Julie Fowlis in Milton Keynes November 2017

Tuesday is my official day off and I really enjoyed this last one with a long walk with the dog in the morning (good for him and good for me) and a return to The Stables n Milton Keynes, this time to see Julie Fowlis live. I had a front row seat and really enjoyed the excellent double set, as did the 300 or so also there. With Julie the band consisted, as usual, of Eamon Dooley and Tony Byrne (on guitars) and Duncan Chisholm (on fiddle) with Patsy Reid othis time on viola. Julie not only sang but played various instruments including various whistles, a ukulele adn three different whistles.

The prgram was a masterful blend of the pretty obscure with the more immediately accessible. So we started with  a Gaelic song, Oran an Roin, about seals but that soon merged with the now well known Puirt a beul track  Hug air a bhonaid mhoir. Just when it got rather Gaelic we had first Anne Briggs' achingly beautiful Go your way and later Paul McCartney's Blackbird (in Gaelic). In the second half there was plenty more obscurity including a Galician/Gaelic song Camariñas but with a few more instrumentals too. SOmehow she even had us sing along to the chorus of Smeorach Chlann Domhnaill.

All too soon the time had one but we were able to get them back on for an encore. Up until that point, with no bozouki or bodhran, I thought all insturments beginning with the letter B had been banned but then at the very end doing something I had not seen on the two previous occassions of hearing them - Julie on the bagpipes. What an encore! Patsy Reid kindly let me have her playlist at the end and I collected Julie and Eamon's autographs again before heading off and being home by 11 pm.

Unusual words 11 Philibeg or Filibeg

In the introduction to a later edition of Arthur Bryant's life of Macaulay he quotes TBM saying (xviii) "There were three or four Highland Chiefs in kilts, plaids and philibegs with eagles plumes in their hats, dirks and pistols at their sides, and claymores in their hands."

Philibeg or Filibeg refers to the kilt worn by Scottish Highlanders [from Scottish Gaelic fēileadhbeag, from fēileadh kilt + beag small]

St Andrew's Day Julie Fowlis

Not seasonal still obscure

This is just a great tune any time of year - thrown up by my ipod this afternoon too.

Whether he or the others were drinking
There would still be plenty on the table.

chorus:
The drink would be in my love's hand
Here's to the health of the chief
The drink would be in my love's hand

A boat was seen on the waves
and the red hand at the helm

I saw it passing through the straits
with a clump of heather on the sail-yard

You who saw her out at sea
Bless the fair ship and her crew

Bless her high masts and her equipment
Her moorings and her sails

Though I am here in Coll
I long to go to Rhum

And from there to Uist
Were I to get my wish.

Julie Fowlis Live

So Saturday night I headed off to Hammersmith, to the Irish Cultural Centre there to see the wonderful Julie Fowlis and her band for myself. I recently bought a tartan shirt which I thought would be appropriate but it was the only bit of tartan I saw all night - so much for my stereotyping of the Scots.

Saturday's not the best day for me but I was able to get back before midnight and so as a one off it worked quite well. The hall there was packed out with about 150 or so present I guess. It was a fairly cross-sectional audience I think. The lady I sat next to was from Ulster and in front of me was a young Swedish lady. Bonus of the night for me was when a chap called Jon Thackray (hi!) introduced himself to me with his Scots wife Kerry as a visitor to this blog.

When Julie checked for Gaelic speakers in the audience she found only three or four so most I guess were listening as I do - not understanding. Having said that, probably over half the set was instrumental with the (clearly pregnant) Julie blowing those tin whistles with great gusto.

They did three quarters of an hour, took a break and then gave us another hour with an encore of two final songs - one slow, one fast. There was a good deal of variety - one a capella number, one just with bodhran, two or three with piano, one with two fiddles and the rest with the band taking more or less part (ie her Irish husband Eamon Doorley on bouzouki, Scot Martin O'Neill on bodhran, Scot Duncan Chisholm on fiddles and Irish man Tony Byrne on guitar). They palyed some tracks from the new album, some favourites and one or two that I don't think are recorded. There was lots of banter from all the band and a good deal of talk all told, which some may not like but seemed okay to me.

So basically it's high quality musicianship, great traditional songs plus the fabulous Julie Fowlis voice. The Corrs they are not but my it's good stuff.

Foowlisness

(Indulge me, hey?)

Who'll give a bonnet more?
Do you wanna see it there?
Did you getta bonnet, Jenny?
Can you lick an aura?

Bonnet jelly cull,
Barn and a bull,
And your cars are Eurovision
Spar, Spar in a walled barn.

Or is it Gaelic and

Hùg air a' bhonaid mhòir
Cuiribh oirre 's leigibh leatha
Tuilleadh air a' bhonaid eile
Chan eil leth gu leòr oirre
[Celebrate the great bonnet
Add to it, leave it alone
More on the other bonnet
There's not half enough on it]

Bhonaid a bh' aig Dòmhnall Bàn
Ann an Bothalam na tàmh
Bha i uiread ris an spàrr
B' àird' i na lòban [2]
[Donald Ban's bonnet
Is to be found in Bothalam
It was as high as the roof joist
Higher than the corn-stack frame]

If so minded, why not try for the later part (less close to Fowlis own words)

Barber with a mighty hammer
Did a scissor cut
Barber with a mighty hammer
Nicked Uhura

Peppermint, bring them back
And peel em with a scissor cut
Peppermint, bring them back
And try to be Uhura

Cuilidh

Well in the end I bought the whole album from i-tunes. It's all in Gaelic but my it's really good.

Check out these links

Official website

Myspace

Wikipedia

Hùg Air A' Bhonaid Mhòir

"Celebrate the great bonnet". I'm obviously in a folk phase at present. I find this spell binding stuff. (PS This is recent footage - in case you're wondering)