Annotation:Weeping Birches of Kilmorack (The)

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WEEPING BIRCHES OF KILMORACK, THE. AKA - “Weeping Birches (The).” Scottish, Slow Air (4/4 time). E Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Composed by J. Scott Skinner [] () after visiting the site of a tragedy in Scotland with two friends, Donald Morrison and Dr. McDonald. Hunter (1979) relates that above the Falls of Kilmorack on the river Beauly lies the Pass of Dhreim, where some time previous to the friends' sojurn a traction engine with a couple of trucks had fallen one hundred feet into the gorge, resulting in the death of two men. "A strange phenomenon happened most of the birches within thirty yards of the accident began to wither away. Skinner became obsessed with the tragedy and gave it expression through this fine melody." On Cape Breton the tune is known simply as “The Weeping Birches.”

Source for notated version: Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford].

Printed sources: Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 222, p. 89. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 64.

Recorded sources:

See also listing at:
See J. Scott Skinner's handwritten manuscript of the air [1]

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