Annotation:Bòg an Lochan

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X:1 T:Bog in Lochan T:Lady Grant's Reel T:Lady Grant of Grant M:C L:1/8 R:Reel B:Aird – Sixth and Last Volume of Scotch, English, Irish and B:Foreign Airs (1803, No. 33, p. 14) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Edor E|E/E/E TE2 E>FTB>A|E<E E2 F>DA>F|EE E2 E>FB>A|B>dA>d TF>DA:| |:d|B<EB>A B>EE>d|B>EB>A F>DD>d|B<EB>A d>ef>e|d/c/B/A/ dA F>DD:| |:f|e/e/e e2 efbf|e/e/e e2 fdaf|e/e/e e2 efbf|g>eb>e f>da>f| gebe gebe|f/g/a e>f d>DA::e|B<ETB>A B>EE>e|B<ETB>A d>DDe| B<EBA B<EBA|BEBA d>DDe|B>EBA d>ef>e|d>B d/B/A/G/ F>DD:|]



BOG AN LOCHA(I)N (The Water-ouzel). AKA - "Bog (The)." AKA and see "Athole Cummers (1)," "Lady Grant of Grant," "Lady Grant's Reel." Scottish (orginally), Canadian; Strathspey. Canada, Cape Breton. E Minor/Dorian (Aird, Skye): A Mixolydian (Gunn). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Gunn): AABB'CD (Skye): AA'BCD (Gow). A pipe strathspey in A dorian in two parts, fiddle versions in E dorian usually in four parts, originally from one of Robert Bremner's mid-18th century collections. The melody is popular on Cape Breton Island, especially for stepdancing. The Gaelic title translates as 'water-ouzel', a bird. Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster plays the tune as "Bog on a Small Lake" on a recent video instructor. Gunn and MacDonald give "Athole Cummers (1)" as an alternate title, while Glasgow publisher James Aird gives "Lady Grant's Reel" (Lady Grant of Grant) as an alternate. John Shaw, who researched Cape Breton music, gives a Gaelic song called "Bòg a' Lochain" from the island of Skye that goes:

Ciamar a nì mi 'n damsa direach
Ciamar a nì mi 'n ruidhle bòidheach
Ciamar a nì mi 'n damsa dìreach
Dh'fhalbh a' phrin' às bonn mo chòta

How can I make a tidy dance
How can I dance a bonny reel
How can I make a tidy dance
The pin went from the hem of my coat

There is a reel in David Young's manuscript collections called variously "Carnoucie's Rant" and "Drunken Wives in Pearson's Close (The)" for which Young give an alternate title "Boga 'n Lochan" in his index. However the tunes are very different than the later "Bòg an Lochan."


Additional notes



Printed sources : - Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 6), 1802; No. 33, p. 14. Cairngorm Collection: Highland Bagpipe Music, Book 3, 1999; p. 5. Gow (Complete Repository, Part 1), 1799; p. 16. William Gunn (The Caledonian Repository of Music Adapted for the Bagpipes), Glasgow, 1848; p. 60. Lowe's Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Jigs, book 4, 1844–1845; p. 16. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 90.

Recorded sources : - Culburnie Records CUL 121D, Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas – "Fire and Grace" (2004). Green Linnet GLCD 1117, Altan – "Harvest Storm" (1992. "Inspired" by the playing of Cape Breton fiddler Bill Lamey). Shanachie 14002, Bill Lamey – "Classic Recordings of Scottish Fiddling" (originally recorded c. 1950). Topic 12TS354, Mike MacDougall – "Cape Breton Scottish Fiddle" (1978). Wildcat Records WILDCD 101, Ronan Martin – "Ronan Martin" (2008). "The Rankin Family" (1989).

See also listing at :
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]



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