Celtic Folk Music With A Difference!
Media: Record and his Story
Our first video from our mailing series, we recorded Jock Stewart at the home of Maceál, this is one of our favorite songs and it’s so often a special request from our fans. We recorded Jock Stewart on our albums Rakkish Paddies and Double Live Check the sale for these albums in our shop
The Jolly Beggar is the very first song on our very first CD, Celts in Kilts, later merged into our Rakkish Paddies CD. Even William was not there yet for the very first recording of the Jolly Beggar. For this video at William’s Place luckily both David and William are there and we sound much better and with more harmony.
On the original cover of Celts in Kilts William was photoshopped into the picture, with his head replacing a chicken =) You can see the story in the picture below.
The Jolly Beggar, also known as The Gaberlunzieman, is Child ballad 279. The song’s chorus inspired lines in Lord Byron’s poem “So, we’ll go no more a roving”. The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child’s studies of them were published as The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. The tunes of most of the ballads were collected and published by Bertrand Harris Bronson in and around the 1960s.
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De stad Amsterdam, this is the absolute number 1 of Dieb, his favorite song. In our version it starts slowly and goes faster and faster. The song is about sailors, but it could be musicians…
Anecdote: We have played it once or twice “only live” as de Stad Rotterdam, for fans from Rotterdam. And of course in the north of the Netherlands we spoke about Stad Appingedam in our own “Gronings” “de stad Ap’ge’ Dam ”and we are not talking about onions but“ Siepels ”and hanging kitchens, but normally we play the original version of De Stad Amsterdam.
Amsterdam, also known as Dans le port d’Amsterdam is a song by the Belgian singer Jacques Brel, the song takes the form of a crescendo and describes the experiences of sailors during their leave in the red light district in Amsterdam. The melody is taken from the English anthem Greensleeves. Brel never released this song on a studio record. Despite this, Amsterdam became one of Brel’s most popular songs.
In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeelieden lallen
Tot hun nachtmerries schallen over oud Amsterdam
In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeelieden, dronken
Als een wimpel zo lam, in de dokken gaan ronken
In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeeman verzuipt
Vol van bier en van gram, als de morgen ontluikt
In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeeman ontwaakt
Als de warmte weer blaakt over Damrak en Dam
In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeelieden bikken
Zilv’ren haringen slikken, bij de staart uit de hand
Van de hand in de tand, smijten zij met hun knaken
En ze zullen hem raken als een kat in het want
En ze stinken naar aal, in hun grof blauwe truien
En ze stinken naar uien, daarmee doen zij hun maal
Na hun maal staan zij op om hun broek dicht te knopen
En dan gaan ze weer lopen en het boert in hun krop
In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeelieden zwieren
En de meiden versieren, buik aan buik, lekker klam
En ze draaien hun wals als een wentelende zon
Op de klank, dun en vals, van een accordeon
En zo rood als een kreeft happen zij naar wat lucht
Tot opeens met een zucht de muziek het begeeft
Met een air van gewicht voeren zij met wat spijt
Dan hun Mokumse meid weer terug in het licht
In de stad Amsterdam waar de zeelieden zuipen
En maar zuipen en maar zuipen en daarop nog eens zuipen
Zuipen op het geluk van een hoer van de Wallen
Op een Hamburgse hoer, nou ja, van een goed stuk
Van een slet die zichzelf in haar deugd heeft geschonken
Voor een gulden of elf en dan zijn ze goed dronken
Met hun wankelende lijven lozen zij dan hun drank
En ze pissen zoals ik jank om de ontrouw der wijven
In de stad Amsterdam
In de stad Amsterdam
In de stad Amsterdam
In de stad Amsterdam
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Fairytale of New York with lyrics played at a special video we recorded for the hardworking employees at UMC Utrecht to support them after this difficult year, we hope to be able to perfom again soon for all our essential workers. Gurgling the tune with whiskey started out as a joke when we first learned this song, if you really can’t play an instrument you can always use the drink, we kept it ever since. We extended the chorus melody at the end because we love playing this part of the song.
