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2008-2025
Eric Maclewis - BAGPIPE SOUNDS
Eric Maclewis
La tua danza si leggiera (Guglielmo Tell)
A Scottish Soldier
(Andy Stewart)
There was a soldier, a Scottish soldier
Who wandered far away and soldiered far away
There was none bolder with good broad shoulder
He'd fought in many a fray and fought and won
He'd seen the glory, he told the story
Of battles glorious and deeds victorious
But now he's sighing, his heart is crying
To leave those green hills of Tyrol
Because those green hills are not Highland hills
Or the Island hills, they're not my lands hills
And fair as these green foreign hills may be
They are not the hills of home
And now the soldier, the Scottish soldier
Who wandered far away and soldiered far away
Sees leaves are falling and death is calling
And he will fade away in that far land
He called his piper, his trusty piper
And bade him sound alay a pibroch sad to play
Upon a hillside but Scottish hillside
Not on those green hills of Tyrol
Because those green hills...
And now this soldier, this Scottish soldier
Will wander far no more and soldier far no more
And on a hillside, a Scottish hillside
You'll see that piper play his soldier home
He's seen the glory, he's told the story
Of battles glorious and deeds victorious
The bugles cease now, he is at peace now
Far from those green hills of Tyrol
Because those green hills...
The Green Hills Of Tyrol may have its origin in the Tyrolean repertoire but more certainly in the work of Rossini who integrated this air in Il Viaggio a Reims (1825) and in Guglielmo Tell (1829) as an original composition, written on the model of a Tyrolean, dance in the fashion of the moment.
The melody will be adapted for bagpipe by Pipe Major John MacLeod who heard it during the Crimean War (1854), performed by a Sardinian military group.
Music has no borders...
On the tempo side, no surprise, a value of 86 suits the piece, in the continuity of the other Retreat airs of my repertoire.
The lyrics published under the title A Scottish Soldier are by Andy Stewart (1933-1993), a popular Scottish singer.
They tell us the story of a Scottish soldier, mortally wounded, who longs to see his country and its hills of the Highlands, greener than those of Tyrol... or Crimea!
NB: regarding these Retreat Airs, we must keep in mind that they are not supposed to be played in the middle of a battle: they are part of military rituals in camp, e.g. for marking the end of the day duties and the beginning of the night ones.
THE GREEN HILLS
OF TYROL
RETREAT AIR
- score by Eric Maclewis with CelticPipes