Weekend Music Twofer

 

In recognition of St. Patrick's Day on Sunday, here's a wee musical selection featuring two of Ireland's most celebrated folk music groups:  The Chieftains with the traditional reel "The Morning Dew," and The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem with the rousing story of the "brave and undaunted" Irish Robin Hood, the highwayman "Brennan on the Moor."  Erin go bragh!

 

 

St. Patrick's Day Weekend Music

Today, we want to share two traditional Irish folk songs to mark St. Patrick's Day: a lyrical reel, "The Morning Dew," performed by The Chieftains, and the stirring "Brennan on the Moor," performed by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. (The latter is about William "Willie" Brennan, a Robin Hood- type highwayman in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in our ancestral County Cork.) Of Irish descent or not, we wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day. Erin go Bragh!

Weekend Twofer

Now for something completely different (as they say). The Chieftains are the premier interpreters (IMHO) of traditional Irish music. Here they are playing two songs which were used as marches for the religious factions fighting over control of England and Ireland in the 1600's. "Lillibullero" is the march favored by the Protestants (supporters of King William), while "The White Cockade" is the song favored by the Jacobites (supporters of Catholic King James). You aren't required to march while playing this, though. Enjoy the weekend.