Annotation:Westering Home

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WESTERING HOME AKA and see: "Trasna na dTonnta). Scottish (originally), Irish; Air and Waltz (3/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Martin): AB (Tubridy). An old Scottish chestnut, popular in Ireland as well. Speeded up in jig time it resembles “Muckin' o' Geordie's Byre.” The song, a modern Gaelic composition by Ian (Kaid) MacLean, has words that go:

Tell me o' lands o' the Orient gay,
Sing o' the riches and joys o' Cathay
Man! But it's grand to awaken each day
And find yourself nearer to Isla.

Chorus:
For we're Westering home wi' a song in the air
Light in me heart an' it's goodbye to care
Laughter o' love and a welcomin' there
Isle o' me heart, me own land.

Wha' are the folks like the folks o' the west?
Canty an' couthy an' kind to the best
There I would lay me and there I would rest
At home wi' my ain folks at Isla.

An Irish slide (12/8) version appears as "Trasna na dTonnta."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling), 2002; p. 40. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, vol. 1), 1999; p. 1.

Recorded sources: Brian Rooney – “Godfather.”

See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [2]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [3]