Annie Laurie (brass)
Music included on the playlist comes from a variety of sources and for a variety of reasons. The first criterion was music taken from publications directly involved with the 79th NY Volunteer Infantry, for example, the Wm. Todd regimental history. From there, there are regulation pieces from various Army manuals and popular songs of the day. Also, music of the 79th Regiment Cameron Highlanders and other Scottish units, Scots and Irish traditional tunes and music from the recent Crimean War (1853-56) were included. All choices are historically accurate as to dates of origin and to reflect a melding of both Celtic and American traditions.
1. Recitation
79th Regiment
2. Wake Up! (field music)
Drummer’s (or First) Call
Three Camps
3. Annie Laurie (brass)
4. 3/4 Slow March & 6/8’s (pipes & drums)
My Lodgings in the Cold Ground
Steamboat Quickstep
Pibroch of Donald Dhu
5. Breaking Camp (field music)
The General
The Girl I Left Behind Me
Rakes of Mallow
6. Polka & March (brass)
Listen to the Mockingbird
Cheer Boys, Cheer
7. 2/4 Quicksteps (pipes & drums)
Highland Laddie
The Barren Rocks of Aden
Earl of Mansfield
8. Funeral Duty (field music)
Rosaline Castle
Merry Men Home from the Grave
The House of Duncan
9. Scots Wa’ Hae (brass)
10. Yankee Doodle (field music)
Common and Single Drag Time
11. Field Music under Fire
The Alarm (drum)
Commence Firing (drum)
The Forward (bugle)
Cease Fire (drum)
The Taps (bugle)
12. Form by Battalion
To the Color (field music)
The Liberty Song (brass)
13. March, Strathspey, Reel & Retreat (pipes & drums)
79th’s Farewellto Gibraltar
Brochan Lom/Thin Porridge (drums tacit)
High Road to Linton (drums tacit)
Green Hills of Tyrol
14. From the Tattoo (field music)
Three Cheers
Downfall of Paris
15. Cold Blow and the Rainy Night (men’s chorus)
16. Flowers of the Forest (solo piper)
17. Veteran’s Set (field music)
Jefferson and Liberty
Muffled Drum (fifes tacit)
Old Dan Tucker
Battle Hymn of the Republic
18. Pipes and Brass
Blue Bonnets o’er the Border The Campbells Are Coming
19. Ancient Modern Hornpipes (field music)
Black Mary’s
Smith’s
About the pieces included on “Kilted Warriors”…
Recitation – 79th Regiment
This was a lyric poem written in 1861 for the 79th by a Mrs. Winter, designed to be sung to the air, Scot’s Wa’ Hae.
Drummer’s (or First) Call
The call was the U.S. Army Regulations preparatory signal to assemble field music; taken from Winfield Scott’s Infantry Tactics.
Three Camps, or “Points of War”
"At a certain signal, the Field Music assemble at 6:00 a.m., (or earlier in some seasons), and play the following pieces, which are connected by rolls of the drum, and are called Reveille." Scott’s Tactics begins with Three Camps, and continues as follows: Slow Scotch, Austrian, Hessian, The Dutch, Quick Scotch and ending with a reprise of Three Camps.
The Drummers’ and Fifers’ Guide, by George Bruce and Daniel Emmett (B&E) contains the previous tunes and also includes Dawning of the Day, Prussian and Dusky Night. The Army Fife and Drum Book contains Three Camps, Slow Scotch, Austrian, Hessian, Kinloch, Double Drag, Quick Dutch, Larra O'Brien, Dawn of Day, and Quick Scotch, followed by the last part of Three Camps. Other music books contain still more diverse pieces. Many manuals and tutors were in use prior to and including the Civil War years. Only by 1869 was a regulated system of military calls established in Drum & Fife Instructor by Gardiner A. Strube.
Annie Laurie
The original poem was written by William Douglas of England, who was in love with Annie Laurie, the beautiful daughter of Sir Robert Laurie, first baronet of Maxwellton. It was immensely popular with the British troops during the Crimean War. Legends about this song are much more common than verifiable facts. The story is that William Douglas (who allegedly wrote the poem) fell in love with Annie Laurie, a member of a rival clan, sometime between 1685 and 1705. The tune is almost certainly the work of Lady John Scott, and was published in 1835. Some claim that this is one of the six most popular songs of the Civil War era.
My Lodgings on the Cold Ground
3/4 time; drums from “The Tattoo” (B&E)
The earliest date for this tune (music and lyrics composed by Matthew Locke) is 1665. By 1808, Thomas Moore added new lyrics to create Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms: "Believe me if all those endearing young charms which I gaze on so fondly today, were to change by tomorrow and fleet in my arms, like fairy gifts fading away."
