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Kilworth Hills waltz

There are 6 recordings of this tune.

Kilworth Hills has been added to 1 tune set.

Kilworth Hills has been added to 7 tunebooks.

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One setting

1
X: 1
T: Kilworth Hills
R: waltz
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
|:"A"A>ce2e2|"D"f>d"A"e2c2|"A"d>cA3c|"A"e>c"E7"B4|
"A"A>ce2e2|"D"f>d"A"e2c2|"A"A>ce3B|"E7"d<c"A"A4:|
|:"D"f>ef3g|"D"a>f"A"e2c2|"A"d>cA3c|"A"e>c"E7"B4|
"A"e>d c3d|"A"e>f e2c2|"A"A>ce3B|"E7"d<c"A"A4:|
|:B"E7">cd2d2|"E7"e>dd2"A"c2|"A"c2 A3c|"A"e>c"E7"B4|
"D"d>ef2f2|"E7"e>dd2"A"c2|"A"A>ce3B|"E7"d<c"A"A4:|
|:"A"a>g"D"f3g|"D" a>f"A"e2c2|"A"f>ec3f|"A"e>c"E7"B4|
"A"c>B A3c|"A" e>f e2 c2|"A"A>ce3B|"E7"d<c"A"A4:|

Three comments

Kilworth Hills

Another retreat march - not a waltz - by PM G.S.McLennan.
As played by the Strathspey and Reel Society of New Hampshire (SRS 19.06).
Chords (probably) by Sylvia Miskoe.

Re: Kilworth Hills

The key signature as posted is incorrect. as the tune was originally composed as a retreat march for Highland bagpipes, the G#s should al be G naturals. The tune is in A mixolydian, not A major.

Re: Kilworth Hills

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

G. S. McLennan was born in Edinburgh in 1883. Many of his ancestors were prominent pipers. He became Pipe Major of the 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders in 1905, one of the youngest Pipe Majors in the British army. He had become a highly gifted piper at an early age, being invited by Queen Victoria to play for her at Balmoral Castle when he was 10 years old.

His other compositions include such popular classics as The Jig of Slurs,
Mrs MacPherson of Inveran, and The Little Cascade.

When he was discharged from the army in 1922 he started working in Aberdeen as a bagpipe maker. He died there in 1929.

Kilworth is a village in County Cork, about 40 km north of Cork City. The British War Department established a rifle range there in 1886 which grew into a major training camp during the Boer War and First World War, the hilly country around there being considered ideal for military training. The camp is still in use by the Defence Forces of the Republic of Ireland, and in 2014 plans were announced for a new €1m computerised firing range.

G. S. McLennan is said to have considered the Kilworth Hills one of the most beautiful places on earth. Presumably he was there with the Gordon Highlanders; it is known that they were stationed in Ireland in the late Victorian period.

Incidentally, Scottish songwriter Eric Bogle (who wrote the two classic songs about WW1 ‘The Green Fields of France’ and ‘The Band played Waltzing Matilda’) wrote the beautiful ‘Song for James’ in memory of 19-year old James Nash from Kilworth who was struck by a lorry and killed while walking home after a night out in 2000. Prior to a performance at the Kilworth Arts Centre in 2009, Bogle visited the local graveyard and was particularly impressed at how well it was tended and noticed James Nash’s grave in particular. He was later to meet Jim Nash who voluntarily maintains the graveyard as a tribute to his son James. As a result of this visit Bogle went on to write the song which is on his album ‘A Toss of the Coin’. Jim is a local fiddle player and plays regularly at sessions in the Kilworth area.

Sources:

Wikipedia on G. S. MacLennan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._S._McLennan

Bob Dunsire Bagpipe Forums on Kilworth Hills: http://forums.bobdunsire.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93267

The Irish Examiner on Kilworth Camp: https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/army-sets-its-sights-on-euro1m-digital-firing-range-at-kilworth-camp-279071.html