The Flickering Birch 28 original Highland Airs from the Isle of Ramsey for lever or pedal harp. arranged by Sarah Deere-Jones from the Eliza Ross collection

I came across the Eliza Ross collection in 2023 in a concert at Sabhal Mor Ostaig on the Isle of Skye where fiddler Ronan Martin performed some of the tunes. I realised that many of these tunes would make lovely harp pieces so I set about arranging them after gaining permissions. The tunes survive as melody lines only, often with words (usually in Gaelic) and apart from a very few exceptions, with no accompaniments. I have added these, plus some introductions and even some additional sections where the tunes were beautiful, but somewhat short. These melodies were preserved originally in the 19thC by Elizabeth Ross at Raasay House, her ancestral home ......... (continued in 'Foreword' below) Buy this music now £20.00 +p&p

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The Flickering Birch
Original Highland Airs from the Isle of Raasay
(from the Eliza Ross collection)
arranged for Lever or Pedal harp by Sarah Deere-Jones.

I came across the Eliza Ross collection in 2023 in a concert at Sabhal Mor Ostaig on the Isle of Skye where fiddler Ronan Martin performed some of the tunes. I realised that many of these tunes would make lovely harp pieces so I set about arranging them after gaining permissions. The tunes survive as melody lines only, often with words (usually in Gaelic) and apart from a very few exceptions, with no accompaniments. I have added these, plus some introductions and even some additional sections where the tunes were beautiful, but somewhat short. These melodies were preserved originally in the 19thC by Elizabeth Ross at Raasay House, her ancestral home.

Elizabeth D'Oyly (nee Ross) came from a well-connected colonial military family, she spent her childhood in India and her father had served in the Caribbean. After her parent's untimely deaths, she and her sister were made wards of the Indian Governor-General but were sent to her maternal grandfather John MacLeod to be brought up on the Isle of Raasay. The family there were all extremely musical and Elizabeth learned to play the harp, and in her twenties she started to write down the music she heard played by the local musicians around her. Later she was educated in Edinburgh, and on returning to India in 1813 she met Baronet Charles D'Oyly. They were married in 1815, and lived in India for 23 years. Charles was a talented artist and painted the cover picture of Raasay House in 1825, and also painted Elizabeth playing the harp in 'the summer room' at Patna India, in 1824.

I did not realise when starting to arrange these pieces for harp that Elizabeth had almost certainly been playing them on the harp some 200 years before! Another remarkable co-incidence is that she died at Preston House, Iwerne Minster in Dorset in 1875, which is a house I walked and cycled past many times as a child, being born and brought up very nearby in Dorset. The house was then part of the Steepleton estate and although Elizabeth never had children, the estate was owned by a branch of the D'Oyly family.

The 'flickering birch' is my title for this book, and is a phrase taken from a verse in Sorley MacLean's haunting poem about Raasay, 'Hallaig' – as translated into English by Seamus Heaney.

'Between Inver and Milk Hollow, somewhere around Baile-chuirn,
a flickering birch, a hazel, a trim straight sapling rowan….'

Raasay is a small but beautiful island east of the Isle of Skye and easily visited by ferry from the Port of Sconser on Skye, I highly recommend it as a day trip or a longer stay.

Thanks to Christine Martin of Taigh ne Teud for her help.

Permissions have been granted for the performance and publication of arrangements based on items in ORIGINAL HIGHLAND AIRS COLLECTED AT RAASAY IN 1812 (1st edition) and in THE ELIZA ROSS COLLECTION (2nd edition), by The Musica Scotica Trust, Taigh ne Teud, and the Editors of the first and second editions. The original manuscript is held in the School of Scottish Studies archives, University of Edinburgh.

A digital eBook of the 2nd edition of The Eliza Ross Collection can be purchased from Taigh ne Teud at www.scotlandsmusic.com

Further information musicascotica.scot and scotlandsmusic.com

Index

1. The Misty Corrie
2. Song to John Macleod of Dunvegan
3. Air Faillirin Illirin
4. Brown haired girl of the cattle fold
5. Happy Alisdair
6. You silly fool
7. Fail il o ro
8. Lachlan Dubh
9. Mary Macleans Reel
10. Mrs Macleod of Talisker
11. MacCalmain
12. A Lament for Sir Norman MacLeod
13. The lovely girl of the curled golden hair
14. Put me in the big chest
15. The old grey wife of Raasay
16. No wonder the lads look for your kisses
17. Oran Talaidh
18. Unnamed Air
19. The Sheilings of the little tufts
20. Highland Lassie going to the fair
21. Sleep till daybreak
22. Thomson wears a dirk
23. Putting the goats off the rock
24. The faithful black head
25. Where are you my love?
26. Will you take a wife?
27. Haing il haing u
28. You are my love

Highland Airs from the Isle of Raasay (extracts)


Extracts of traditional music from the Isle of Raasay, arranged and played by Sarah Deere-Jones and Dougie Pincock.
Thanks to Julie Mcfadzean for photos.

Title:	The Flickering Birch
Composed / Arranged by:	Sarah Deere-Jones
Instrumentation:	Lever or Pedal Harp
Level:	Intermediate
Format:	A4 wirebound score
Weight:	210gm
ISMN:	9790570464739
Our Ref:	SM0769
Publisher:	Cornwall Harp Centre
Printer/Distributor:	Creighton's Collection
Edition/Year:	2026
Origin:	UK