MacLeod’s Farewell reel

This is my new favorite tune. I heard it at a session in toronto, picked it out on the mandolin when I got home, then completely forgot it. All I had retained was the first two notes and the third bar of the B part, so I emailed a friend with just that, he figured out what tune it was, and I found one extremely poorly notated version at JC’s ABC site. I’ve tidied it up so it resembles the version we play at our session (might be a few liberties taken with the last couple notes of each part…). This should lilt like crazy and be an absolute joy to play when I actually learn it…

Hey, thats a lovely tune but as far as i know its not an altan one although there is a few album’s that i dont have. in the red crow theres a wedding jig, but not a wedding reel.
and for the record, it was played here in west donegal years ago at weddings.
nevertheless, its a good one !
Martin.

I had nothing to do with the album link thingy… that seems to be automatic. I’ve never heard this tune outside the session. thanks for the history.

Kerri, this setting is essentially what’s played on Lunasa’s latest CD, The Merry Sisters of Fate. Of course, they gussy it up a bit with well-placed triplets and fine guitar work behind it, but your setting is so close that I’m guessing whoever brought it to your session learned it from the CD.

To get you into Sean Smyth’s swingy version, try starting out:
DE|EFBF AFEF|(3DDD DE FABd|eefd efed|ABeB dBAG| etc…

I couldn’t find this tune on my Altan’s Finest CD. Is it there as a different name? There is a wedding jig on that album which is quite nice. Once I figure out how to use ABC, I’ll submit it.

I’ve updated the "recordings" list to make it clear that it is automatically generated.

It now reads: "Recordings of a tune by this name".

The recordings list simply matches the names of tunes in the tunes section to the names of tunes in the recordings section.

Because many tunes share the same name (and many names share the same tune), it won’t always be correct but it’s the best I can offer.

Kerri, thanks heaps, I’ve been looking for this tune for ages and untill now haven’t had any luck finding it. It’s is a great tune.
Alyssia

Recently at a session I got the understanding that The Wedding Reel (as recorded by Lunasa) was incorrectly labelled on their CD and it should have been MacLeod’s Farewell (written by Donald Shaw). A friend is recording this tune, i.e. "The Wedding Reel", and wants to get the credits right. Can anyone clear this up for me? Cheers.
Ian

yup, you’re totally right Ian. He was well miffed that they got it wrong .Rapped them on the knuckles for it apparently! I’ve heard they’ve got a bit of reputation for getting names wrong. Theres another tune that they’ve put on an album and they said iain macdonald, piper from glenuig wrote it, and he didnt.

They are guilty for least two or three more serious mistakes in tune identificaion, mostly misnaming recent compositions of someone else.

Here’s a transcription of what Sean Smyth plays the first time through on Merry Sisters of Fate.

X: 1
T: MacLeod’s Farewell
T: Wedding Reel, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
D: Merry Sisters of Fate, Lunasa
C: Donald Shaw
K: D
DE|E-FBF AFEF|D/D/D DE FABd|eefd efed|ABeB dBAG|
E-F2 B AFEF|D/D/D DE FABd|eefd efdB|ABde dDDE|
FDBF AFEF|E/E/D DE FABd|eefd efed|B4 dBAG|
E-F2 B AFEF|D/D/D DE FABd|eefd efdB|ABde dABd||
A3f edfd|B/B/A Af edfd|ABdA BdAB|dBAF EDB,D|
EFBF AFEF|E/E/D DE FABd|eefd efdB|ABde d~B3|
A3f edfd|B/B/A Af edfd|ABdA BdAB|dBAF EDB,D|
E-FBF AFEF|E/E/D DE FABd|eefd efdB|ABde dDDE||

For the B4 in the A part, Sean sometimes substitutes: |~B3e dBAG|

Fab tune! Heard it this weekend at the Fleadh in Letterkenny, that little riff in the second part is immense

On ‘Sidewaulk’ it sounds like Capercaillie play the tune in E instead of D? Has anybody heard it or played it in E?

According to the Lunasa book, it was written in E and they took it down a whole step to be easier for Pipes and Flute. They also called it bey the wrong title.

So it was in E. I figured Sean Smyth would have played it in D for the sake of pipes and flute.

