The Meeting Of The Waters march

Just learned this from the Bays\Landes CD - House to House. Very nice little march with The Sliabh Aughty March

I’ll never figure out the acceptable way to classify marches on TheSession. 🙂

Bays and Landes play this ABAB not AABB.

This is one of those march tunes used often to accompany any of the several takes on the Scottish dance “Gay Gordons”, one description for it being:

http://www.scottishdance.net/ceilidh/dances.html#GayGordons

Hey, catch this - ‘animated’?:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/musicscotland/celticroots/standard/dancing/dancing_feet.shtml

Donald Macleod wrote an additional two parts to this tune published in his second pipe collection.

K: Amaj
|: E>G |
A2 A>c E2 AG | F>A FD E3 A/B/ | ce E>e dc BA | c2 B>^A B2 EF/A/ |
A2 A>c E2 AG | FA FD E2 A>B | ce dc dE BE | AB/A/ A>G A2 ||
ee/d/ |
c2 ed ce cA | FA d>F E3 e/d/ | ce Ae d>c BA | c2 B2 B2 e/f/e/d/ |
c2 e>d c3 A | FD dF E2 A>B | ce d>c dE B>c | A2 A2 A2 :|

K: Gmaj
|: DE/F/ |
G2 GB D2 G>F | EG EC D3 G/A/ | Bd Gd cB AG | Bc/B/ A>^G A2 C/D/E/F/ |
GG/F/ G/A/B D4 | EG E/D/C D3 G/A/ | B/c/d Dd cA FD | G2 G>F G2 ||
d>c |
B2 d>c B/c/d BG | EG cE D3 d/c/ | BG Bd c/B/A AG/A/ | Bc/B/ A^G A3 d/c/ |
B3 d/c/ Bd B>G | EG cE D4 | B/c/d Dd cA F/E/D | G2 G>F G2 :|

either way - ABAB - or - AABB…

Stoneboy - thanks for the heads up, I’d like to hear the 4 part version.

Ceolachan - I’ve heard the Amaj setting but not the Gmaj. Thanks. I’m not familar with Scottich dance. Nice animation.

For anyone passing who might not know, “Gay Gordons” was popularly danced in Eire / Ireland too, and still is in some circles…

Styling notes for the Irish version, definitely not along the exaggerated lines of the R.S.C.D.S. take on it, so that part as seen in the above links, forget it. If you dance it low to the ground, along the lines of dancing for the sets of quadrilles, that would do, just a walking step and a basic low set-style polka step, either simple 3s, or ‘heel-1-2-3’… Keep it as smooth and flowing as you can, not bobbing up and down, if any movement like that, minimal…

Some would, and you can choose to, finish the last two bars with a pivot / dreher / double step, or: heel-1, heel-2, heel-3, heel-4
or just 4 steps: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4…
‘heel’ is used instead of how it is often said and taught as ‘hop-step’, because it isn’t really a ‘hop’, at most it is a low skip or ‘heel’ drop…

PDF description, including a ‘progressive’ version:
http://dingo.sbs.arizona.edu/~carnie/Folkdancestuff/GayGordons.pdf

A different version to note ~ in the ‘progression’ part of the dance ~ instead of facing each other the couple remains facing in the line of direction, side-by-side, inside hand held:

Balance toward each other then away (123, 223)

Change places ~ the woman turning once around ACW to the Left passing in front of her partner, he slides to the Right into her place (1, 2, 123)

Inside hands held ~ Man to her R now/She to his L:
Balance together and away (123, 223)

PROGRESSION:
Raising joined hands the Woman turns CW and under, letting go of hold and moving to the next place and Man behind / the man moves forward and diagonally to his Left to meet his next partner…

Discussion about variations in the Gay Gordons
http://www.scottishdance.net/ceilidh/GayGordonsDiscussion.html

In East Durham, NY at the local Sunday Irish ceilis the immigrants dance the Gay Gordons without the polka step included. When I’ve accompanied the musicians they’ve played “Ireland (Scotland) the Brave” and “Over the Moor to Maggie” for it. My husband and I learned the Scottish version of the dance years ago with the polka step included.
My husband and I play “Meeting of the Waters” in A after “O’Dhomnaill Abdhu” in G and “Doon the Brae” in Em. One of the guys in our Comhaltas session told us another name for “Meeting of the Waters” is the song entitled “The Boys from Killibegs”.

“O‘Donnell Abú” / “O’Dhomnaill Abdhu”
Key signature: D & G Major
Submitted on June 4th 2007 by ceolachan.
https://thesession.org/tunes/7309

“The Meeting Of The Waters”

“The Old Crossroads” / “Doon the Brae”
Key signature: e & a minor
Submitted on October 7th 2004 by ceolachan.
https://thesession.org/tunes/3659

Just to correct the order, as I did the cut-and-paste above with “The Meeting of the Waters” as second in the set rather than as described, the last in the set…

On Runt o’the litter’s cd, it’s a song that links to here. The title is The boys of Killibegs, a very different rythm, but it’s certainly the same melody. Maybe somone have the lyrics?

Key signature: A Major
Submitted on September 12th 2005 by exit.
https://thesession.org/tunes/4947

This is the 4 part setting of the march

Pretty much how we play it in one of our Gay Gordons sets, with the occasional different note: but 4-part in D major.
Something very odd about the X:2 version: first half seems to be notes as they would be in A, but with only one sharp in the key sig!