The Steamboat Quickstep
6/8 time; drums are variations on double drag beat
This tune—of Scottish, American and Canadian lineage—is also known as The Steamboat, Steamboat March, Uncle Jim, and Washington Quickstep. The melody was a great favorite in the 1800s and gave its name to a contra dance, waltz, jig and march, which is performed here. As early as 1787, a steamboat was tried out on the Delaware River by John Fitch. Robert Fulton, in 1807, made his famous trip from New York to Albany, and such news of the day was taken immediately into the lives of the people to become a part of work and play. The earliest printed version of the tune is from Elias Howe’s (1820–95) Complete Preceptor for the Accordeon (1843), a selection of tunes arranged for the diatonic accordion, a fairly new instrument of the time.
The Pibroch of Donald Dhu
6/8 time; drums are variations on double drag beat
A Pibroch is a type of elaborate pipe tune and, in Gaelic, is called Ceòl Mor, or “big music.” This particular tune—used as a Scottish air, jig or march—falls into the category of Ceòl Beag, “little music,” a simple march. Sir Walter Scott wrote words to the tune in 1816. The melody can be traced to the year 1431, when the MacDonalds defeated the royalist forces of the Scottish king. The lament is that of Domhnall Dubh, the chief of Clan Cameron, which fought among the king’s troops at the battle of Red Harlaw in 1411. The melody has been known as a pipe tune and song for more than 500 years, and it is impossible to trace its origins. Pipers have historically known the march under the names Cameron Gathering and Lochiel’s March.
The General
This was the U.S. Army preparatory signal to “break camp,” performed either on bugle or by fife & drum. The drum score would differ depending on the manual used (B&E).
The Girl I Left Behind Me
2/4 time; proceeded by drum beat no. 5 (B&E)
The earliest known date for this tune is 1852. “This air and beat is generally played at the departure of the soldiers from one city, (or camp), to another.” (B&E) The associated lyrics give it its title and a much older British fife tune, Brighton Camp, supplies the melody. It also is known as Waxies Dargle, an Irish novelty song.
Rakes of Mallow
2/4 time; drum beat based on G. Carroll’s, followed by drum beat no. 6 (B&E).
First published in 1741, it became a well-known Irish drinking song. A rake (short for rakehell) was an amoral man who lived a life of debauchery. As the 79th tried to maintain their Scottish identity, their ranks still needed to be filled by able soldiers of various nationalities. A large percentage of those enlistees were Irish, giving the 79th new dimension in its Celtic heritage.
Listen to the Mockingbird
After a few years of obscurity, composer Septimus Winner (using the pseudonym Alice Hawthorne, a tribute to his mother) sold the copyright for this song for a mere $5, only to see it sell more than a million copies. Winner, however, published such trivia as Oh Where Oh Where Is My Little Dog Gone under his own name. The first edition of this piece, with an earliest date of 1854, gave a melodic credit to Richard Milbourne; this was dropped on later printings. The song is reported to have been dedicated to Harriet Lane, the niece of President James Buchanan, who was the White House hostess during that bachelor's presidency. Winner also published fife tutors for field musicians.
Cheer Boys, Cheer
The earliest date for this song is 1850. Author Henry Russell (1812–1900) was a popular English baritone singer, composer and pianist. As well as being popular in the North, the melody was embraced by Confederates under the command of John Hunt Morgan and lyrics were added to the titleMorgan's War Song.
Highland Laddie
2/4 time; drum beat is monumental 2/4
The Gentleman's Magazine for 1750 states, "The Highland Laddie written long since by Allan Ramsay, and now sung at Ranelagh and all the other gardens; often fondly encor'd, and sometimes ridiculously hiss'd," for the rising of 1745 of Bonnie Prince Charlie was fresh in the minds of many at the time. However, by the end of the century that memory had dimmed to the extent that, "The Quickstep of the gallant 42nd Regiment (The Black Watch) was performed when the Regiment was reviewed by His Majesty at Ashford, May 7, 1802." It is still played on ceremonial occasions. The melody appears in the Drummond Castle Manuscript (in the possession of the Earl of Ancaster at Drummond Castle) inscribed, "A Collection of Country Dances written for the use of his Grace the Duke of Perth by Dav. Young, 1734." Highland Laddie is also the name of a children’s step dance, a sea shanty and is the name of a Scottish country dance. Some of the members of the 79th NY were Crimean War veterans and members of the Black Watch.
