Gaelic Song

Concepts

Audio Files

Parts

Resources

Gaelic Song today
Gaelic song has both a long history and a lively performance culture up to the present day. Around 65,000 people in Scotland today speak Gaelic. There has been government support for Gaelic language learning throughout Scotland, with a substantial increase in Gaelic medium broadcasting; one of the places you are most likely to hear Gaelic song today is on radio and television.

Other opportunities to hear Gaelic music are at the National Mod - an annual competitive festival, Feisean - local, non-competitive festivals where tuition in Gaelic music is given to young people, as far as possible though the medium of Gaelic), in pubs, at festivals, and psalm singing at Gaelic church services whch are sometimes broadcast.

There is also a great deal of Gaelic song available on both archive and commercial recordings, and many non-Gaelic speaking musicians incorporate Gaelic music into their repertoire.

Genres of Gaelic Song
Most Gaelic poetry is intended to be sung. Older Gaelic songs like the bardic poems are in unstressed meters, but songs with regular stress and rhythm characterise the Gaelic song repertoire which is popular today. Good examples are orain luaidh (waulking songs) and port a beul (mouth music). These and other kinds of labour songs are now performed for entertainment throughout Gaelic Scotland, but they were originally used to co-ordinate physical work, either individual (e.g., spinning, milking) or communal (e.g., rowing, waulking).

Waulking Song (Orain Luaidh)
Waulking Songs were originally performed while shrinking a web of newly woven tweed while beating it on a table. Today they are often sung either by soloists or groups in a concert setting, although some groups such as Bannal also enact a waulking while they sing.

The songs were sung unaccompanied by 6-8 women sitting round a table, passing the cloth clockwise and beating it on the wood. Several songs would be needed to complete the waulking.

Solo and chorus lines alternate. The chorus is traditionally sung in unison, though modern performers may add vocal harmonies or instrumental accompaniment.

An important feature is the use of vocables in the refrain which have no textual meaning, but contribute to the character of each song. Indeed, waulking songs are often identified by the vocables used in their refrain. For example:

Fill-iu oro hu o'
Fill-iu oro hu o
Bu tu mo chruinneag bhoidheach
Fill-iu oro hu o

The subjects of waulking songs are usually the praise of great men, hunting, love and laments for the dead, and many older songs may have been adapted as waulking song. In common with many older Gaelic songs, waulking songs often employ scales which use only 5 or 6 pitches, and are modal in character. Bheir mi Sgriob do Thobar Mhoire (voices - Ishbel Munro (solo), Jennifer Port, Emily Smith) is a good example of this. Here is the scale used:

An illustration of the scale used in the Bheir
mi Sgriob do Thobar Mhoire audio clip

Another waulking song, this time featuring voices and instruments is O hao O hao 's mi fo mhillean (solo voice - Kathleen Graham, guitar & vocals - Magnus Graham, fiddle & vocals - Lori Watson, bongos & vocals - Malcolm McEwan, vocals - Fiona Young)

Mouth Music (Port a beul)
Port a beul (plural: puirt a beul - "tunes of the mouth") is a way of singing dance tunes to Gaelic texts. The popular English translation is "mouth music", although strictly speaking this could also mean dance songs sung in any language.

The tunes of puirt usually fit into march (6/8 or 4/4), strathspey, reel, jig (6/8 or 9/8), or schottische metres. Most of the melodies also have equivalents in the repertoire of fiddle or pipes, but some also exist in their own right as original tunes.

Puirt are in the typical two part form of dance tunes with each half being 8 or 16 bars long. Each half is repeated, and tunes are sung through twice, with repeats, before going on to the next one. Puirt are sung in sets with similar or, more often, contrasting tunes being grouped together. A typical set, for example, would be a strathspey and two reels.

The texts of puirt are often light-hearted, satirical or bawdy, perhaps poking fun at local people or events. The words also have intrinsic rhythms which bring out the character of the tune, often adding elements of syncopation.

Today, puirt are performed by solo singers as a display of vocal virtuosity. They may also be performed by small groups of singers, usually two, who take it in turns to breathe so that the pulse of the songs can continue without a break. Puirt are also sung at Mods by four-part mixed voice choirs.

