Andrew Newland’s eighteen comments

The tune you are referring to is 'The Beautiful Goldfinch' ('An Lasair Álainn Choille' in Irish), not a goldfish I'm afraid! Marcus Hernon plays it after 'The Linnet's Chorus' on his solo CD 'The Grouse in the Heather' ('An Chearc Fhraoigh'). All the tun... more…

Pat was a powerful player on the Uilleann pipes. He was also a very able performer on the bagpipes, having been in a pipe band with the Irish army. He will be very much missed by many. more…

With pubs closing from midnight tonight throughout Ireland the session scene here in Ireland has now come to a full stop for the foreseeable future. more…

Any bagpipe tune can be played on a normal D whistle as the piping scale uses a G natural. Because it uses a lot of the higher register on the whistle these tunes sound nice and bright and carry well in a session. N.B. Because most modern bagpipes use a s... more…

Interestingly The Mountain Ranger appears in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (published in Boston, USA, in 1883), as a reel in the key of B flat major under the title Rose Bud - Reel, but subtitled "or Mountain Ranger Hornpipe". It had apparently previously be... more…

There are two completely different tunes shown here. more…

Joseph M. Reavy in 'The Collected Compositions of Ed Reavy' gives this information on the name of the tune: 'Ed's mother was a Hamill and they came from Monaghan. They had a fondness for music and the traditional way of life. Ed learned many many tunes fr... more…

John was a gentleman, a fine musician and singer and a good friend. His passing is very sad news. He will be very much missed. His legacy is his very musical family who will continue the tradition. Leaba i measc na Naomh agus na n-Aingeal go bhfaighe a an... more…

Yes I'd like to be there and meet some familiar names. Let us know when and where. Andrew Newland. more…

Kilworth Hills is a retreat march by George Stewart McLennan. It is today a very popular tune in the Scottish pipe band repertoire. more…