Concert on Saturday

[curiouswombat]

On Saturday my daughter and I went to a concert by a young lady called Ruth Keggin. Ruth is a friend of D-d, and they were actually at York uni at the same time.

She sings much of her repertoire in Manx - here is a track that she sang on Saturday. I wonder if any of you, who know the music of Capercaillie, agree with me that Ruth's voice is reminiscent of Karen Matheson?

What is the song about? You may well ask. This is it more or less in a nutshell;

Fin and Oshin are Irish heroes of the mythic variety. They go off hunting leaving Young Orry to care for their horses (I think) - but the daughters of the two heroes sweet talk him and then tie him up and set fire to his hair (whatever turns you on, I guess!).

Young Orry escapes, sets fire to their houses in revenge - but the heroes return at that stage and, when the daughters say Young Orry did it, they pull him in two with their horses.

Comments

[dougalsservant.livejournal.com]

I like that.
Is the song traditional or new?
Do you know what it is about?
D

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Traditional, possibly with a few tweaks to the tune.

Fin and Oshin are Irish heroes of the mythic variety. They go off hunting leaving Young Orry to care for their horses (I think) - but the daughters of the two heroes sweet talk him and then tie him up and set fire to his hair (whatever turns you on, I guess!).

Young Orry escapes, sets fire to their houses in revenge - but the heroes return at that stage and, when the daughters say Young Orry did it, they pull him in two with their horses.

We will bring her album with us when we come over in May.

But in the meantime try this - if I remember rightly this is a modern one, in the traditional style or a carval, written by Annie Kissack who teaches at the Bunscooil. It is 'Born in Bethlehem' and considers not only the Holy Birth, but that of other babies, there, then.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

And HHimring had just pointed this out to me - http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/iomnhas/v023p296.htm

Which proves I am right about it being traditional - and my paraphrase was reasonable - although I have to admit it was simply from memory of what Ruth said it was about!

[estelcontar1.livejournal.com]

Lovely voice!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Isn't it? She is a lovely, and very talented, young lady.

[the-winterwitch.livejournal.com]

Very beautiful! I agree, there is a strong similarity or likeness between her and Matheson's voice.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It occurred to me the first time I heard her voice - if you close your eyes it could be Karen Matheson when she was younger. She does have a beautiful voice. I've added another sound-clip to the original post, too.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with the other singer you mention but Ruth has a truly lovely voice!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

She has, hasn't she? She was so worried that no-one would come to the concert - but it was totally sold out.

Hopefully I can embed a clip here of Capercaillie and Karen Matheson



Clearly Karen Matheson is a good few years older than Ruth - but you can see that her voice would have been very similar when she was younger.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

This is also very beautiful. Thank you! Yes, there is much similarity in timbre and clarity, I think. They're both blessed with good voices.

[hhimring]

Yes, I agree.
Thank you, I enjoyed that! (I also like Capercaillie a lot.)
I, too, would like to know what the song was about.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I have explained it for Douglasservant - but I'll post the explanation into the main body in a minute or two - plus another piece of music.

[hhimring]

I've found this.
You probably know all about it, but just in case you don't:
http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/iomnhas/v023p296.htm

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I have to admit I hadn't bothered looking the song up in the notebook - which is a weird and wonderful place to womble around on a wet afternoon.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

She does sound like the singer in Capercaillie.

What a story! o.O Is that based on any historical incident at all or one of those stories that's been embellished and the true version lost to time?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is a very old song - goodness knows what grain of truth may, or may not, be behind it!

[jay-of-lasgalen.livejournal.com]

I don't know Capercaillie, but Ruth has an amazing voice! I loved her song.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is a very beautiful voice - I am very pleased that D-d introduced me to her music.

[suzll.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's beautiful! Really love it!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Isn't it? It was a really good concert.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, beautiful voice.

Wonder how much truth there is in the story!

Cooler and cloudy today and very misty in the mornings.

Lynda

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Isn't it a beautiful voice? There may be some hint of truth to the story - or it might have been pure fiction.

Cooler and cloudy today and very misty in the mornings

Sounds more like our usual weather! We have, guess what? Rain. You could probably do with it.

[(Anonymous)]

Definately!

Up early, B.B. let the cat out when he went to work and she demanded 'In!' in no uncertain terms. He leaves for work at around 4.30- 5.00 a.m. Didn't feel like going back to bed at 6.00 so made myself some tea and went on the computer, which is where I am now! Thinking about breakfast and getting ready for work.

Rain, again, no, never, how unusual!

Huggs,
Lynda

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Very nice!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It was a lovely concert.

[deborahw37.livejournal.com]

What a lovely voice

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Beautiful, isn't it?

[spiced-wine.livejournal.com]

Fin and Oshin are Irish heroes of the mythic variety. They go off hunting leaving Young Orry to care for their horses (I think) - but the daughters of the two heroes sweet talk him and then tie him up and set fire to his hair (whatever turns you on, I guess!).

Young Orry escapes, sets fire to their houses in revenge - but the heroes return at that stage and, when the daughters say Young Orry did it, they pull him in two with their horses.

Well, there's a lovely tale! :D

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Well, there's a lovely tale! :D

You can't beat mythical heroes when it comes to bloodshed...

[spiced-wine.livejournal.com]

You can't beat mythical heroes when it comes to bloodshed...

This is 100% true. Drama, they haz it.

[myrhiann.livejournal.com]

She has a very good voice, and if she wanted to she could go along way with her singing. Thanks for the Capercaillie clip.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

She sings around a lot of the Gaelic speaking world - she has concerts in Ireland this week, and has also worked with Scandinavians as our music and theirs have similar roots. But there is not a great deal of money in singing in Gaelic - so she also teaches voice and instruments.

Although Capercaillie have made a living from it for quite a while now.