An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Sruth > Volume 2 > No. 60, 10 July 1969

Sruth, Di-ardaoin, 10 latha de'n luchar 1969
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over to you:
HEBRIDEAN FOLKSONGS
by Frang MacThomais
For many decades now the
body of Gaelic culture, in its
various forms, has been
widely acknowledged as being
one of the best and most sig¬
nificant in Europe. In par-
! ticular the traditional folk¬
song surviving in the waulk-
ing song or oran luadhaidh,
is. of a type which is almost
unique and it is with this in
mind that one welcomes the
publication of a book dealing
S with the waulking song.
The basis of the book is
the Collection of Waulking
Songs of Donald MacCormick
of Kilphedir, in South Uist
(1893). He, with Father Allan
McDonald, who translated
| some of the songs, did a
great deal of work, most of it
; unsung, to preserve what
was, at the turn of the cen¬
tury, in the ‘ dying heritage ’
bracket. The installation of
; the first- machinery in Storno¬
way and in Harris to stimu¬
late the production of clo
: mor, or Harris Tweed, as it
was later to become, indica¬
ted that the matter was ur¬
gent. We are greatful, post¬
humously, to these collectors
for their foresight. And we
| are greatful, too, to that
scholar Dr J. L. Campbell of
Canna, who, with much effort
‘ and, one suspects, with many
great and small incon¬
veniences, has left us a cor¬
pus of work of which we
Highlanders can be justly
proud.
| The first part of the book
1 deals with Hebridean Waulk-
r ing Songs. The activity of
I fulling the cloth is described
as it was seen and written
about by the many observers
who travelled through the
Highlands and Islands up to
three hundred years ago.
Pennant, Martin, Shan, de
jS Saussure, Lockhart and others
Ef all supply the evidence of
!waulking activity.
To help the work along,
songs were sung. The sub¬
jects of th.e songs included
the praise of great men, of
the chiefs; the hunt; love;
ft)and laments. The language
ajused was pure, simple and
ineffective. The imaee’ry used
3\|was often of a high order
which, as Dr Campbell says,
sjwas ‘as might be expected
aifrom a people whose everv-
’flday life was permeated with
^ an oral literature of poetry,
tdsong and story, with whom
wthe professional poet-his-
litorians were held in high
xhonour.’
ii_ w*ulkinS song anc* its
* Mace and influence in and on
filSth century printed Gaelic
sfliterature is dealt with in a
ridiort section.
l| Dr Campbell has. rightlv.
ntjjsomething to sav about what
one calls the ‘ Art versions of
issjiwaulking songs,’ these being
-the products of Mrs Kennedy
Fraser in particular, and Dr
Kenneth MacLeod. Thev used
nthe airs and textual motifs
bf waulking songs as a basis
Jtor the construction of the
Hit songs we find in ‘Songs
!9f the Hebrides.’ While it
can be accepted that these
‘ Songs ’ resulted in making
the Hebrides better known,
too much emphases were
placed on the ‘ Celtic Twi¬
light ’ atmospheres that were
said to obtain in the islands,
and too little on the de¬
pressed social and economic
conditions which it would
have been better to publicise,
using the ‘ songs ’ as a lever
to gain public and political
sympathy of a practical sort.
As it was, these islands
were the subject of countless
visitations from people who
wished to catch a flavour of
the Hebrides and who prob¬
ably did great damage in pro¬
pagating the ‘ Songs ’ myths.
As for the musical side of the
‘ Songs,’ as art songs they
can be accepted for what they
are; but they prevented the
real songs from being rescued
from oblivion. By delaying
the active collection of oral
tradition by some three and
four decades, the ‘ Songs ’
did the Hebrides a great dis¬
service.
The bulk of the book is
devoted to the McCormick
Collection, which is given in
Gaelic, in English translation
with notes, and in musical
transcriptions, the music side
being dealt with most effec¬
tively by Francis Collinson.
The Collection’s text and
music confirm the worth of
Gaelic folksong as a genre.
All the purity, the simplicity
and the creative gift of the
Gael is in evidence here. Full
references are made to vari¬
ants, similarities and the like
which appear in other Col¬
lections.
In the-third section of the
book, Dr Frances Collinson
treats us to the expert’s ~ye
view of the ‘MusicoiOgy of
Waulking Songs.’ One ex¬
pects here the results of years
of association with both
musit as a subject and with
Gaelic song as a characteristic
type. An impressive technique
is used which, in part might
be lost on the lay reader, con¬
firms that the evolution of
Gaelic folksong was no hap¬
hazard thing, but was in fact
a steady formalised and con¬
trolled growth to maturity
which went hand in hand
with the growth of the
special type of environment
nurtured by the Gael and
Characterised by his Celtic
roots.