The Barren Rocks of Aden
2/4 time; drum beat is based on Juba Clark’s Army 2/4
This Scottish pipe march was published in fiddle collections by the 1870s, but has been around longer in the bagpipe repertoire. The Barren Rocks has been played and whistled wherever Scots soldiers have been stationed. Aden, near the entrance to the Red Sea, was noted for its barren and desolate volcanic rocks, and was annexed to British India in 1839.
Earl of Mansfield
2/4 time; drum beat is Cuckoo’s Nest Quickstep (B&E)
This Scottish pipe march was included in regimental music collections by the mid-1800s. As the title suggests, it was written for a lord representing Scottish lands, possibly William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield(1705–93) and a British jurist.
Rosaline (Rosline) Castle
A dirge taken from The Fifer's Companion, No. 1 (with seconds as written), it also is found in Howe’s and Hart’s books. The drums are muffled as a part of the Funeral Duty; that is to say, the snares are silenced, thus giving the drums an entirely different timbre.
Merry Men Home from the Grave
6/8 time
A quickstep march, this tune was used in the early 19th century, if not before, in returning from a funeral. “After having deposited the body in its final resting place, and the Escort having fired the customary salute over the grave, the musicians will not play again until outside the enclosure, when they will strike up a lively air; the Merry Men Home from the Grave being considered the most appropriate.” (B&E). George Bruce was a drum major in the New York National Guard, 7th Regiment, and had served in the United States Army as principal drum instructor at the installation at Governor’s Island in New York harbor. Emmett was a principal figure in the mid-19th century minstrel craze and composer of Dixie and Old Dan Tucker, among other favorites. Emmett also had been a fifer for the 6th U.S. Infantry in the 1850s. Although B&E was never adopted by the military, its high quality of tunes and beatings remains unsurpassed for fife and drum manuals of its time. The American Veteran Fifer (1905) lists the tune as Merry Men Home from the War.
The House of Duncan
6/8 time; drum beats are double drag variations
This quickstep march (B&E) may refer to Duncan I, a king of Scotland, a staunch supporter of Robert the Bruce, and leader of the Robertson Clan at the Battle of Bannockburn.
Scot’s Wa’ Hae
Robert Burns penned this poem, the earliest known date of which is 1800."Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, Welcome to your gory bed, Or to victory!" As the English army of Edward approaches, the Scots are encouraged to "do or dee" to retain their freedom. By the time of Bannockburn, the Scots had been struggling against the English for 20 years, with relatively slight success overall. It was not the accession of Robert Bruce that turned the tide, but rather the death of the strong English king, Edward I. His successor, Edward II, was much weaker. When Edward II finally was induced to fight the Scots, he did little more than throw his troops at Bruce's army, leading to a catastrophic and unnecessary defeat. Although Bannockburn was more Edward's loss than Bruce's victory, it became the defining event in the Scottish story, and hence, Burns’ inspiration. A national air of Scotland and performed at Sunday services in the 79th NY camp.
Yankee Doodle
Common time from G. Kusel and 2/4 single drag time
In 1755, a British physician, Dr. Richard Schackburg, was treating a wounded prisoner during the French and Indian War and composed the piece using a melody traced to mid-1740s. The tune was used in a comic opera “The Disappointment,” 1767. The lyrics we know today concern the exploits of a New England backwoodsman who joins Washington's colonial army. He sees many wonders his mind cannot comprehend. He is teased: "Yankee Doodle keep it up, Yankee Doodle dandy…” It remains one of the most popular American tunes and a national air of the time.
Field Music under Fire
These U.S. Army regulations—The Alarm (drum), Commence Firing (drum), The Forward (bugle), Cease Fire (drum), The Taps (bugle)—were played by both drum and bugle to signal troops. Up until the Civil War, the infantry call for Extinguish Lights was the one set down in Silas Casey's (1801–82) Casey’s Infantry Tactics, which had been borrowed from the French. In 1862, Union General Daniel Butterfield and his brigade bugler, Oliver Willcox Norton, revised an earlier bugle call to create the 24 notes we know today as Taps. The new call quickly spread throughout the Union army and was soon used even by Confederates to signal the end of the day. Later that same year, at a battlefield funeral, Captain John Tidball chose to forgo firing the customary volleys over the grave for fear that he might rouse the enemy. The captain chose the sounding of Taps as the most appropriate substitute. Today, sounding Taps at ceremonies is the most sacred duty a bugler can perform.
To the Color
A part of U.S. Army regulations; noted as “the signal to form by battalion: also as a salute when the regiment is drawn up in line to receive the colors.”
