My favourite Burns poem in my favourite musical arrangement. If you like this, check the recording on Dick's spellbinding album 'Handful of Earth' (1981). Dick's website provides a bit of commentary on his recordings. I can't seem to put a link in this comment, but the website is dickgaughan dot co dot / discography /dsc-hoe dot html with a view gaps closed up etc!
I heard this, for the first time, on radio nan Gaidheal yesterday. Working away in my shed, I had to stop what I was doing, my throat tightened as I listened, by the third verse my eyes had filled.
Dick has the best singing voice in the world, all categories! When he sings, my breast bone vibrates. And this is song is my favourite, perhaps the best example of his awesome singing. Thanks a million for posting!
This is the best of all Burns poems to my mind. It is extraordinarily finely-crafted; not a word jars or is out of place. It's just perfect. I also love singing the song, especially at this time of year, but I haven't tried it with a guitar - and anyway wouldn't want to do it like Dick in case it tempted anyone to make comparisons. As @hafpipe says just below, you can't beat a bit o' Gaughan!
Is is wrong to consider this song one of your favorite of all time and still hunt dear and rabbits ? I recently saw him in Dublin with Andy Irvine excellent show from both.
I was honored to be his support a while ago.. awesome charisma.. he just got back from touring australia.. on his way back, they broke his guitar :( he quickly had to buy a new one.. man, he was not amused at all ;) but performing just great.. thx God for his voice!
Every thoughtful person I've known has loved this song.
'A Handful of Earth' is a great album, while 'A Different Kind of Love Song' covers amost every issue facing us in gem-like songs, opens up a new understanding of things, the havoc and horror that we wreek on the world and other humans.
I saw Dick live once and after the show he just sat at the edge of the stage and people came up to him to just talk.
Jesus, I'm having a Dick Gaughan night, and it just seems to get better and better. Absolutely stunning voice...a throat full of working class gravel, a head full of honesty and integrity and a heart that beats like a shipyard hammer. Keep 'er between the hedges, Dick.
@WuRscHtBr0T Dick Gaughan is unique but his nearest Irish equivalent is Christy Moore. Nearest English equivalents are probably Martin Carthy and Billy Bragg. I don't think they'd claim to have such good voices. Nearest U.S equivalent is Bob Dylan, I'd say. Some other very fine Scottish musicians include Capercaillie and Karen Polwart.
@WuRscHtBr0T Sorry for a third reply, but I've just thought that you might also enjoy John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. It's not easy to find Renbourn's best on youtube, though there are some good covers.My favourites include some of the artists I've mentioned, mostly near the first vids I favourited.
@heliotropezzz333 Well, i didn't listen to many songs yet, but i enjoyed the following ones:
I liked the Southwind by John Renbourn or Black Waterside by Bert Jansch.
Another one by Dick Gaughan i found in your favourites - the song for ireland - also faved that one.
Then there's Black Is The Colour and Ride on by Christy Moore. I love his interpretations. And i also really liked Follow the Heron by Karine Polwart. She has a beautiful voice.
I read somewhere this was Gaughan's favourite song. Lyrically it's genius and I'm glad another genius, Gaughan sings it with such restrained passion. I find I have to turn to this recording about one a week to remind myself of how to sing, how to play. how to arrange and how to write. I don't believe it possible to better this.
Yes, Dick does say this is his favourite song, that he never tires of singing it! Maybe because Burns wrote the lyrics, or maybe because the lyrics are simply sublime!
This beautiful song, and Dick Gaughan's finest rendition of it, are heard best, in my opinion, on his 1985 Celtic Music recording, Dick Gaughan Live In Edinburgh (CM CD 030).
Still available from your best stockists !
DG is a fine performer who never sells a crowd short, in my experience. He is also not inclined to suffer fools gladly.
At one London gig I was at, a particular individual started to get a bit boorish and rowdy ... DG fixed him with a glare, and .. "Hey, you! Shut the fuck up!
Oh, Thank God (and the poster and YouTube) this is available to be seen.
I listened to a folk music show on WQLN out of Erie back in the early 80s and out of everything I heard, gravitated to Stan Rogers and Dick Gaughan above all others. This guy plays guitar and interprets the Irish music (Handfull of Earth) like no other. Long may he live...and thank you, Dick Gaughan. Your music is still touching lives as it has mine.
