, it's not really singable at my crazy tempo. I think I was possessed by those frenetic slides and polkas from Kerry when I played this one.

[Colin Botts]

Beautiful, Colin, one of the best renditions of this tune. As usual, I'm going to try to learn your version of it, and hopefully won't butcher it too much! Cheers.

Glad you enjoyed it; it's certainly a cracking tune! My girls just learned it and love playing it on the fiddle! Have fun with it! Thanks!

[Bill Cameron]

Interestingly punchy! I recorded this song about 30 years ago, at the more typical, leisurely tempo, after learning it from a book inherited from my Glaswegian grandpa. I’m thinking now maybe I’ll relearn it and try the speedier variant as a tag at the end…thanks for the idea.

[Colin Botts]

Interestingly punchy! I recorded this song about 30 years ago, at the more typical, leisurely tempo, after learning it from a book inherited from my Glaswegian grandpa. I’m thinking now maybe I’ll relearn it and try the speedier variant as a tag at the end…thanks for the idea.

I imagine it's a lovely tune no matter how it's played. I should probably give it a go at a slower tempo. Have fun with it; thanks for listening! Cheers!