The Liberty Song
John Dickinson (1732–1808) of Delaware was a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1764, of the Provincial Congress of 1765, and also of the first Continental Congress. He became the author of the first patriotic song in America, with his "Song for American Freedom" or, as it is better known, The Liberty Song. It was adapted to the melody of the English song Hearts of Oak, composed by Dr. William Boyce for a ballad opera, "Harlequin's Invasion,” in 1759. Dickinson's words were printed in The Boston Gazette, July 18, 1768, from which it was reprinted, enjoying a widespread popularity throughout the colonies. It became the official song of The Sons of Liberty.
The 79th's Farewell to Gibraltar – March
Drum beat is Fourth Artillery (B&E)
This piece was written prior to the Crimean War by Pipe Major John MacDonald of the 79th Cameron Highlanders. Raised by Alan Cameron of Erracht in 1793, the Regiment was then known as the 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameronian Volunteers). In 1806, the official name of record was changed and the regiment became the 79th Cameron Highlanders. The 79th was one of four regiments of Highlanders requested by the Duke of Wellington for the Battle of Waterloo. On June 16, 1815, the regiment was at Quatre Bras, where the French infantry and cavalry kept them under constant attack. The Camerons lost half their fighting strength, dead and wounded, in this battle. Wellington's forces left Quatre Bras on the June 17 after a miserable night in the fields and proceeded to the area known as Waterloo. They arrived wet, hungry and tired after their long march in time to face the French again. At a very critical moment during this battle, when the regiment formed a square to repel the French cavalry, an astonishing event took place. Piper Kenneth MacKay stepped outside the square and played the ancient rallying Pibroch Cogadh no Sith (“War or Peace”). By nightfall, the Great Army of Napoleon had been destroyed. The regiment spent many years abroad after Waterloo, with several tours of duty in Canada, Ireland and Gibraltar. While garrisoned on the “Rock,” (1841–48), Pipe-Major John MacDonald composed the famous pipe tune The 79th's Farewell to Gibraltar. Then in 1854, the regiment was sent to the Crimea to join Sir Colin Campbell's Highland Brigade. The regiment won two more battle honors at Alma and Sevastopol. Barely a year at home after the Crimean War (1856), the regiment was given orders to sail to India to help quell the Indian Mutiny. The Cameron Highlanders are the only clan-raised unit with their own tartan that is not based on the government tartan. The tartan worn by the regiment is the Cameron of Erracht adopted by the 79th NY when a militia unit in 1859.
Brochan Lom – Strathspey
“Mouth music,” or Puirt a Bheul, was a major part of Scottish culture in the 1700s after the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745. The government tried to put down everything Scottish, banning kilts, bagpipes and Scottish folk dancing. To combat this, mouth music basically is a Celtic form of scat, imitating instruments with words in Gaelic. A famous example is Brochan Lom, which has the (nonsensical) Gaelic words “Brochan Lom, Tana Lom/Brochan Lom an Suin” repeated many times to the tune of Orange and Blue.
High Road to Linton – Reel
Possibly from before 1700, High Road was first printed 1782–1800 in A Selection of Scotch, English, Irish, and Foreign Airs Adapted to the Fife, Violin, or German-Flute. Glasgow. Printed and Sold by James Aird. Linton is thought to be a corruption for “London.” Drum beats for Strathspey and Reel are tacit. Tradition allows Highland dancers to march to the place of performance, dance to the Strathspey and Reel, then march off the field to a Retreat, hence the order of tunes.
Green Hills of Tyrol – Retreat
Drum beat; 3/4 ratamacue beat, arranged by A. Redmond
Originally from the opera "William Tell" by Rossini, it was transcribed to the pipes in 1854 by Pipe Major John MacLeod after he heard it played by a Sardinian military band when serving in the Crimean War with his Regiment, the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders.
The Three Cheers
Part of U.S. Army regulations, The Three Cheers is performed at Guard Mounting, Dress Parade, Retreat and Tattoo. It also serves as a salute to a Brigadier, Major General or visiting dignitaries.
Downfall of Paris
2/4 time
This tune appears in the manuscript tune collection begun by Massachusetts fifer Abel Shattuck circa 1801. By the 1860s, it had become a staple in the fife literature and was published in B&E in 1862. The harmony part comes from the Martial Music of Camp DuPont. It is usually played as part of “The Tattoo,” but, in some manuals, is found in Reveille.
Cold Blow and the Rainy Night
The melody can be traced to 1779, but the earliest printing was by J. Pitts (London) between 1819–44. This is a bawdy piece, appropriate to be sung by soldiers in camp. It also is known as Cold Haily Rainy Night, Let Me in This Ae Nicht, The Laird o Windy Wa's, and The Laird o Udny.