Fairytale of New York from The Pogues was, again, voted the most popular Christmas song of the UK in 2019. We play it all year round and it’s been one of our most requested songs since we started playing it! “Fairytale of New York” is a song written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and recorded by their band the Pogues, featuring singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl on vocals. The song is an Irish folk-style ballad and was written as a duet, with the Pogues’ singer MacGowan taking the role of the male character and MacColl the female character.
Although there is agreement among the band that “Fairytale of New York” was first written in 1985, the origins of the song are disputed. MacGowan insisted that it arose as a result of a wager made by the Pogues’ producer at the time, Elvis Costello, that the band would not be able to write a Christmas hit single, while the Pogues’ manager Frank Murray has stated that it was originally his idea that the band should try and write a Christmas song as he thought it would be “interesting”.
Banjo player Finer came up with the melody and the original concept for the song, which was set in County Clare on Ireland’s west coast, involving a sailor in New York looking out over the ocean and reminiscing about being back home in Ireland. Finer’s wife Marcia did not like the original seafaring story, and suggested new lyrics regarding a conversation between a couple at Christmas. Finer told NME, “I had written two songs complete with tunes, one had a good tune and crap lyrics, the other had the idea for ‘Fairytale’ but the tune was poxy, I gave them both to Shane and he gave it a Broadway melody, and there it was.
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We play The Strayaway Child mostly during our theatre shows with our wonderful dancers Rosalie & Madelief, at Zomerfolk we play this song with the bodypaint performance on stage. This video is from when we first presented our new CD Scotland’s Story in O’ceallaigh Irish Pub. Dieb plays all our difficult songs perfectly and never gets confused, this song is the one exception, it has six violin parts and for some reason Dieb has a hard time keeping them apart, luckily we are always there to help him =)
This classic 6 part jig was first recorded by the late Michael Gorman (1895-1970), a county Sligo fiddler who spent much of his adult life in the London area. The tune was popularized in the late 1970s by Kevin Burke and The Bothy Band. The Chieftains (one of our favourite bands) have recorded this song on their album A Chieftains Celebration.
This amazing tune has no lyrics but here we have the sheet music so you can try playing The Strayaway Child for yourself.
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Molly Malone or Cockles and Mussels played in our theatre show Still into Folk, this is a fan favourite everytime we get to play this song the reaction in the crowd is wonderfull. Sadly our friend Andrea, founder of the German Fanclub passed away last year, this was her favourite song, we have some wonderful memories of playing this song for her and she would make us new socks after the show.
“Molly Malone” (also known as “Cockles and Mussels” or “In Dublin’s Fair City”) is a popular song set in Dublin, Ireland, which has become its unofficial anthem. A statue representing Molly Malone was unveiled on Grafton Street during the 1988 Dublin Millennium celebrations, when 13 June was declared to be Molly Malone Day. In July 2014, the statue was relocated to Suffolk Street.
In Dublin’s fair city
where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
“Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh”
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
She was a fishmonger
And sure ’twas no wonder
For so were her father and mother before
And they each wheeled their barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
“Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh”
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
She died of a fever
And no one could save her
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone
Now her ghost wheels her barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
“Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh”
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
“Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh”
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
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This is a special version of The Craic was 90 in the Isle of Man, we play at our own Zomerfolk Festival, it is late on saturday night and David decides to bring out all the balloons we have backstage and crowdsurf with the inflatable unicorn. You can hear Maceál laugh during the track, great memories for us, and a great song!
The important word in this song is of course Craic, or the Craic. The word has an unusual history; the Scots and English crack was borrowed into Irish as craic in the mid-20th century and the Irish spelling was then reborrowed into English. Craic or crack is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, the term has great cultural significance in Ireland.we often use it as a memory of a good time, do you remember that one night out – Yeah, the craic was 90!
Weren’t we the rare oul’ stock? Spent the evenin’ gettin’ locked
In the Ace of Hearts where the high stools were engaging,
Over the Butt Bridge, down by the dock
The boat she sailed at five o’clock
“Hurry, boys,” said Whack, or before we’re there we’ll all be back
Carry him if you can The Crack was Ninety in the Isle of Man.
