Reel, A Mixolydian, Traditional Scottish
From its beginnings as a Scottish pipe tune, this lively reel has become solidly established in the Irish session repertoire. It is named for the Scottish village of Linton.
The tune originated as a two-part tune for the Highland bagpipes. Later two new sections were added to the tune, making it a four-part tune as it is set here. The two new parts are generally attributed to Bobby MacLeod (1925 – 1991) of Scotland, as either their composer or collector. You may encounter either the two-part or four-part version of the tune in a session.
A Major or A Mixolydian? This tune was composed for the Highland bagpipes, and those pipes play just the notes of a D major scale: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#. Those are also the notes of the A Mixolydian scale. So from its origins on Highland pipes, this tune is in A Mixolydian rather than A major (Ionian). Fiddles and other session instruments have no trouble playing the G-sharp note of the A major scale though. So in the sheet music for the tune, you’ll see both the G-natural of the Mixolydian scale and the G-sharp of the Ionian scale. If you are hazy on the Mixolydian mode, you’ll find a brief and friendly explanation in this article: Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell.
Recordings
- Video – Lady of the Lake: “The High Road to Linton” – Live from Winter’s Eve – Performed by Lisa Lawson, Michael Lawson, Cameron Lawson, Liam Lawson, Veda Dean, and Cathie Apple.
- Audio – Celtic Wood and Wires: High Road to Linton – from the album Close the Back Door (South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA)
- Video – Alasdair Fraser & Tony McManus: The Sweetness of Mary / Devil in the Kitchen / Willie Davie / TheSound of Mull / The High Road to Linton – from the album Return to Kintail. (The High Road to Linton starts at time 4:21 in this recording. Nevada City, California, USA.)
Sheet Music
As always for traditional tunes, the musical notation and chords do not indicate the “right” way to play the tune, but are a useful reference.
Play-along Tracks
Sets
Examples of sets that include this tune.
- Dinky’s Rio Linton Set: Dinky’s Reel (A Mixolydian) / The Reel of Rio (G) / The High Road to Linton (A Mixolydian)
- The Reel of Rio (G) / High Road to Linton (A Mixolydian)
References and Resources
For those who want to dig deeper, here are some other resources.
- Books
- Book – The Portland Collection, Volume 1 – Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest. By Susan Songer with Clyde Curley.
- Lessons
- Lesson – Fiona Cuthill: Spootaskerry Set – Fiona Cuthill – Glasgow Fiddle Workshop Slow Session – fiddle demonstration showing bowing and fingering for a set of three Shetland reels: Spootiskerry; Willafjord; High Road to Linton.
- Lesson – Hanneke Cassel (Fiddlevideo): High Road to Linton (Reel): Fiddle Lesson – video sample lesson with play-through of the full tune. (The full lesson requires a subscription to Fiddlevideo.)
- Lesson – Fiona Cuthill: High Road to Linton – beginners lesson – video fiddle lesson taught phrase by phrase (no sheet music)
- Additional Resources
- Article – Jonathan Lay (TrailJams): Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell
- Webpage – The Session: The High Road To Linton – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and more
- Webpage- irishtune.info: The High Road to Linton – archival information about the tune curated by Alan Ng
- Webpage – Scots Language Center: The High Road to Linton – information about the tune and the road; lyrics for six verses to the tune
- Article – Wikipedia: Linton, Scottish Borders – about the village of Linton
- Article – Scots Language Centre: The High Road to Linton – abut the tune; includes song lyrics.