SEOSAIMHÍN NÍ BHEAGLAÍOCH, CHARLIE PIGGOTT, GERRY HARRINGTON, PETER BROWNE - The Lark On The Strand
Private Label LOTS001CD
A powerful blast of traditional Irish music from four of the finest. Recorded in January 2000 at a concert in County Meath, this music lay frozen in time for 20 years until COVID confinement led to its rediscovery. Peter Browne on pipes, Gerry Harrington on fiddle, box-player Charlie Piggott and three songs from Seosaimhín Ní Bheaglaíoch provide as comprehensive a selection of material as you could wish for. The focus is on the music of Ireland's southern counties - Kerry, Cork, Clare and Galway in particular - but Peter's Dublin background brings a wider perspective. Seosaimhín adds to her two Irish songs with one in English collected from West Cork singer Elizabeth Cronin, the well-known Bonnie Blue-Eyed Lassie also known as How Can I Live On The Top Of A Mountain. This rendition particularly pleased me as for once the singer has paid attention to rhymes, to meanings of words, and to telling a complete story. All too often song lyrics are botched these days, taken from poor or partial sources. I could go on, but I won't: all credit to Seosaimhín for choosing her words wisely!
On the instrumental side, 16 tracks span set dances and marches, polkas and slides, hornpipes and slow airs, and, of course, a fair proportion of reels and jigs. Browne delivers a haunting version of The Wounded Hussar, and Piggott plays Caisleán Uí Néill with distinctive accompaniment. There are lovely takes on The Maid In The Meadow, The Fox On The Prowl and Máire Rua, as well as a delightful rendering of Sergeant Early's Dream from Harrington. I also wanted to mention Amhrán Na Leabhar, a beautiful lament delivered as a full band arrangement. This is a live recording with a few wrinkles and a touch of reverb from the school hall in Ashbourne, but such things are soon forgotten with the quality of musicianship and the spirit of these performers. A final pair of reels sets the cap on an excellent album: Jenny's Wedding and Sonny Brogan's version of the fiddle reel, Toss The Feathers.
www.thelarkonthestrand.bandcamp.com
Alex Monaghan
This review appeared in Issue 145 of The Living Tradition magazine