Before we reached the Alexander Base; The ding dong we did surely raise
In the bar of the ship we had great sport, as the boat she sailed out of the port
Landed up in the Douglas Head enquired for a vacant bed.
The dining room we soon got shown by a decent woman up the road.
‘Lads, ate it if you can, The Crack was Ninety in the Isle of Man.
Next morning we went for a ramble round; Viewed the sights of Douglas Town
Then we went tor a mighty session, in a pub they call Dick Darby’s.
We must have been drunk by half-past three; To sober up we went swimmin’ in the sea
Back to the digs for the spruce up, and while waitin’ for the fry
We all drew up our plan; The Crack was Ninety in the Isle of Man.
That night we went to the Texas Bar; Came back down by horse and car.
Met Big Jim and all went in to drink some wine in Yate’s.
The Liverpool Judies, it was said, were all to be found in the Douglas Head
McShane was there in his suit and shirt, Them foreign girls he was tryin’ to flirt
Sayin’ “Here girls, I’m your man,” The Crack was Ninety in the Isle of Man.
Whacker fancied his good looks; On an Isle of Man woman he was struck.
But a Liverpool lad was by her side. And he throwin’the jar into her.’
Whacker thought he’d take a chance; He asked the quare one out to dance.
Around the floor they stepped it out, And to Whack it was no bother.
Everythin’ was goin’ to plan; The Crack was Ninety in the Isle of Man.
The Isle of Man woman fancied Whack; Your man stood there till his mates came back
Whack! they all whacked into Whack, and Whack was whacked out on his back.
The police force arrived as well, Banjoed a couple of them as well,
Landed up in the Douglas jail, until the Dublin boat did sail,
Deported every man, The Crack was Ninety in the Isle of Man.
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The lyrics to this song are written by our own William for the album Scotland’s Story, we performed it for the first time at our Celtic Folk Night in Wilhemshaven. At the end of all our theatre shows we play this song to get the polonaise going, David & Maceal march through the concert hall and all the audience follows.
Scotland the Brave is the bagpipe tune David plays during Flatlands, it is a Scottish patriotic song, one of several often considered an unofficial Scottish national anthem. The tune was first played probably in the late 19th century. The lyrics commonly used now were written about 1950 by Scottish journalist Cliff Hanley for singer Robert Wilson as part of an arrangement by Marion McClurg. “Scotland the Brave” is also the authorised pipe band march of the British Columbia Dragoons of the Canadian Armed Forces
Good evening lads and lassies, are you happy all the way
We’re coming from the Flatlands, so some people say
We try our very best to make you allright tonight
We’re playing lovely folk songs and some tunes half the night
I was born to be a singer, but I didn’t knew by then
I had my first guitar when I reached the age of ten
My fingers were not bleeding, but I really tried out hard
So come on move your dancing feet, when the music starts
So there’s no other place, where I would rather be
To sing about this fucking life in peace and harmony
So won’t you come along and drink a pint or two with me
To sing about this fucking life in peace and harmony
I was lots of times in trouble, in my days at school
Just learning ‘n turning by the way and living by the ruule
We were waiting ’till the bell would ring and we’d go home, on straight
And picking up our instruments, “it’s getting really late”
I like to dance with women and I sang it all before
I drink a lot of whiskey and I drop dead on the floor
And when the cab is driving home and I remember when
The places where I’m going and the places that I’ve been
The night is coming to an end, but there’ll be plenty more to come
The crowd is going wild and they’ve been asking for “encore”
We don’t know where we’re going and whenever we’re coming back
I’ll see you all the next time, on the latest track
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The torches come out and you know what time it is, we get to play Loch Lomond! Always a great sing-a-long and we love the reaction from the crowd everytime, this version shows Loch Lomond at our own Rapalje Zomerfolk Festival played on saturday after dark.
