Pòg o Leannan an Fhìdhleir – a Kiss for the Fiddler’s Sweetheart

Pòg o Leannan an Fhìdhleir – a Kiss for the Fiddler’s Sweetheart.

This strathspey comes to us from a set of pùirt a beul, vocal dance songs, sung by Wilma Kennedy. Listen to Wilma’s original version here: https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/92767?l=en

The tune has a repetitive but highly engaging structure. There are multiple parallel intervals featured, starting with the A/E and G/D in the first part, then the C#/A and B/G in the second. It’s a nice example of some simple ideas fitting together very musically.

Edit: Since writing this post, I’ve learned that this shifting of a whole melodic phrase is called a “double tonic”.

I tried to play every syllable that Wilma sings on the pipes, and it makes for great rhythmic fingerwork.

pog-o-leannan-an-fhidhleirDownload

Related Tunes

There is a very slightly different version sung by Rev. Willie Matheson here: https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/75905?l=en. This version also appears in Songs of Gaelic Scotland.

This tune is like a strathspey version of the reel Tha Biodag aig MacThòmais (Thompson’s Dirk), which we will probably do on a future post: https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/44688?l=en