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Gloomy
Winter’s Now Awa’
(Traditional
Scottish Air)
Music:
Alexander Campbell, 1783
Words:
Robert Tannahill, 1808
Arr:
Elizabeth DiPietri, 2006
An Internet search for this tune provides an
abundance of information, some of it conflicting and
some confusing. Experts generally agree that the first
version of this music was popularly known as Lord
Balgonie’s Favorite, later renamed as Come My
Bride, Haste, Haste Away. It has been stated “the
music was probably composed in 1783 by Alexander
Campbell,” although other names have been proposed as
well. Campbell has been quoted as saying that this music
was “from a very old Highland tune”. At any rate,
the music was first published around 1800.
In 1808, Robert Tannahill is said to have written
lyrics to this music, renaming the song Gloomy
Winter’s Now Awa’. The Gaelic/English lyrics
appearing in one of the links below, describe the joy of
young love among the birks and braes of the Scottish
Highlands.
♫♫♫
Although the initial source for this folk music
may have been an “air” (music intended to be sung
slowly), the version here has evolved into that of a
folk dance known as a Scottish “strathspey”. This is
a group dance similar to a reel, but slower. Notice the
repeated use of couplets of dotted eighth notes and
sixteenth notes, intermingled with couplets of eighth
notes. This produces a tempo of hesitations and
quick-beats (snaps) that correspond to the dance steps. Here we see a form of “syncopation” of folk music
from Scotland that preceded the beginnings of ragtime
tempos in American popular music. Those interested may
want to check the PDF and MIDI files in our Archives to
compare this music with that of Simple Melody (Irving
Berlin) and Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Harry
Carroll), both written in the early 20th
century and using this same type of syncopation as a
“soft shoe” dance tempo!
In addition to this feature of tempo, we see
other forms of “ornamentation” of the melody of Gloomy
Winter, characteristic of Gaelic folk music. These
consist of both “grace notes” and “slurs”, used
to embellish the tune. Both involve insertion of short
runs of notes, as in measures 3, 4, 8, 9, 11 and 12. The
playing of these embellishments on the dulcimer requires
some adept fingering and practice.
For those who may not
feel ready for this yet, we have included a simpler,
slightly less-ornamented version of the files. With a
little practice, the 4-note runs in measures 8, 11 and
12 are not so difficult to play - mainly because the
tune is rather slow, giving you plenty of time to
cross-pick each of the notes. But in measures 3, 4 and
9, those grace notes and 16th notes can be a little
tricky - so try it first without them. (Listen
to the attached "basic" MIDI file to see the
difference.)
♫♫♫
Music files for download:
GloomyWinter.pdf -
PDF music file
GloomyWinter.mid
- MIDI file (created to repeat the tune 3 times)
GloomyWinter.tef -
TablEdit file
Easier -
ornamentation removed, meas. 3, 4 and 9:
GloomyWinter basic.pdf
GloomyWinter basic.mid
GloomyWinter basic.tef
Historical
Links:
http://www.kitchenmusician.net/giftunes/balgon.gif
http://siliconglen.com/Scotland/4_22.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strathspey_%28dance%29
(Strathspey,
a description of the dance)
Lyrics:
http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/scottish/gloomywi.htm
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