Willafjord
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traditional
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Shetland
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"Willafjord" or "Wullafjord" and variously spelled as<br> "Villafjord", "Willa Fjord", "Willafiord", "Willow Fjord", <br> is known by fiddlers throughout the Shetland Islands.<br> The great Shetland collector Tom Anderson said that<br> "Willafjord" was brought back from the Greenland whaling<br> expeditions by Shetland fiddlers has long since become<br> a standard of the genre. In his book Hand Me Doon da Fiddle (1979),<br> Anderson said that there were a lot of fiddlers from many<br> countries that were employed in the whaling industries.<br> Shetland was an important part of the whaling industry in the<br> nineteenth century, so the dual actions of the Shetlanders<br> sailing abroad, and whalers from overseas visiting the<br> island has partly resulted in Shetland's unique music.<br> He also said that "Willafjord" is played in Newfoundland and<br> Cape Breton using the same bowing strokes as in Shetland.<br> This tune uses a syncopated rhythm.<br> It has been recorded by Alasdair Fraser, Dave Swarbrick and<br> others.<br> "Willafjord" pairs well with Ian Burn's "Spootiskerry".<br> It was printed in Anderson's Hand Me Doon da Fiddle (1979),<br> Cooke's The Fiddle Tradition of the Shetland Isles (1986),<br> Flett & Flett's Traditional Dancing in Scotland (1964),<br> Lerwick's Kilted Fiddler (1985), Martin & Hughes' Ho-ro-gheallaidh (1990) and<br> Sweet's Fifer’s Delight (1965/1981).<br>
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