250 To Vigo reel

I saw someone on this site looking for this tune, it was written by the fiddler from Shooglenifty I believe, and is a little cracker, though lunasa play it a little slow for my taste, and their variated 2nd part seems a little pointless as it is so similar to the real 2nd part, enjoy.

Angus Grant, I think is his name. If I remember correctly (and could be wrong), he wrote it while riding on the back of a motorcycle to Vigo. It’s on the Shooglenifty album "Venus in Tweeds". Other people have been recording it, it’s a nice one, I think.

And, again if I remember correctly (it’s been a while since I’ve heard them play it), the Shoogles play it rather slowly as well, though I haven’t heard that track in a while.

You’re right, Zina, even that slow that I’ve always seen it as a tune in the ‘miscellaneous’-department rather than as a reel.
Recorded by the Poozies and the Ceili Bandits as well.

I was the one looking for the tune. I like the syncopation of it. Thanks for supplying the ABC. My group meets Tuesday and we’ll all have a go at it.

I managed to pick up a fair amount of this tune at a session with the Peatbog Faeries the other week - they play it fairly fast and it sounds awesome… but that’s also because they’re an awesome band :oD

check out the band’s website @ shoogle.com for their version of the tune - thanks Dzoni.

Am I the only one who finds that middle 8 bit tricky to do neatly? Any tips?

cFFc dGGd|cFFe dBB2|

I think the problem is in playing these cF and dG "fretting" with a finger and sound in tune. As always there’s nothing else to do except practice. It can be very usefull in other tunes.

Some similarities between these two?

I would like to remember you that Vigo is in Galiza, one of the celtic countries invited at the Festival of Lorient in Bretagne.
I love this tune but I preffer Lunasa´s tempo, slowly with more feeling and swing than Shooglenifty one.

As played by Duncan Chisholm on his CD Farrar:

X: 1
T: Two-fifty to Vigo
C: Angus Grant
M: C|
L: 1/8
Q: 1/2=56
N: To play along with recording detune fiddle by a semitone.
K: Bm
fBBA BdFG-|GBdB Acec|fBBA BdFG-|GABd cB B/B/B|
fBBA BdFG-|GBdB cdeg|fBBA BdFG-|GBfe dBBA|
affe decd-|decd ed c/B/A|affe decd-|dfaf feef|
affe decd-|decd ed c/B/A|fBBA Bfcd-|dfec dcBA|
|:fBBA BdFG-|GBdB Acec|fBBA BdFG-|GABd cB B/B/B|
fBBA BdFG-|GBdB cdeg|fBBA BdFG-|GBfe dBBA|
affe decd-|decd ed c/B/A|affe decd-|dfaf feef|
affe decd-|decd ed c/B/A|fBBA Bfcd-|dfec dcBA|
cFFc dGGd|cFFe dBBd|cFFc dGGd|cfec dBBd|
cFFc dGGd|cFFe dBBd|cFFc dGGd|cfec defg|
affd caBc-|caBc dcBA|affd caBc-|caaf feef|
affd caBc-|caBc dcBA|fBBA Bfcd-|dfec|dcBA:|B8|]

Mmm.
Have just checked the Shoogles website and the version posted there is almost identical to what Mr Chisholm plays.

Maybe he learnt it from the dots!

Can anyone confirm for me that it was written by Angus Grant?

Yes. This is an Angus Grant tune.

As per Venus in Tweeds, something like:
X:1
T:Two-fifty to Vigo (Intro)
C:Angus Grant
D:Shooglenifty. Venus in Tweeds
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:Reel
K:Bm
|"Bm" B2fzBf2B| "Bm-5"=f4 edBA | "Bm"B2fzBf2B| "Bm-5" =f4 edBA |
"Bm"B2fzBf2B|"Bm-5" =f4 edBA | "Bm"B2fzBf2B| e8 ||

A mildly different version to those posted so far, what I hear in the Shooglnifty version. As they play it the first two parts are only repeated the first time through after which it is played as a four part single reel. Cracking tune!

I expect Duncan learned it from Aungus himself in a bar somewhere. which might explain the slight variation.

Just thought it would be interesting to add a comment from The Glengarry Collection Vol. 1, a book of tunes collected by Aonghas Grant, Angus’ dad.

Vigo [pron. “veego”] is a town in the north of Spain and 250 is a type of motorcycle. Angus Rory lived in Spain
for a while, and he once got a ride to Vigo on a 250. This is a very popular tune now. [Angus R. Grant is Aonghas’ son,well-known as a remarkable fiddle player, a first-rate composer, and front man in the band Shooglenifty, which tours worldwide. The above tune was recorded on Shooglenifty’s first CD, Venus in Tweeds, and it is played at a “half-reel” tempo.—Ed.]