Dr Collinson deals first
with the scales of the tunes
of waulking songs. Though
this aspect has been dealt
with many times before, it is
good to have a final defini¬
tion. The form of the tunes
is then examined, with par¬
ticular reference to the Mc¬
Cormick Collection; Dr Col¬
linson discusses the relation¬
ship between chorus and
refrain, between the starting
and ending points of the
tunes.
The ‘waulking pulse,’ the
musical variation in the
tunes, characteristic rhythms
and the ‘ meaningless refrain
syllables and their signific¬
ance’ are dealt with fully in
exhaustive detail. On the
latter both Drs Campbell and
Collinson say:
■ What distinguishes the re¬
frains of Scottish Gaelic
waulking songs sharply from
those ot most Western Euro¬
pean folk-songs is tneir
special phonetic structure,
which makes their singing in
a complete legato of unin¬
terrupted tone easier than
anything short of a solfeggio
exercise; their numerous and
intricate forms; and the very
important part they play in
carrying the main melodies
of the songs ... If, as seen/s
likely, many of the tunes of
these songs are much older
than the words which are
now sung to them, the mean¬
ingless syllables associatiod
with their refrains may pos¬
sess a very remarkable
antiquity.’
This book goes a consider¬
able way towards a long-felt
need to put Gaelic folksong
alongside similar folk-culture
products for comparative
study. This, of course, has
yet to be done as a whole; to
have both textual and musi¬
cal elements subjected to ex-
per analyses and the re¬
sults published between two
covers. The whole of Gaelic
folksong still awaits the
treatment which has been
given to the folktale by
people like Anti Aarne and
Stith-Thompson.
Only in this way will the
respect and recognition be
given to Gaelic culture which
it so richly deserves on an
international scale. At pre¬
sent, much propaganda work
still remains to be done.
There is another aspect
which relates more to the
common acceptance of Gae¬
lic song than to the more
professional acceptance of
the body as an excellent sub¬
ject for study. This is the
need for the Highlands to
produce a composer who can
translate the sum total of his
heritage into an art form
with its roots deep in the
past. Other cultures have pro¬
duced their ‘ national ’ com¬
posers: Sibelius, Vaughan
Williams, Kodaly, Bartok,
Guy, Ropartz and Paul le
Flem.
One looks annually to the
National Mod of An Comunn
to hear the essence of folk¬
song in small grouped voices
and in choirs. But one is
always disappointed. The
choral pieces in particular are
anything but characteristic of
the Gaelic roots of the melo¬
dies from which they are de¬
rived; they pay too much tri¬
bute to the classical tradition
elevated in western Europe
and too little to the Western
Isles’ tradition which is
equally ‘classical.’
But a start has been made
to organise Gaelic folksong
into a recognisable corpus
from which it can derive
nothing but credit. Both Dr
Campbell and Dr Collinson
are to be congratulated
on the work their labours
have produced. But it is
up to the Highland book¬
buying public to do more
(Continued on next column)
A Charaid,
Tha An Comunn Gaidheal-
ach, Bord Leasachaidh na Gaid-
healtachd agus Comunn nan
Croitearan uile a deanamh
oidhirpean dicheallach airson an
oigridh a chumail anns a Ghaid-
healtachd le duil gun cum iad
a Ghaidhlig beo agus ar doigh
fallain.
Chaneil seo furasda a
dheanamh, agus co dhiu, s
truagh an duine nach d’rinn
siubhal air choireigin na latha.
Bha e riamh na chleachdadh
aig gillean og na Gaidhealtachd
an dachaidh fhagail, uairean gu
math trath ’nam beatha, agus
mar as trie cha b’e coire ach
feum a rinn seo do’n Gaidheal¬
tachd a thaobh’s cho measail :s
a bha daoine orra anns gach
ceam’s an do thadhail iad.
Chan e ’m fagail ach an
tilleadh a bha na aobhar ioma-
gain, aig aon am an deidh
dhaibh bliadhna no dha a chuir
seachad a siubhal, thill iad
dhachaidh ach an diugh tha car
air cuisean—tha iad a dol do’n
bhaile mhor a gabhail obair an
sin, agus ann an gle bheag tim
tha iad ceangaillte ris a thaibh
peannsain agus gnothuichean
de’n t-seorsa sin. Mar sin chan¬
eil e furasda an obair fhagail as
aonais call mor agus tha iad a
leantainn ris gus an toir iad am
peannsain a mach.
De tha thachairt an sin?
