Da Foula Reel jig

I found this Shetland jig (used for dancing the Foula Reel apparently!) on Chris Hoseason’s site. It’s got a number of other Shetland tunes too.

http://www.hoseasons.co.nz/shetlandfiddle/

I’ve added the site to the Links section too

It seems “Da Shaalds” is the correct title of this tune. It’s on Fiddlers’ Bid’s latest recording.

A recording of this tune, by Da Forty Fiddlers, can be found on an LP called Shetland Fiddlers produced in the 70’s on the Leader label. LED 2052. Da Forty Fiddlers was the colloquial name given to The Shetland Fiddler’s Society and was led by Tom Anderson.
I have two other versions of this tune whose ABC’s I will add shortly.

This was collected by Pat Shaw from Gibbie Gray, Shatland.
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: Jig
K: G
G2G G2B | edB A2B | G2G g2A | BAG E2D | EGG G2B | edB A2B | G2g GaB | d6 :||
def g2d | edB A2B | G2G G2A | BAG E2D | def g2d | edc A2B | G2G GAB | d6 :||

and this from Mrs Smith, Foula.
GAG G2g | edB A2B | G2B A2B | GAG E2D | GAG G2g | edB A2B | G2B A2B | d6 :||
g2d B2d | edB A3 | g2B A2B | GAG E2G | g2d B2d | edB A2B | G2B A2B | d6 :||

I use all three tunes when playing for the Foula Reel in the order of 1) Gibbie Gray 2) Mrs Smith 3) the one submitted here.

my apologise for mispelling Shetland, typed in haste unfortunately without checking.

Submitted on July 21st 2003 by fifer.
https://thesession.org/tunes/1834

Submitted on August 29th 2003 by dafydd.
https://thesession.org/tunes/2203

Key signature: A Major
Submitted on November 14th 2007 by ceolachan.
https://thesession.org/tunes/7968

However the Shetlanders see it -or hear it, rather- we’re not too far from Scotland with this Shetland tune.

would make a nice march

“we’re not too far from Scotland with this Shetland tune”

Far away enough. Idiomatically speaking.
Hear Spaelimenninir play it for a glimpse of its Scandinavian possibilities:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Da-Shaalds-o-Foula/dp/B001GBWRNU

Sorry for adding to the necro-posting.

I have a personal reason to have taken an interest in this lovely tune. I am a Belfast man who savours quirks of fate, all the more so if they connect my interests of Belfast Shipbuilding, nice trad tunes & Scottish Islands.

Before the Titanic was brought to eternal fame through it’s unfortunate tryst in the North Atlantic the biggest ship in the World had previously been the ‘Oceanic’ (more accurately Oceanic II), launched by Harland & Wolff in 1899.

This luxury ocean liner was requisitioned at the start of WW1 by the Royal Navy. It was on exercises north of Orkney in 1914 when it was wrecked, yes, you guessed it, on The Shoals of Foula. Reason for the shipwrecking - it had a Civil Captain & a RN Captain both in command. An obvious lesson there.

The story is not very well known because there was no loss of life (I think) and also news of the loss was suppressed at the time. It would have made the RN look bad to the German Foe and been a bit of a blow to the morale of the nation.

It is a great story for a bore like me to tell before/after playing the tune. There is a fantastic, timeless, little poem that celebrated the original launch as well. I will have to dig it out again sometime and learn it properly.

The last track on the excellent album ‘60 Fiddlers: Nordic And Celtic Traditional Fiddle Music’, apparently released by the Folkemusikkens Fælles Sekretariat; I just have an MP3 version.

N.B. On the ‘60 Fiddlers’ record it’s called Da Shaalds O’ Foula.