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Sleeve Notes
Of the tunes on this recording Samuel the Weaver, Jenny Dang the Weaver and The Reel of Tulloch are traditional, the latter being referred to in old sources as Righ na puirt - King of tunes.
Modern tunes are represented in Cullen Bay (a beautiful area between Buckie and Banff in the north of Grampian) by Ian Duncan, The Panda by Gordon Duncan (no relation), and Allan MacDonald's Reel. The Fiddler was written by Donald MacLeod, who ranks alongside G.S. MacLennan (Dalnahassaig and Alick C. MacGregor) as the finest composer of pipe tunes this century.
Grey Larsen's Thunderhead slipped into the Scottish piping tradition by way of the St. Mark pipe band in Brittany, and is known at home as The Jig Brest St. Mark.
S'iomadh Riud a Chunnaic Mi is a Gaelic Port a Beul, a piece of mouth music intended for dancing to. The lyric, describing objects on view during a night stroll through a Highland village, is largely devoid of profound meaning.
Kintail (Theid Mi Dhachaidh Chró Chinn T-Sáile) - I will go home to Kintail - a Gaelic song melody which deals with the perennial themes of exile and return. In piping circles the tune is sometimes known as The Seaforth Lullaby, and bears all the hallmarks of the pibroch-song tradition.
This music was recorded at Pier House Studios, Edinburgh, Scotland, in June 1990. Special thanks fo Stuart Morison who joined us with his cittern on Braw Burn the Bridges, Jenny Dang the Weaver, and A Night Visitors Song.
Thanks also to Herschel and Sarah Freeman, for their friendship and support!