The Gladstone reel

A scottish tune , composed by James Scott Skinner. To be found on one of the early Altan albums (Horse with a Heart or Island Angel).

also to be found on the chieftains album water from the well track eight i think.

Island Angel by Altan it is.

I added “the” gladstone as alternate tilte, and now “Island Angel”
is mentioned in the tune details.

Nice tune. Here’s a slightly different setting (notably in the B part) from the playing of fiddler Michelle O‘Brien on the cd, “Michelle O’Brien, Aogan Lynch, & Gavin Ralston.”

X: 1
T: Gladstone, The
C: J. Scott Skinner
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
D: Michelle O’Brien, Aogan Lynch, & Gavin Ralston
K: A
| cAdA efga | A/A/A cA BG E/E/E | EAcd efga | ecdB Afed |
| ~c3d efga | A/A/A cA B~E3 | EAcd efga | ecdB Aefg ||
| afba geag | fdaf eAce | d~B3 ceAc | ~B3c defg |
| aA A/A/A eAce | aAge fece | d/d/d fd ceaf | ecdB Afed ||

BTW, on the above recorded version, Aogan’s on an Eb concertina, so Michelle’s tuned up a half step.

It should be noted (although it’s probably not relevant) that the W.E. Gladstone in question is not in fact the English Prime Minster (although the dates are close enough), but an Edinburgh man with a fondness for Scottish music.

The Hunter Collection gives this tune the title A.A. Gladstone (Edinburgh), not W.E.
Shame really, the idea of the PM’s admiring colleagues having a whip-round to buy him a fiddle on his retirement was quite appealing.

Following on from my remarks in https://thesession.org/discussions/16364#comment339370
here is Matt Cunningham’s version (from Vol 10 of his Dance Music of Ireland series),

X: 1
T: Gladstone, The
C: J. Scott Skinner
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
D: Matt Cunningham, Dance Music of Ireland Vol 10
K: A
ed | c3d efga | A2cA BGE2 | c3d efga | edcB Aced |
cBcd efga | A2cA BGE2 | cBcd efga | edcB A2 :|
|: ce | a2c’a g2bg | f2af edce | d2fd c2ec | BABc defg |
1 a2c’a g2bg | f2af edce | defd c2ec | BAGB | A2 :|
2 aA (3AAA cAce | a2ga fece | defd c2ec | BABc A2 ||

Is the tune first posted here Scott Skinner’s original? If not, how does the Matt Cunningham version relate to the original?

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/scottskinner/introduction.shtml
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/scottskinner/display.php?ID=JSS0243&Creator=1&Creator_Manuscript=1

As you’ll see if you follow the link, it was originally transcribed as 2/4, but that isnt’ unusual, as many tunes suffered that density.

X: 1
T: Gladstone
C: James Scott Skinner
M: 4/4 (from 2/4)
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: A Major
d |\
cAdB efga | A/A/A cA BGEd | cAdB efga | gfe^d e2 e=d |
cAdB efga | A/A/A cA BGEd | cAdB efga | ecdB A2 A ||
g |\
afba geag | fdgf ecfe | dBed cAdc | BAGA Befg |
afba geag | fdgf ecfe | dBed ceaf | ecdB A2 A ||
d |\
cAdB efga | A/A/A cA BGEd | cAdB efga | gfe^d e2 e=d |
cAdB efga | A/A/A cA BGEd | cAdB efga | ecdB A2 A ||
g |\
a/a/a fa g/g/g eg | f/f/f df e/e/e ce | d/d/d Bd c/c/c Ac | BAGA Befg |
afba gbeg | fdaf eace | dBed ceAa | ecdB A2 A |]

ID: JSS0243
Title: Gladstane [Gladstone]
Document Reference: x/257/1p
Format: 276 x 176 mm
Medium: Handwritten music on lined sheet
Item Type: Manuscript
Subject: Scottish Music, Reel

Item Description: This lively reel shows many of the devices Skinner used in his reels which makes it recognizably his composition. He often tends to repeat the pattern of the first two bars over the next six. The second eight bars often have a descending pattern which is usually repeated. You can listen to Skinner playing it by clicking on the audio link below (cd117d).

Creator: James Scott Skinner
Creator Manuscript: James Scott Skinner
Time Period: 1900s

I hope that helps…

Audio: Note this link will open another window so you can view the music and listen to the tune cd117d ~

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/scottskinner/music.cd117d.m3u

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/scottskinner/music/cd117d.m3u

Apologies, that ‘dot’ between ‘music.cd117d’ should have been a forward slash ~ / …

“C”, Many thanks indeed for those Scott Skinner links. The original manuscript establishes that there was no high C#, so Matt Cunningham evidently did his own take on the tune for added brilliance - fair enough, he plays it on the box and his version isn’t difficult on the fiddle anyway.

What is interesting in the Scott Skinner original are the occasional D# leading up to the E, and the fast bowed ornaments (not necessaily all triples), especially in the second run-through of the B-part. Listening to Scott Skinner playing that reel (on his Stradivarius?) gives the effective lie to those who say that gut strings (which is what Skinner would have used) are “slow”. They’re nothing of the sort - you just need more awareness in the bowing technique.

Yes, fair comment. I am very fond of gut, but there are some close synthetics, and without the moisture hell that gut presents…

Skinner is good when he’s not cliché’d and over the top. And he often is. The second part here is unbearably predictable.

One day I’ll rewrtite that tune! Starting with that bottom E in the first part, it ought to be an A! I feel strongly about this! :- )

Just learning this great tune: nice to hear the sound clip of the composer playing it. I don’t think Skinner owned a Stradivarius as mentioned by Trevor Jennings above (though someone might put me right). He composed a virtuoso piece, Le Messe, in honour of the Messiah Stradivarius which he describes as “The Finest Violin in the World Now the property of Mr Crawford Trinity, Leith, who purchased it for £2000”. His own violin was a 1690 Andrea Guarneri violin which was was reported as being sold at auction on his death in 1927 for £78.

Based on Calum Stewart’s recording.

Interestingly, the original name given to this tune by Skinner was Gladstane (or Gledstane), possibly in reference to the bird (red kite) and/or the Scottish clan https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Gledstane

Transposition from the original version in A major.

Version from Altan (Island Angel)

young Dermot in G:

https://youtu.be/LAFTUFVqySA

play video

The @davydd version