Rory Boyle

Programme Note

Originally commissioned by AIRS AND PHRASES (the flautist Richard Chester and the harpist Rhona MacKay) with funds made available by Scottish arts, this collection of 4 dances was prompted by the following passage from Robert Burns' poem Tam o' Shanter in which Tam arrives at Alloway Kirk to hear the sound of mirth and dancing:

And, wow ! Tam saw an unco sight !
Warlocks and witches in a dance;
Nae cotillion, brent new frae France,
But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys and reels,
Put life and mettle in their heels.
A winnock-bunker in the east,
There sat auld Nick, in shape o?beast;
A Towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge:


On the grounds that the devil must have had several collections of hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels for this ghoulish party which must have gone on for most of the night, I have merely attempted to suggest the music in one collection with just one of each dance represented, although, as far as I am aware, I have yet to write the first five volumes, at least, not when sober. The order of the dances is the same as in the poem.