Chan urrainn dhaibh tigh fhaot-
ainn air mal, agus chaneil e
furasda tigh a cheannach o
chionn gu bheil na Goill agus
na Sasunnaich a tairgse prisean
gorach airson bothan sam bith
a thig air a mhargadh ’sa
Ghaidhealtachd agus an sin a
faotainn “grant” bho’n Bhord
Leasachaidh airson tighean
math a dheanamh dhuibh. Cha
dean e deifir co tha reic an tighe,
theid a reic airson a phris as
airde, co dhiu ’s ann do
Ghaidheil, do Ghoill no do
Bhlec, agus mar as trie bithidh
na tighean seo falamh fad a
Gheamhraidh. A bheil ioghnadh
ann ged a tha muiimtir na
Gaidhealtachd a fas sgith de
ghoinne cuideachd a mhor chuid
de’n bhliadhna, ’se seo aobhar
gearain as motha a th’aig na
Gaidheil ’sa Ghaidhealtachd.
Nach coir do’n Chomunn
smachd a chumail air an ionns-
aidh seo agus cothrom a thoirt
do na seann Ghaidheil aig a
bheil Gaidhlig tilleadh do’n
duthaich fein ged a dh’fheum-
adh iad an cuideachadh le cuid
de’n airgiod a tha air a thoirt
seachad do’n h-uile seorsa nan
than offer congratulations.
Only in the purchase of the
book will authors and pub¬
lishers realise that the con¬
temporary Gael is fully aware
of the work which is being
done on his behalf and is
willing to acknowledge such
in one of the more practical
ways open to him.
‘ Hebridean Folksongs : A
Collection of Waulking
Songs ’ by J. L. Campbell
and Francis Collinson;
70s; Published by the
Clarendon Press: Oxford
University Press, Ely
House, Dover Street,
London, W.l.
“ grants,” mar seo bhiodh a
bharrachd Gaidhlig anns a
Ghaidhealtachd agus bhiodh
cuideachd an t-seorsa fhein aig
muinintir na Gaidhealtachd fad
na bliadhna.
’S iomadh Gaidheal gasda a
tha cuir seachad an laithean
deireannach ann an “tenement”
ann an Glaschu agus bailtean
duint eile feadh na Rioghachd
agus an cridhe ag caoidh airson
balgam de bhrigh na Gaidheal¬
tachd. Nach fhearr seann
Ghaidheal le Gaidhlig na oig¬
ridh as a Ghall.
Tha e furasda fhaicinn de a
tha dol a thachairt. ’Nuair a
gheibh na croitearan na croitean
dhaibh fhein theid an roinn
nan suidheachadh thighean agus
bithidh iad air an reic chun an
fhear a bheir a phris as airde,
agus ann an gle bheag tim
bithidh Gall air a h-uile croit
air a Ghaidhealtachd agus nas
lagha cothrom aig an fhior
Ghaidheal air tilleadh dhach¬
aidh. Faodaidh mar seo gum bi
na croitearan nas beartaiche ach
gheibh Gaidheil na h-Alba
leithid de bhuille bais agus nach
dean pog na beatha fhein feum
dhith.
Tha tuilleadh ’s a choir de
bhuird againn co dhiu’s coir do
na h-uile ni a bhi fo smachd a
Chomuinn agus fo’n Fhear
Stiuiridh comasach a tha
cheana a laimhseachadh na
cuibhle. Mar a tha gnothuichean
a dol an drasda cha bhi e idir
fada gus am bi Rio Stakis e
fhein a riaghladh ’sa Ghaid¬
healtachd, mar eil e cheanna ris.
D. MAC-AN-T-SAOIR
Bun a Mhaoil,
Baii:-Chaolais.
Cuil nan Ceist-7
FUASGLADH
1. An Cliseam (2622 troigh).
2. Uibhist - a - Deas, Muile,
Cataibh agus siorrachd
Pheairt.
3. (a) Beinn Dobhrain.
(b) An Cuilionn.
(c) Beinn Allair.
4. Tha ainm na beinne seo
mar chuimhneachan air an
t-Siorram Alasdair Mac-
Neacail. Bha an Sgiatha-
nach iomraiteach seo ’na
bhard, agus chuir e a-
mach co-chruinneachadh
luachmhor de sheanfhac-
lan Gaidhealach.
5. Eubhal. Chanadh e fhein
“ Eubhal Mhor a cheo ”
ris a’ bheinn seo.
Failte Do Lybster
THE PORTLAND ARMS
extends a warm welcome
Salmon Fishing, Trout Fishing
Sea Angling
Good Fare and a Fine Cellar