The Grey Old Lady Of Raasay reel

Great GHB tune. There is a tune by this title in the database but I know that as Mrs MacLeod Of Raasay - the original Scottish version of Miss McLeod’s Reel. Who knows - maybe the Grey Old Lady and Mrs MacLeod were the same person…

Nice variations for the 2nd bar = |gG~G2 fddf| or |gG~G2 fBBf|

Calliach Liath Ratharsaigh I think is the original gaelic name for Mrs MacLeod of Raasay (though my gaelic’s very poor). I believe there may have been an older tune before that (or possibly two one part tunes combined).

“Calliach Liath Ratharsaigh” ….which means, ‘The Grey Old Lady of Raasay’.

Correct quirl, but I spelt the old woman wrongly - it should be “cailleach” I think, but I’m afraid my copy of “Dwelly’s” (Gaelic-English dictionary) was lost when I last flitted. Any Gaelic scholars reading this?

I assumed ‘Calliach’ must be a Gallic (Scots Gaelic) version - my extremely limited knowledge of the Gaelic languages is heavily weighted towards the Irish. Incidentally, I could not find the word at all in my Collins Gem Irish-English dictionary.

Beg pardon - it is there after all.

cailleach: witch; hag

Mmm, I’ve never doubted Mrs MacLeod and the Greay Old Lady were the same person. Is this really different enough from the more common Scottish version in Amaj?

Yes, it really is.

same, spruced up a bit:
X: 1
T: Grey Old Lady Of Raasay, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Amix
A2gA aeef|g2ag fdde|1 A2gA aeeg|fdfa gedB:|2 aAef geeg|fdfa geBA||
cAAe ecce|f2fe eccA|cAAe ecce|fAec B2BA|
cAAe ecce|f2fe ecca|f2fe eccA|faec B2Be||

after the silver spear…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPB8tSdnL6I

play video

Composed by John Dall Mackay.

Even though words were added to this tune, Cailleach Liath Ratharsaigh was not related to Mrs MacLeod of Raasay as speculated above. She is a rock not a person.