Mairi's Wedding
Mairi's Wedding (also known as Marie's Wedding, the Lewis Bridal Song, or Mairi Bhan) is a Scottish folk song originally written in Gaelic by Johnny Bannerman for Mary McNiven. Written using a traditional Scottish tune, it was first played for McNiven in 1935 at the Old Highlanders Institute in Glasgow's Elmbank Street. Hugh S. Roberton translated the Gaelic version into English in 1936.
It is also a Scottish country dance, 40 bar, reel time, devised in 1959 by James B. Cosh.[1]
Original Gaelic version
The Gaelic version begins:
- "S i mo ghaol-sa Màiri Bhàn
- Màiri bhòidheach sgeul mo dhàin,
- Gaol mo chridh'-sa Màiri Bhàn,
- S tha mi 'dol 'ga pòsadh."
The English Translation reading:
- She's my darling, Fair Mary
- Pretty Mary, story of my song,
- Darling of my heart, Fair Mary,
- And I'm going to her wedding''
Recorded versions
Mairi's Wedding has been recorded by a wide variety of musicians.
- Alexander Brothers "Best of"
- Moira Anderson on "The Best of Scotland: Twenty Tracks of Traditional Scottish Music"
- Moira Anderson, "A Land for All Seasons"
- Bantry Bay, "Set the Sails"
- Van Morrison and The Chieftains, Irish Heartbeat
- The Clancy Brothers
- The Corries, "Kishmul's Galley"
- Paul Dooley "Rip the Calico"
- Fiddler's Green, "Drive Me Mad!"
- Clive Gregson used the same tune for a song called "Mairi's Divorce" on his album "People and Places"
- The High Kings, "The High Kings"
- Noel Hill, "The Irish Concertina Two"
- The King's Singers, "Annie Laurie: Folk Songs of the British Isles"
- The King's Singers, "Mairi's Wedding"
- John Martyn, "Sunday's Child, part of the message"
- Kenneth McKellar on "Wild Conserves"
- Orthodox Celts, "Green Roses"
- The Rankin Family taking it to number one in Canada. From the album The Rankin Family, 1989.
- Rapalje, "Rakish Paddies"
- Alan Stivell, "Brian Boru"
- Andy Stewart "Donald, Where's Your Troosers?"
- Richard Thompson, as an instrumental to "Nobody's Wedding" on Henry the Human Fly
- The Wiggles, "Hoop Dee Doo"
- Robert Wilson, "The Voice of Scotland"
- Marie's Wedding is the basis for the guitar solo in "Skye," by Scottish band Runrig.
Use in Movies
Jim Corr wrote two additional verses for the movie 'Passed Away'. They are the only ones heard clearly in the movie. The song also appears in the deleted scenes of the 3-disc special edition DVD of Peter Jackson's 2005 version of "King Kong." It is heard while Naomi Watts and Jamie Bell are dancing on the deck of the tramp steamer 'Venture' as it steams toward Skull Island. The song is not heard in the movie itself, however, so it is not clear whether its presence on the DVD is the result of Kong score composer James Newton Howard, who replaced Howard Shore, Shore himself, or the producer of the DVD.
External links
References
- ^ http://my.strathspey.org/dd/dance/4102/