Bigg Market Lasses reel

Here’s one I wrote in the early 1990s. While Bigg refers to barley, the place is now more of a cattlemarket! If you look at the abcs you will see that the sequence ‘Beef’ occurs in places!!!

Thanks for that, Chris. The tune got a few airings at Newcastleton and I am keen to learn it.
I’ve seen Bigg Market over the years but I’m too old to frequent such places now. 😉

We were struck by this tune and its oddly sinister sound and like it very much.

We were trying to learn it from Peter Loud by the river at Newcastleton on the Sunday night when we were approached by a man who said he was "The Water Gillie". He passed round a strange substance in a hip flask whcih he claimed he had brewed from potatoes, damsons and otters’ p*ss and then demanded £13 each for the free camping. At this moment the midges emerged in a frenzy from the waters and pounced. We fled.

At Newcastleton I spent most of my time sat by the river learning another great tune by Chris, "A Dog’s Life", getting it up to speed for Rothbury two weeks later.
The story goes that it was written after the death of Ken’s dog Nipper. (Ken is a strange Yorkshire box player who drinks in the Tap & Spile at Morpeth every Sunday afternoon).
I’m a great fan of Chris Ormston’s tunes, he’s written a few more too.

It’s on my solo CD "Time Out Of Mind" on Kyloe Records. I have one or two left 😉

Chris

I learned this off the album Border Directors by the Blue Moon Band (Chris on Northumbrian smallpipes) and have been playing it for several years on concertina:

X:1
T:Bigg Market Lasses
S:Blue Moon Band: Border Directors
M:C
L:1/8
K:A Dorian
P:A
cB |A e e^de=d cB |A e e^de2 cB |G d d^cd=c BA |G d d^cd2 =cB|
A e e^de=d cB |A e e^de2 ef | (3gfe) (3fed) edBA| B ee^de2:|
P:B
cB |A e e/2^d/2e A e e/2^d/2e |A e e f g2 fe |G d d/2^c/2d G d d/2^c/2d |G d d e =f2 ed|
A e e/2^d/2e A e e/2^d/2e |A e e f g2 fg |(3agf) (3gfe) fe dB |A ee^de2:|