Spring Tide on the Tump
Spring Tide on the Tump
Chincoteague Island lies four miles off the coast of Virginia. The thin, unstable strip of sand that forms the Barrier Island of Assateague keeps the Atlantic Ocean from over-washing Chincoteague and taking me and my dulcimer out to sea.
The estuary that embraces my home calls me to the rhythms of life, season and weather. The melodies in this recording are all about those rhythms. Some recall Celtic songs of love lost, places left, and lives remembered on in ballads. My compositions lament the demolition of the old drawbridge that was the sole gateway to the Island for eight decades, remember a river plain on the other side of the world where Homer's Iliad took place, and celebrate the ostinato of the biorhythms that define this tiny island.
Airy, peaceful and expressive as these melodies are, they call us to remember that the future requires us to leave people, places and things behind as we discover ourselves. This inescapable duty carries with it a mix of. joy and sadness, energy and inertia. I hope you'll discover all this inside the music.
Lakes of Pontchartrain
A wonderful ballad about a shipwrecked man wondering the shores of the Lakes of Pontchartrain in Louisiana. He is taken in and cared for by an African-American woman and must move along while she waits for her husband to return. The song appears shortly after the American Civil War.
Listen to a sample of the track:
Lament for a Drawbridge
The original drawbridge linking Chincoteague Island to the mainland of Virignia was replaced in the first decade of the 21st century. The 80 year old bridge was beyond repair. This tune is a lament for the old friend that served so many generations of Islanders and tourists.
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Farewell to Uist
A beautiful tune from Scotland marking a departure from one of the largest island in the Outer Hebrides
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Spring Tide on the Tump
An original tune meant to celebrate the tidal cycle of Chincoteague Island. Spring tides are the largest tide in each month. Tump is an English word meaning a small dry place in a marsh. Native Islanders often refer to Chincoteague Island as "the tump".
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Aunchanachie Gordon
This ballad tells the story of a father who insists that his daughter marry a welcome man and abandon her true love, Auchanachie Gordon.
The name has various spellings - Auchanachie is the oldest form. A more modern spelling is Annachie.
The name is thought to mean the field of the merchant. It origins in Scots Gaelic and was largely found in the north of Scotland. The House of Auchanachie was established by descendants of the families of Gordon of Avochie and Gordon of Daach.
The accepted pronunciation is something like - Awe-naw-key
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Prospect
Prospect is a Welsh hymn. Albert Lancaster (Bert) Lloyd found a portion of the hymn and expanded it into a new song to he called The Seamen’s Hymn. Mr. Lloyd's new song was composed to support a BBC docudrama.
Bert Lloyd was a folklorist, left-wing political activist, writer, broadcaster, performer and collaborator with the iconic Scottish folksinger Ewan MacColl. Read a short biography
I first heard this song in a pub. It was robustly sung at the close of the evening. No one singing the song knew its origins, much less that they melody was based on very old hymn.
John Roberts and Tony Barrand were professors at the University of Vermont and touring folk musicians when not teaching. They were Brit's and had deep knowledge of UK folk music and dance. John and Tony brought The Seamen's Hymn to the USA.
Here are Bert Lloyd’s Lyrics.
Come all you brave seamen,
Wherever you’re bound,
And always let Nelson’s
Proud memory go round.
And pray that the wars
And the tumult shall cease,
For the greatest of gifts
Is a sweet, lasting peace.
May the Lord put an end
To these cruel old wars,
And bring peace and contentment
To all our brave tars!
