Monday 25 October 2010
Tune of the Day: The Four Poster Bed
Traditional Irish/Scottish tune
Here is a traditional piece that is often played after “The Hen's March to the Midden”, and which also makes a great tune for playing at weddings.
The melody is popular in the Shetlands, though probably not of Shetland origin. On an early recording, Irish fiddler John Doherty relates the story of an itinerant fiddle player who finds refuge for the night in a cottage which lacks a bed for him. Not wanting to be inhospitable, the man of the house fashions a bed, and in return the fiddler composes a tune to thank him.