Listening to mouth music
Listen several times to the performance, if possible. Find out what kind of tune or tunes are used and try to keep time to them. Discover the meaning of the text, and notice the wordplay in it. Listen especially for how the singer(s) uses the words to express the tune, and hear the interplay between the two.

Notice any syncopation? There may be several puirt in a set; notice how the dance tunes are combined to create an exciting piece. Listen, in the following example, to how several puirt are combined with instrumental items and a dancer to make a more substantial item:

Dili o Iodallam/Buachaille dubh Fionnaghal/Seallaibh curraigh Eoghainn/O Tha'n Tombacca Daor (voices - Gabe McVarish, Fiona Hunter, Maeve MacKinnon, Lisa Morrison, Hector Henderson, Andrew MacPherson, Sarah Parker, Claire Gullan, Fraya Thomsen, Leanne Brock; fiddles - Gabe McVarish, Leanne Brock, Sarah Parker, Claire Gullan; clarsach - Fraya Thomsen; dancer - Donal Brown)

Inventing mouth music
You could create your own Gaelic (or Scots or English) mouth music text for a traditional dance tune. Choose a tune you like, and diddle it over till you know it inside out. Find some words which fit its rhythms. Keep it simple. Lots of repetition is fine. Sing it over several times until it works well. Get someone else to listen to it, and when you're happy, record it, write it down, or pass it on! You could exchange mouth music with friends!

Performing mouth music
Most importantly, know the text well. practice speaking it first, gradually building up to the appropriate speed. Then fit the words to the tune, deciding where you will take a breath. You could perform solo, in a duo or bigger group, unaccompanied or with accompaniment.

Try learning the puirt Saor an t-sabhaidh (Carpenter of the Saw) and Ruilleadh na Coilleach Dhubha, a typical combination of strathspey and reel.

Saor an t-sabhaidh/Ruidhlidh na Coilich Dhubha (voice - Jo Miller) audio score

Other puirt to try:

Orra Bhonna Bhonnagan audio score
(the audio file is an instrumental version of the song)

Tha Bean Agam score

Domhnall Beag an t-Siucair score

There is also a version of Domhnall Beag an t-Siucair for group performance in the Parts section for this module.

Bardic Song
Older Gaelic songs dating from the bardic tradition of the clan chief’s household are infrequently performed today. They are written in unstressed meters, and are less accessible to listeners than more rhythmic songs such as waulking songs and puirt a beul. These songs often have dramatic stories, however, and form an important and ancient part of the rich tradition of Gaelic song.

Ceilidh Songs
There are many Gaelic songs which are popular songs at ceilidhs and concerts for the audience to sing along with. Common items are Fear a Bhata - The Boatman, Gradh Geal mo Chridhe - Dear one of my heart and Ho ro mo nighean donn bhoidheach - Ho ro my fair brown maiden. Some are equally well known in versions with English texts, such as The Eriskay Love Lilt.

Lullabies
Gaelic lullabies often praise the child's father and mother, celebrating their appearance and achievements. Often there are vocables such as "ba, ba" to lull the baby asleep. Lyrics may also look forward to when the child is grown up, wishing good fortune to them. One such song is Bidh Clann Uilidh - The Children of Ulster, where the child's future wedding is envisaged, attended by many important guests. This arrangement features a solo singer who is joined by a second voice for the chorus, accompanied by clarsach.

Bid Clann Uilidh (voices - Gillian Frame, Kathleen Graham; clarsach - Karen Conner)

Pibroch Songs
There are a number of Gaelic songs closely related to the pibroch music of the pipes. It may be that some pibroch melodies were derived from these songs. Certainly the sung versions can give clues as to how the pibrochs themselves might be played. One of the best known pibrochs is Cumha na Cloinne - Lament for the Children. In the recording below it is sung, as Fhir a Chinn Duibh, then the ground or theme of Lament for the Children is played on the pipes.

Fhir a Chinn Duibh (voices - Ishbel Munro, Kathleen Graham, James Graham, Darren MacLean, Maeve MacKinnon; pipes - Calum MacCrimmon)