The Road To Gerinish march
Also known as The Sands Of Loch Bee.
There are 2 recordings of this tune.
The Road To Gerinish has been added to 1 tune set.
The Road To Gerinish has been added to 4 tunebooks.
Eight comments
The Shores of Loch Bee
Composed by Phil Cunningham
Re: The Shores Of Loch Bee
The tune on ‘The Pearl’ under the title “The Shores of Loch Bee” was not composed by Phil Cunningham. In addition, there was a lot of confusion about the title of the tune; in fact “The Sands of Loch Bee” is a different tune composed, I think, by Pipe Major George Milton. The tune that Aly and Phil played, and which is given above, is called “The Road to Gerinish” by Pipe Major John MacDonald.
Re: The Road To Gerinish
Thanks Nigel, a quick hunt round did reveal the large extent of the confusion. However, the tune title for this one has been corrected now.
Re: The Road To Gerinish
Let’s get the proper title for this tune. It is described as the Shores of Loch Bee. Is the correct title not the Road to Garrinish. Robert McColl
Re: The Road To Gerinish
Figure it out for yourselves from this lot :
https://youtu.be/YX0U2kGJzHk
and here’s Phil and Aly :
https://youtu.be/1C_Mj2MgBeQ
Re: The Road To Gerinish
Kenny has perfectly displayed the utter confusion which surrounds this tune! To add to that confusion, the original name for the tune above was “Lieutenant Colonel S Gair”, a career military man in the Seaforth Highlanders. The composer, Pipe Major George Milton, was in the 6th (Morayshire) Batallion Seaforth Highlanders, which Liet Gair commanded from 1921-1924. The tune became known as “The Road to Gerinish” in the 1st Cameron Highlanders (which amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders in 1961). It has also been recorded as “The Road to Garnish” (e.g. by fiddler John Ellis and his band in 1975).
At some point its name was mixed up with another tune, “The Sands of Loch Bee” (see https://thesession.org/tunes/19982 ) by Pipe Major John MacDonald of South Uist (1898-1988), who was in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, and later the Glasgow Police. His original name for that tune was “Glasgow Police March Past” - it became known in the 1st Cameron Highlanders as “Sands of Loch Bee”.
Re: The Road To Gerinish
NOT “Garnish” but “Garrinish”. Blooming spellcheck!
Re: The Road To Gerinish
“The Road to Gerinish” appears in John MacLellan’s “Ceòl beag agus ceòl mòr”, p. 18 (Paterson’s Publications, London, 1972). It’s not the tune on this page. I’m with the hundreds of others who know that tune as “The Sands” (or *The Shores“) of Loch Bee”. A friend who played in the old Glasgow Police band knows “The Road” as the tune in John MacLellan’s collection.