Lady Mary Ramsay + Oyster Wives Rant (Black Mill Reel) + Tongadale - Scottish Fiddle | Katy Adelson

Here are three Scottish fiddle tunes: Lady Mary Ramsay (strathspey), Oyster Wives Rant / Black Mill (half reel), and Tongadale (reel).

A big "Thank You" goes to the Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs, Colorado, for letting me film:
https://www.miramontcastle.org/
The art on the walls of the castle is by the artist, Charles Rockey. RIP. =(

Lady Mary Ramsay and Oyster Wives Rant are very old Scottish tunes, and they are also two of the first songs I had ever learned completely by-ear.

I learned them from a Scottish fiddler, Sarah Jane Summers, in 2006 at Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp in Colorado. She taught the tunes in a style I'm trying to emulate with my tutorials. They have honestly been the tunes I recall the best from that particular fiddle camp. I remember being scared to learn music completely by-ear. I was worried I'd never be able to quickly pick out the notes and keep up with the other players. She sang each note's name aloud and slowly went through the melodies. It made these tunes so much more approachable. She later showed us what the complicated sheet music looked like, and we were all astounded that we actually learned them by-ear. If I had had the sheet music at that point in my playing level, I know I would have failed pretty miserably trying to sightread it. There's a lot to be said about learning tunes by-ear. Sometimes you surprise yourself with the things you can play! =)

Tongadale is a new fiddle tune written by Farquhar MacDonald:
https://www.facebook.com/farquharmacdonaldmusic/

I stumbled upon this tune because of my recent (2017) trip to Scotland! While walking around in Portree, Scotland, on my way to the "Skye Music Shop," I passed a cute little place called, "Tongadale Hotel." What a cool name! I said the name out loud like a strange person who talks to herself lol... The name sort of stuck in the back of my mind, and I went on my way to the music shop where I spent far more £££ on local fiddle (and harp for my mom) music books than I'd like to admit ... The next time I found myself on YouTube, guess what was recommended as a video?? None other than the, "Tongadale reel," haha! My phone must be listening to me. I clicked on the video and had to learn it! I had just been there!! It's a cool tune, and reminds me of Tam Lin. Anything that sounds like Tam Lin works for me -- audiences seem to really like fast-sounding repetitive tunes -- and I like them because they tend to sound more difficult than they actually are to play.

The Tongadale reel is also part of the Scottish Music Graded Exams (Book Grade 5):
https://www.scotlandsmusic.com/Product/SM-UPHXYS/scottish-music-graded-exams-fiddle-grade-5-20142020

Hopefully I play it okay... I hadn't realized it was an exam tune until after I made the video. :o

Here is some additional information about the first two tunes:

Lady Mary Ramsay:
This tune is often attributed to Niel Gow. However, the "Skye Collection of the best Reels and Strathspeys" collected by Keith Norman Macdonald (1887) states, "This tune (Lady Mary Ramsay) is called "The auld toon o'Edinburgh" in James Porteous's Collection and having his initials attached it is possible he may have been the composer of it."

Sometimes it is played as a reel instead of a strathspey, and it has also become popular in Ireland (usually played more like a reel). There seems to be many versions and interpretations of this tune. Good fun melodies really do stick around!

The Oyster Wives Rant:
This is an extremely old Scottish fiddle tune. I call it a "half reel" because the A and B parts are only 4 measures long each instead of the usual 8 measures. When I was trying to limp along though sessions in Scotland, it seemed like at least a few people knew this tune everywhere I played. However, pretty much everyone had no idea what I was talking about when I called it the "Oyster Wives Rant." Instead, everyone knew it as "Black Mills." How a title like "Oyster Wives Rant" could turn into "Black Mills," I have no idea.... Everyone also seemed to play the B-part as the A-part. Looking up the tune online, I see it written both ways, but it does seem like playing the B-part as the A-part is more common.

I also want to apologize for my absence. Lots of things have been changing on my end: new job, moved, broke a few of my things in the process...yikes! I'm really bad at moving. I'm still a disorganized mess, but I'm slowly finding my way. Once I push through this busy time, I'm hoping things will go back to normal!

Thank you for watching, and I hope you have a good rest of the week! =)

~ Katy

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