St. Kilda Wedding reel

This is a traditional Scottish reel, which is especially popular among the fiddlers of the country.

My version here is a composite of the two slightly different settings. The first part comes from the playing of Deaf Shepherd in their second album while the second part is based on the playing of another young Scottish band Keep It Up. (Deaf Shepherd recorded it as the harmony of a song.)

Just like many Irish flute players do not play Mrs. McLeod in the original key, I play this tune in G as a whistle player. There is nothing like A major version, but G major one is still acceptable to my ears.

Does anyone play this fine reel in Donegal or Cape Breton?

Can’t get the link to play. Get error message.

You can listen to Mattrick playing a fantastic version of the tune: http://worldfiddlemusic.co.uk/mightycraiconline In a different key, it reminds me of Scottish band Ossian.

A great Scots reel in a flute-friendly key:

K: Gmaj
G2GB GBdB|A2BG E2DE|G2BA GBdB|1 e2ed edeg:|2 e2ed edef|]
g2ga gddg|efgf e2dc|Bdef gfeg|dBgB A2BA|
Gggf gddg|efgf e2dc|Bdef gfeg|dBgB A2BA|]

This G major setting will go nicely with Colonel McBain (Edor one).

2nd tune

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7BSIrb9nbc

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2nd tune, 1 minute 25 seconds in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn4Xiojy5nU#t=1m25s

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X: 3 is a Cape Breton setting from the playing of Troy MacGillivray, recorded live in 2007 for his CD "Live at the Music Room".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn4Xiojy5nU

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Most folkies of a certain age in Scotland were captivated by a new group based in Glasgow called Ossian. The opening few seconds of their second LP, St Kilda Wedding (1978) still takes me back to that wonderful time. They play "St Kilda Wedding" in the key of D, probably to fit in with Billy Jackson’s pipes. X:4 above is a transcription of that setting.

Is this tune coming from St Kilda’s archipelago? Given the remote location of the islands and the fact that it was evacuated in 1930, I wonder whether it was actually composed there or if its title is just born in the composer’s mind.

The tune was written long, long before 1930 so it could be from St. Kilda but it could have also been written by a non-resident. I don’t believe anyone knows.

There certainly were tunes from St Kilda. In one of my many expeditions through the libraries of Scotland, I came across a manuscript of tunes from St Kilda. I copied some of the tunes, but I’ve been unable to find them of late, alas. I have a feeling that it may have been part of the Athol Collection in Perth - one day I’ll go back and attempt to find it. "St Kilda’s Wedding" was not one of the tunes.

Elsewhere, we have "The St Kilda Reel" in one of the Gow collections, "The St Kilda Girl’s Lament" from a Battlefield Band album, and "A St Kilda Dance" from a William Jackson album. The Patrick McDonald Collection of 1784 contains at least five tunes from the island (including those from the CDs mentioned above).

As for "St Kilda Wedding" there is a record of a Miss Macleod, originally from St Kilda, singing the tune in a manner close to X:4 above in 19th century Edinburgh.

I’m sure you’ve heard of this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyCC8Pobw80

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Singer Anne Lorne Gillies made a special study of the songs of St Kilda and produced a 20-track CD in the early 2000s, entitled "An Long Hirteach" (Hirta being the Gaelic nane for St Kilda.)

Thanks for all your infos and links, St. Kilda really has a unique history and some natural wonders I can only dream of seeing.

I warmly recommend Ossian’s arrangement of this tune for those who haven’t heard it yet.