Paddy Tutty

Notes

• The Four Seasons (Brian Pearson) is an anthem for the year's turning: a song centred in the depth of the greenwood. Followed by a traditional French rigadon, learned from the French band, Lo Jai.
• The Gypsy Laddie (Child #200) - A traditional Scots ballad learned from the singing of Cilla Fisher: a great story of "love versus the class system".
• Suí Síos fá mo Dhídean - A traditional Irish harp tune played on the harpsichord. I first heard this played by Irish scholar Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. The tune was collected by Edward Bunting from the harper Charles Byrne in 1799.
• We Be Soldiers Three/ Bourrée Mouregue – This 16th century song appears in the English collection Popular Music of the Olden Time by William Chappell. The French bourrée is from fiddler Christian Oller.
• Knight William and the Shepherd's Daughter (Child #110) - Aside from being a lesson in seventeenth century manners, this is a difficult story, but it ultimately champions the strength and persistence of the young woman in question. This version of the ballad, collected in Somerset, England, is from the singing of The Young Tradition.
• Burr Oak (P.Tutty) Dedicated to Sara Williams, an advocate of bad puns and a dear friend who continues to encourage my attempts to grow an oak forest in my back yard.
• The Maple's Lament (Laurie Lewis) - A song written to the memory of the wood itself — the tree spirit.
• The Road to Heaven (Matthew Manera) - A song about longing, freedom and choices. The title and several lines in the song suggest references to fairyland or middle earth.
• La Fleur de Bruyère - This French dance tune from the English band Blowzabella is also known as Spanish Jig.
• William Glen (Child #57) – An ocean voyage with its share of treachery and the supernatural, this is a variant of the Child ballad Brown Robyn's Confession, learned from the singing of Nic Jones.
• Thousands or More - From the repertoire of England's Copper Family, this has always been one of my favourite chorus songs.
• Auré Françoise - This is a waltz from the French piper M. Buisson that I learned by osmosis from Lo Jai's first album of Limousin folk music.
• The Cuckoo - An Irish variant of a traditional song of lost love, learned many years ago from the singing of Anne Briggs.

A selection that both delights and enthralls... Soundbytes