Hyperion Records | Songs of Scotland

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Loch Linnhe.
Photograph by Malcolm Crowthers

CDA67106
Superseded by CDH55336

Recording details: April 1999
St George's, Brandon Hill, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Tony Faulkner
Release date: March 2000
Total duration: 73 minutes 18 seconds

'An album to treasure' (Fanfare)

'Marie McLaughlin's gleaming yet often dark-hued soprano takes to this music as to the bothy born; and Edinburgh-born Malcolm Martineau heels and toes it with great imaginative finesse, tuning in to the physical essence of each song, be it the springing heather tread of the high road and the low road, or the mesmeric oscillations of a lullaby from Barra.' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Marie McLaughlin sings with warm tone, affection, humour and zest' (Gramophone)

'McLaughlin sings with passionate intensity, and her voice has all the colors of the rainbow for these widely varying songs … An album to treasure' (Fanfare)

'Marie McLaughlin sings these songs in a clear, unpretentious soprano, evidently delighting in the texts, which she delivers in a pleasing, crystalline brogue. An exquisite disc.' (International Record Review)

Anonymous - traditional

Songs of Scotland

Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano), Isobel Frayling-Cork (clarsach)

LISTEN TO ALL EXTRACTS

1		Loch Lomond 'By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes' [2'55] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
2		O, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad [2'03] arr. David Stephen (b?) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
3		Jock o' Hazeldean 'Why weep ye by the tide, ladye?' [1'54] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
4		Comin' thro' the rye 'Gin a body, meet a body' [1'43] arr. Claire Liddell (b?) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
5		Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon [2'36] arr. Claire Liddell (b?) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
6		Dance to your daddy [0'42] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
7		The flowers o' the forest 'I've heard a liltin' at oor yowe milkin'' [2'34] Marie McLaughlin (soprano)
8		The Skye boat song 'Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing' [3'17] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Isobel Frayling-Cork (clarsach)
9		The cockle gatherer 'I dal a du vil, I dal a du ho ro' [1'30] arr. Marjorie Kennedy-Fraser (1857-1930) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Isobel Frayling-Cork (clarsach)
10		A fairy's love song 'Why should I sit and sigh, puin' bracken, puin' bracken' [1'57] arr. Marjorie Kennedy-Fraser (1857-1930) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Isobel Frayling-Cork (clarsach)
11		The gallant weaver 'Where Cart rins rowin' tae the sea' [1'18] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
12		The fidgety bairn 'Hush, my dear, the gallopin' men ride thro' the bracken' [2'11] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
13		The keel row 'As I cam' doun the Canongate, I he'rd a laddie sing' [0'56] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
14		There's nae luck about the house 'And are ye sure the news is true?' [1'27] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
15		An island sheiling song 'Last night by the sheiling was Mhairi, my beloved' [2'48] arr. Marjorie Kennedy-Fraser (1857-1930) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
16		The white cockade 'My love was born in Aberdeen' [0'53] arr. George McVicar (?-?) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
17		Bonnie wee thing [2'42] arr. Cedric Thorpe Davie (1913-1983) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
18		Air falalalo [2'16] arr. Sir Hugh Roberton (1874-1952) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
19		A rosebud by my early walk [2'54] arr. George McPhee (?-?) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
20		Hush-a-ba, birdie, croon, croon [1'48] arr. Alfred Moffat (1866-1950) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Isobel Frayling-Cork (clarsach)
21		An Eriskay love lilt 'Vair me o rovan o, vair me o rovan ee' [2'24] arr. Marjorie Kennedy-Fraser (1857-1930) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Isobel Frayling-Cork (clarsach)
22		My love's in Germany [2'50] Marie McLaughlin (soprano)
23		The winter it is past [2'09] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
24		The tocherless lass 'Sheep and cattle I hae nane, O' [2'31] arr. Malcolm Macfarlane (?-?) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
25		The Laird o' Cockpen [2'14] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
26		Kind Robin lo'es me 'O Robin is my only jo, for Robin has the art tae lo'e' [2'31] arr. Cedric Thorpe Davie (1913-1983) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
27		Ca' the yowes [3'48] arr. Claire Liddell (b?) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
28		The Queen's Maries 'Yestreen the queen had four Maries' [1'43] arr. George McVicar (?-?) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
29		The rowan tree 'Oh! rowan tree, Oh! rowan tree' [3'25] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
30		The bonnie Earl o' Moray 'Ye Hielands and ye Lowlands, O where hae ye been?' [2'49] Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
31		O Willie's gane tae Melville Castle [2'24] arr. David Stephen (b?) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
32		Scots wha hae [2'21] arr. Claire Liddell (b?) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
33		The wee cooper o' Fife 'There was a wee cooper wha lived in Fife' [1'45] arr. Cedric Thorpe Davie (1913-1983) Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)

Scotland's own Marie McLaughlin, celebrated in opera houses throughout the world, sings 33 delectable songs from her native land. Many favourites are here, from Loch Lomond to The Skye boat song, but also some less well-known songs, both merry (The white cockade, O Willie's gane tae Melville castle) and sad (The winter it is past). Two are sung unaccompanied (The flowers of the forest, My love's in Germany) and several are sung with the clarsach—the Celtic harp.

Full texts are included along with interesting notes by John Currie.