Here’s how my ear tells me the tune goes in E as played by Capercaillie on ‘Sidewaulk’ (thanks to Amazing Slow Downer).

X: 1
T: MacLeod’s Farewell
P: Reel
C: Donald Shaw
M: C|
L: 1/8
K: E
D:’Sidewaulk’ - Capercaillie
|:A|G2cG BGFG|(3EFE EF GBce|f2ge (3fgf ec|B2ef ecBA|
G2cG BGFG|(3EFE EF GBce|f2ge (3fgf ec|Bcef e3/2:|
|:c|~B3g fege|~B3g fege|BceB ceBA|(3GAG FE DcBA|
G2cG BGFG|(3EFE EF GBce|f2ge (3fgf ec|Bcef e3/2:|
alternate b part
~B3g fege|~B3g fege|BceB ceBc|ecBG FGEF|
G2cG BGFG|(3EFE EF GBce|f2ge (3fgf ec|Bcef e3/2|]

This the tune called ‘The Wedding Reel’ by Lúnasa and made popular in the key of D Major.

It was composed by Donald Shaw of Capercaillie and originally in E Major. This setting is from Capercaillie’s breakthrough album ‘Sidewaulk’ — or at least as near as my ear can make of it (thanks to Amazing Slow Downer).

Already here: https://thesession.org/tunes/518

I know the D version has been covered. I just thought the original deserved its props. It’s like Bob Dylan and ‘All Along The Watchtower’. People remember the Hendrix cover but Dylan’s was the original.

Ehm, couldn’t you just transpose it? It’s not any different….

There are some small differences (notably in the B part) but otherwise one could just transpose it since that’s essentially what Seán Smyth did. But then shouldn’t we just have the E version and tell folks that if they want to play it à la Lúnasa they can just transpose it to D?

The Wedding Reel
Key signature: D Major
Submitted on July 7th 2008 by twentiethcenturyfox.
~ /tunes/8688

X: 4
T: Wedding Reel, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|: DE |\
F2 BF AFEF | D2 DE FABd | e2 fd efed | B2 de dBAG |
F2 BF AFEF | D2 DE FABd | e2 fd efdB | ABde d2 :|
|: dB |\
A3 f edfd | A3 f edfd | ABdA BdAB | dBAF EFDE |
F2 BF AFEF | D2 DE FABd | e2 fd efdB | ABde d2 :|

The wedding reel

I submitted this tune and wanted to call it "the wedding reel", NOT "the wedding"! Nonetheless this is a fantastic tune and its the first one i’ve ever submitted! It sounds mean on a fiddle! This is the first reel i ever learned on the fiddle! 🙂

# Posted on July 7th 2008 by twentiethcenturyfox

Ive been trying for a while now to put some ornaments to this tune and i cant figure any out…any help anyone?

this is not the same tune as Edel plays

Probably because this tune in not the Wedding Reel. This is MacLeods Farewell and the title here should be changed to the composers title.

This is the Wedding Reel https://thesession.org/tunes/1480

So herself and I are woodshedding this sucker and loving it. A guilty Trazz pleasure, picked up from Lunasa.

Who wrote it? Is it ‘Trad; or what?

What do you mean "who wrote it?" If you look at the comments you will see who wrote it - Donald Shaw of Capercaillie. It was wrote for the band’s departing fiddler Martin MacLeod hence the name, "MacLeod’s Farewell". I have also never considered it a particularly "trazz" tune.

Dig out "Sidewaulk" from Capercaillie and listen to the original version of the tune as opposed to just Lunasa’s version.

The CD Debateable Lands by Kathryn Tickell appears in the album listing for this tune, but the tune on the CD by this name is completely different, does anyone know if there is ABC for this tune elsewhere by another name?

If I were to transcribe the tune, would I submit as usual, or would I have to post it here in the comments since a tune already exists with that name?

Joué hier soir au café du Port dans une ambiance de feu…

Last one here, called ‘A Trip to the Wedding’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEMo8THgHeA

play video

As usual with Lunasa, this reel has a fanciful name for the present reel in this japanese clip :
https://youtu.be/S—PgDJPK1gx

play video

c: Donald Shaw
More to the tune Danu recorded early on

The setting as played by The Fretless. I did the transcription.

What a shame that McLeod’s Farewell is still listed here under the misnomer, The Wedding Reel.