As a little Christmas treat I recently downloaded Horslips 1975/6 acoustic album Drive the cold winter away. It has lost some of its impact over the years (now everyone does the unplugged thing) but it is a lovely and quietly Christmassy album. It has 13 quite short tracks using mandolins, fiddles, tin whistles, banjos, harpsichords, etc. Brilliant!
1. We start with a medieval arrangement of Rug Muire Mac do Dhia (Mary Bore a Son to God) a traditional carol in Gaelic (probably Jim Lockhart's voice).
2. Next up is Sir Festus Burke a jolly Carolan tune. It's joined with the festive Planxty Tom Judge known as Carolan's Frolic.
3. The Snow that Melts the Soonest was picked up from a Newcastle street singer in 1821 and reminds us of fiddle player Charles O'Connor's North Eastern roots. it must be him singing.
2. Next up is Sir Festus Burke a jolly Carolan tune. It's joined with the festive Planxty Tom Judge known as Carolan's Frolic.
3. The Snow that Melts the Soonest was picked up from a Newcastle street singer in 1821 and reminds us of fiddle player Charles O'Connor's North Eastern roots. it must be him singing.
4. The Piper in the Meadow Straying is a hornpipe suggested by guitarist Johnny Fean. It has a "Deck the Halls" feel.
5. Playford's "Dancing Master" 1651 is the official source for Drive the Cold Winter Away and was contributed by keyboard player and flautist Jim Lockhart. Some nice banjo work here. It was this tune's use in the recent BBC Tess that reminded me of the album. They resist singing until the very last line.
5. Playford's "Dancing Master" 1651 is the official source for Drive the Cold Winter Away and was contributed by keyboard player and flautist Jim Lockhart. Some nice banjo work here. It was this tune's use in the recent BBC Tess that reminded me of the album. They resist singing until the very last line.
6. Thompson's and Cottage in the Grove are a pair of reels featuring O'Connor's concertina
7. Ny Kirree fa Naghtey (Lockhart sining again) is a Manx carol. The title translates as The Sheep 'neath the Snow. Manx is quite like Donegal Irish and Scots Gaelic (in Irish the title is Na Caoirigh faoi Shneachta)
8/9. Crabs in the Skillet is a jig played with Denis O'Connor, another Carolan tune first played on Christmas day 1723.
8/9. Crabs in the Skillet is a jig played with Denis O'Connor, another Carolan tune first played on Christmas day 1723.
10. Lockhart again sings on the Gaelic carol Do'n oiche ud i mbeithil (that night in Bethlehem)
11. The Lullaby is done as an instrumental but can be sung with various words
12. The Snow And The Frost Are All Over/Paddy Fahey's instrumentals
13. When a Man's in Love is another O'Connor suggestion. Presumably he sings.
13. When a Man's in Love is another O'Connor suggestion. Presumably he sings.
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