Flowers of the Forest
Although the original words of this ancient Scottish folk tune are unknown, the melody was found circa 1615–25 in Halyards Manuscript as Flowres of the Forrest, though it may have been composed earlier. Several versions of words have been added to the tune, notably Jean Elliot's lyrics in 1756. However, many renditions are played on the Great Highland Bagpipe; due to the content of the lyrics and the reverence for the tune, it is one of the few tunes that many pipers will perform only at funerals or memorial services, and only practiced in private or to instruct other pipers.
Jefferson and Liberty
6/8 time; drum beat is single drag 6/8
A popular song during Jefferson's Presidential campaign of 1800, it reflects the widespread hostility toward the Federalists' Alien and Sedition Acts. It was set to an Irish tune called The Gobby O and was also known in America as Wanton Wishes.
The Muffled Drum
2/4 time; from B&E
Muffled drums are usually played as a way to provide solemnity such as a funeral. This up-tempo piece, fifes tacit, showcases the timbre of side drums with and without snares. Note: The term “side drum” is not, as some might believe, derived from the way the drums are positioned to play. In brass bands, the “side” music, (generally played on the tenor, 2nd cornet and 2nd alto), are the rhythmic notes underscoring the melody and harmony parts. The snare drum performs complementary to such parts and was so named. The term has evolved to describe snare drums of many types.
Old Dan Tucker
2/4 time; drum beat based on G. Carroll’s
The first sheet music edition of Old Dan Tucker, by Daniel Emmet and published in 1843, is a piece in the vein of previous minstrel songs. Minstrel troupes freely added and removed verses, and folk singers have since added hundreds more. Parodies and political versions also are known, including one supporting “Old Abe” during the Civil War.
Battle Hymn of the Republic
6/8 time; Drum beat is Army 6/8
In 1861, after a visit to a Union Army camp, Julia Ward Howe wrote the poem that came to be called The Battle Hymn of the Republic. It was published in February 1862 in The Atlantic Monthly. Howe reported in her autobiography that she wrote the verses to meet a challenge by a friend, Rev. James Freeman Clarke. As an unofficial anthem, Union soldiers sang John Brown's Body. Confederate soldiers sang it with their own version of the words. But Clarke thought that there should be more uplifting words to the tune. Howe met Clarke's challenge. The poem is perhaps the best-known Civil War song of the Union Army, and has come to be a well-loved American patriotic anthem.
Blue Bonnets over the Border
Drum beat is Army 6/8
The earliest date for this piece is prior to 1820. Jacobite Troops had no formal uniform. The white cockade on a blue bonnet became their emblem. The white cockade emblem is said to have originated when Bonnie Prince Charlie picked a wild rose and pinned it to his hat. There are other legends, one that traces its origin to Ireland. Words by Sir Walter Scott appear in The Monastery (1820).
The Campbells Are Coming
Drum beat is New Tatter Jack (B&E)
(Also titled Hob or Knob) Theories have been offered about the historical significance of this song, which was believed in existence by 1745. One has it that the song concerns the suppression of the 1715 Jacobite rebellion; another, that it is concerned with the events around Mary Stewart's deposition. These theories and others like them are, at best, possible. Robert Burns rewrote the song for the Scots Musical Museum. The earliest date in print found thus far is 1748. Note: Although there is no record prior to the late 1870’s of pipes and brass playing in ensemble, (Highland units within the British Army were experimenting with "massed bands"), the author has used this arrangement as tribute to the 79th NY at their final muster due to the reorganization of militia units in 1876.
Black Mary's Hornpipe
Drum beat arranged by A. Redmond
This comes from an untitled manuscript compiled by Edward Murphey, October 26, 1790, in Newport [R.I.?]. A copy of the original manuscript is in the Library of Congress. It features an unusual time signature, as it is written in 2/4 but phrased in 6/4.
Smith’s Hornpipe
Drum beat arranged by A. Redmond
Drum rudiments as we know them are said to originate around 1812 with Charles Stewart Ashworth, one of the first drum majors of the United States Marine Corps Band. He published a list of traditional rudiments, which arguably has the longest title of any drumming publication: A New Useful and Complete System of Drum Beating, Including the Reveille, Troop, Officers Call, Signals, Salutes and the Whole of the Camp Duty as Practiced At Headquarters, Washington City; Intended Particularly for the Use of the United States Army and Navy.Ashworth’s book was the foundation for a drumming style known as the Ashworth System of Drum Beating. Ashworth describes the basic rudiments in detail along with other rules and regulations for young drummers. The book included the Reveille and all major duty calls. He is known today as the “Father of Rudimental Drumming.”