9...Braw Burn the Bridges

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!

Produced by the Tannahill Weavers and engineered by Peter Haigh.

THE TANNAHILL WEAVERS:

Roy Gullane: guitar, vocals
Phil Smillie: flutes, whistles, bodhran, vocals
Iain MacInnes: highland bagpipes, Scottish small pipes, whistles
Les Wilson: bouzouki, keyboards, vocals
John Martin: fiddles, viola, vocals

Recorded in 1990 at Pier House Studios, Edinburgh, Scotland. Engineered by Peter Haigh. Produced by the Tannahill Weavers.