Da Foula Reel
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Shetland
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"Da Foula Reel" also known as "Da Auld Foula Reel", "Da Shaalds O' Foula" or<br> "The Aald Reel" is not a reel at all but a Shetland jig in 6/8 time.<br> Some sources call it E Minor and some call it G Major. The tune is circular but seems to<br> come to rest on G as I have noted it here.<br> The parts are played AABB. Hunter (1979) states the tune popularly used for country dances is<br> known today as "Da Shaalds O' Foula" or "Da Foula Shaalds" but "The Foula Reel" is another<br> tune altogether whose dance has been lost. Anderson & Georgeson (1970) assert that there<br> are many variations of both melody and dance (though most versions are in jig time, with<br> only a few in reel time) that go by all four titles mentioned above. John Purser says the<br> "Foula Reel" is still danced as a country dance in jig time. He thinks the tune had its<br> origins on the Scottish mainland.<br> A note in Old-lore Miscellany of Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and Sutherland (1913) explains: <br> "Da Shaalds o' Foula" is also named from a fishing bank near Foula. "Da Shaalds" simply means<br> the shallow water. The music is known as "The Foula Reel". The fishing ground known as the<br> "Shaalds" was very productive and furnished the chief source of income of the hardy islanders.<br> The tune was printed in Anderson & Georgeson's Da Mirrie Dancers (1970), Barnes' English<br> Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2 (2005) and Hunter's Fiddle Music of Scotland (1988).<br> It was recorded by Abby Newton on Castles, Kirks and Caves (2001) and Aly Bain & Ale Möller on<br> Fully Rigged.<br>
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