Several stories surround this song, David Myles looked into the history and was able to find the facts to tell our story about the song. “The Bonnie Banks o ‘Loch Lomond”, or “Loch Lomond” for short, is a well-known traditional Scottish song first published in 1841 in Vocal Melodies of Scotland. The track prominently features Loch Lomond, Scotland’s largest lake, located between the counties of West Dunbartonshire, Stirling and Argyll and Bute. In Scottish, “bonnie” means “beautiful”, often in reference to a lady.
Loch Lomond is anything but a sweet Scottish song of love, written by a Jacobite highlander at the time of the Jacobite Rebellion.
The last serious battle of the war between Scotland and England took place on the field of Culloden. Now known as “the Battle of Culloden” The Jacobite Rebellion was an important time in Scotland; this ended at the battle of Culloden in 1746.
The Jacobites were created when the Roman Catholic King James II was dethroned from the English throne. By the Protestant Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange, who was married to a daughter of James II, Maria Stuart. The Jacobites were part of the political movement that aimed to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England and his heirs to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland.
A superior English army defeated the weary and hungry Jacobite army on April 15, 1746, chasing and crushing the Jacobites without mercy. The Battle of Culloden was the last major battle on British soil.
The Privy Council in London had decided that prisoners of the uprising in Scotland should be tried in England. The Jacobite prisoners were transported to Tilbury Fort for trial. Many were found guilty and executed in the most vile ways possible, prisoners were sold, bartered, deported, died of disease and some were pardoned.
Once the execution was completed, to set an example to anyone who would walk out of line. The bodies and especially the heads on the tops of spikes were put on display in all the cities between London and Glasgow in a monstrous procession. The loved ones and families who watched the trial had to walk back to Scotland along the same route.
“The Low Road” is the normal road on Earth and “The High Road” is the road in the sky you take when you’re dead.
It is an old pipe tune called “Farewell to the Creeks”.The tune was written by a Pipe Major J.B. Robinson from the Gordon’s who was captured at Le Cateau in August 1914 as the German Army swept into France. “Creeks” referred to in the tune are at Portknockie on the Mory Firth in Scotland. In 1943 a text was written on the melody by Hamish Henderson: Farewell Ye Banks O’Sicily
We play it with our torches and the bagpipes, after Loch Lomond we play “Farewell to the Creeks”. It’s in “The Scottish Guards.” It’s also a traditional Scottish tune.
Rapalje plays You Couldn’t Have Come at a Better Time here between the Hunebedden in Drenthe, with RTV Drenthe we went out to Hunebed het Loon (D15) to record the song “You Couldn’t Have Come at a Better Time”. We love playing this tune, it gives everyone such a positive vibe, it is hard not to dance to this great song.
Originally by Luka Bloom from the album Riverside after working on the songs in 1989 the album was released in 1990, “1989. What a big year this was. The Wall came down in Berlin, and the world felt like a flower in bloom. I was in Los Angeles in November 1989, completing the final mixes for my record ‘Riverside’. 3 months later, in February 1990, the record came out. I was getting calls in New York, telling me to come to the Lowlands quickly, because ‘Riverside’ was getting some serious attention in Belgium and in Holland. and so it began.
Where is this place we’ve come to
We don’t know what to say
We long to see each other
And are frightened of that day
You met me in a barren place
You walked me to the hill
We were so good for each other then
I know we could be still
You couldn’t have come at a better time
You couldn’t have come at a better time
You couldn’t have come at a better time
Not if you tried, oh no
Not if you tried, oh no
We have five hundred questions
Between you and me
But when you look into my eyes my love
Tell me what you see
Is it something you’re not sure of
Is it something true and fine
Or is it just another case
Of the right thing at the wrong time
You couldn’t have come at a better time
You couldn’t have come at a better time
You couldn’t have come at a better time
Since we were first together
By the lakeside sky so blue
We were so good for each other
Me and you and me and you and
Me and you and me and you
You couldn’t have come at a better time
You couldn’t have come at a better time
You couldn’t have come at a better time
Not if you tried, oh no …