Sunday 9 February 2020
Tune of the Day: Old Man Rocking The Cradle
Traditional Irish air
According to Francis O'Neill's collection Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922), this is a descriptive piece wherein an old man gives voice to his woes, punctuated by the wailing of a peevish child and its calls for its Ma-ma. Skillful fiddlers and pipers would imitate those cries. The fiddle was lowered in pitch and the fiddler would lightly touch the bridge with a large door key held in his teeth to simulate the tones of human expression.