Annotation:Shaalds o' Foula (1) (Da)
X:1 T:Shaalds o' Foula [1] M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig N:AEae tuning (fiddle) B:Anderson - Ringing Strings (1983, p. 38) K:A E|A2(A A2c)|efe (e2c)|B2 (A B2c)|e2A A(GF)| E2(A A2c)|efe (e2c)|B2(A B2c)|e3 E2:| |:e|a2e e(ce)|a(ec) B2A|a(ec) B2A|A2(G F2E)| a2e e(ce)|a(ec) B2A|A2(c A2c)|e3 E2:|
SHAALDS O' FOULA [1], DA. AKA and see "Foula Shaalds (The)." Shetland, Jig (6/8 time). A Major (Anderson): G Major (Songer). AEae or standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Anderson says his two versions of the tune are very old, both featuring "raised strings" (scordatura tuning) similar in some ways to the tunings of the Hardingfele in Norway (the Shetlands were a possession of Norway for some time). The title means 'fields of Foula', but the 'shaalds' are in fact hidden reefs at the north end of the Island of Foula, which lies off the west coast of the main island of the Shetlands. The Boys of the Lough remark that it was on these shallows that many ships have been lost, including the Oceanic in World War I, so many so that "the possibility of salvage is celebrated in this piece of local doggerel:
Up wi' a light but and linka the wa' boys,
The shaalds will pay for a'."
The tunes are sometimes incorrectly called "The Foulla Reel" which is really the name for the dance the "Shaalds of Foula" is played for.
