Tom Hughes

Tom Hughes and his Border Fiddle


SPRINGTHYME HELP BALLADS

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1. REDESDALE HORNPIPE/ GALLOWAY HORNPIPE 3.05
Hornpipes have long been popular in the Borders and these two are particularly well liked. No apologies for putting this track first - it was recorded at the climax of a great session and the 'lift' is infectious.
Four fiddles, Tin whistle: Jack, Guitar: Brian.

2. BRAES O MAR (Strathspey) 1.37
This favourite strathspey was old when first published in Bremner's collection in the 1750s. Tom and Wattie play it as a duet in an old traditional style learnt by Tom from his father.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie.

3. TAM'S OLD LOVE SONG (Air)/ BANKS OF KALE WATER (Reel) 1.25
Tom never had titles to these tunes. The beautiful slow air gained its name after many requests for Tom to play 'that old love song'. The reel is named after the area where Tom was first fee'd after he married.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie.

4. MARQUIS OF LORNE'S HORNPIPE 2.02
Tom's distinctive version of this widely known tune comes from family tradition.
Solo fiddle: Tom.

5. HENRY HUGHES' FAVOURITE (Spanish Waltz) 1.43
This was a favourite old waltz when Tom and his father played for dances in the 1920s. The tune came from Tom's grandfather Henry Hughes.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie.

6/7. SIDLAW HILLS/ THE WIFE SHE BREWED IT (Marches) 1.24/2.33
Jim Watson of Blairgowrie composed the first tune. The second is an old traditional favourite of Tom's. The set is first played solo by Tom and then with accompaniment.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie, Guitar: Sid.

8. FAUDENSIDE POLKA 2.02
Tom: When ma faither an I played at Yetholm, there wis a lot o the Faudenside (farm) folk cam in. They were always cryin for a polka so we juist played them what we ca'd The Faudenside Polka.
Solo fiddle: Tom.

9. AULD ROBIN GRAY (Air) 2.46
In Tom's family this tune was often jokingly referred to as 'the fiddler's headache'. Wattie plays seconds to Tom's complex melody line.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie.

10. FLOUERS O EDINBURGH/ EAST NEUK O FIFE (Flowers of Edinburgh) 2.07
These two grand old tunes provide a set for the country dance Flowers of Edinburgh and were played as such by Tom and his father in the 1920s. They are both in Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion published in the 1750s and are of a type (known as the 'Scotch Measure') used for longways country dances since the 1600s.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie, Guitar: Sid.

11. LADY MARY RAMSAY/ ORANGE AND BLUE (Strathspeys) 2.47
Lady Mary Ramsay was first published in Niel Gow's fourth collection in 1800, claimed as his brother Nathaniel's composition. Tom and Wattie play it together in the old style Tom learnt from his family, making liberal use of double stops and ringing strings. The second tune is widespread in tradition and probably very old.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie, Guitar: Brian.

12. MILLlCENT'S FAVOURITE/ TAM'S UNTITLED HORNPIPE 1.44
The popular hornpipe Millicent's Favourite, known in Ireland as The Royal Belfast, is followed by an untitled hornpipe from Tom's family repertoire.
Solo fiddle: Tom.

13. FAREWELL TO WHISKY/ ROXBURGH CASTLE 2.42
Farewell to Whisky was composed by Niel Gow as a lament around 1800. The two tunes form a set for the country dance Roxburgh Castle, still popular in the Borders in the1920s.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie, Guitar: Sid.

14. KELSO HIRING FAIR (Victoria Waltz) 2.03
Tom picked up this unusual tune from an old street fiddler at the hiring fair in Kelso in 1928. It is in Kohler's Repository (1882) under the title Victoria Waltz, but the dance seems to have died out by the 1920s.
Solo fiddle: Tom.

15. OLD RUSTIC BRIDGE 2.23
An old Victorian ballad long popular with fiddlers as a fireside tune.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie.

16. MORPETH RANT 2.26
Tom: This wis a very popular dance up the Kale Water an the Bowmont, at weddings an kirns mostly - at Hownham, Pennymuir, Mowhaugh, Auld Graden, Caverton an Primside. It's never danced now.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie, Guitar: Sid.

17. AULD GRADEN KIRN (St. Bernard' s Waltz) 1.27
When Tom and his father played for dances this was the common tune for the St Bernard's Waltz. Tom had no title to the tune but the kirn at Old Graden near Yetholm was always a great gathering.
Solo fiddle: Tom.

18. LIBERTON PIPE BAND (Polka) 1.56
A fine polka made famous by Jimmy Shand in the 1950s.
Two fiddles: Tom and Wattie.

19. REDESIDE HORNPIPE 2.33
Composed quite recently by champion 'moothie' player Willie Atkinson of Alnwick, this tune has become popular throughout the Borders.
Four fiddles, Guitar: Brian.


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