I wasn't going to say anything until you said "interprets the Irish music (Handfull of Earth) like no other."
Dick does do Irish songs, but this great song is by the Scots Bard, Rabbie Burns, the author of "auld lang syne" amongst others. I just wish he was irish....
@heliotropezzz333 Maybe you should re-read my comment and see who I was replying to? I was talking about the song and who wrote it!
As for Dick, his paternal grandparents came from "poor" Co. Mayo. I guess around 40% of Scots must have some recent Irish ancestry. Higher, much higher in some areas!
@DonegalRaymie201 Sorry, When you said "I wish he was Irish" I thought you meant DG . I have a Gaughan great grandparent from Mayo. It'd be nice to think I was related to DG, but as the the old record office was burned down in the civil war, the records are lost.
Duckpasties - you are right - there are words there that are difficult to understand
The sentiment of the song is a marvellous combination of the political and the emotional. The verse
Thus every kind their pleasure find
The savage and the tender
Some social join and leagues combine
Some solitary wander
is a clear reference to the attempts by the government to prevent men combining socially (combination leagues) for fear of a revolution on the French model
What's unclear? I think every syllable is intelligible:
"Come let us stray, our gladesome way and view the charms o' nature. The rustling corn, the fruited thorn and every happy creature. We'll gently walk, and sweetly talk 'til the silent moon shines clearly. I'll grasp thy waiste and fondly pressed, swear how I love thee dearly..."
Nothing unclear about Dick's singing or Burns' words! Just not RP, that's all!
Wait a second. Just who did you learn the song from then, DN? Yours sounds so much like Gaughan's I can't believe you didn't get it from his performance.
The recording seems to be from the late 70s or early 80s, just looking at the style of it. Unless he's had internet access a LOT longer than the rest of the world, it seems unlikely he was able to take his version of it from your YouTube postings...
Hi Annoyin'mous XIII.......whaaaaaa.LOL.......are you for real??? ..and who are you??....and what do you care????. and WHERE'S YOUR SENSE OF HUMOUR??? ...(and for sure you're not a musician or you wouldn't even get into this discussion.. byeee)
Actually I am a musician, though I haven't played in a while, and it seems to me that it's you who lack a sense of humour; but perhaps you're not a techie.
@sergeantfan3 yes to both - the words refer to the french revolution and its impact on scotland and comparing it to nature - when he refers to 'socials join and leagues combine' he is talking of the combination acts which prevented seditious workers 'combining' to cause touble - nothng chnaged really! Maximum of 6 on the picket lines in the public sector strikes of 2011....
I owe you several pints o' the black stuff for this!
Love this song and performance more than I have the words to express.
Perhaps the cleverest, subtlest yet still most powerful lyrics Burns ever put to song, and a singer who does them justice! Just grateful to hear this pal! I owe you!
My favourite Burns poem in my favourite musical arrangement. If you like this, check the recording on Dick's spellbinding album 'Handful of Earth' (1981). Dick's website provides a bit of commentary on his recordings. I can't seem to put a link in this comment, but the website is dickgaughan dot co dot / discography /dsc-hoe dot html with a view gaps closed up etc!
londonemski 1 month ago
I heard this, for the first time, on radio nan Gaidheal yesterday. Working away in my shed, I had to stop what I was doing, my throat tightened as I listened, by the third verse my eyes had filled.
johnypebs 1 month ago 2
Before wearing my fingers raw, does anyone know if this is DADGAD?
dghn1 2 months ago
@dghn1 yes my friend! its a treat once u get it!
Ulstermandd 1 month ago
Yes, written by the bard himself, Robert Burns.
getarslim 2 months ago
Well sung, but can't stand the bloke! Credit where it is due.
skipy936 3 months ago
@skipy936 lol, nows theres a story!
Ulstermandd 1 month ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@skipy936 Really - you know him well then?
cambeuluk 1 month ago
Dick has the best singing voice in the world, all categories! When he sings, my breast bone vibrates. And this is song is my favourite, perhaps the best example of his awesome singing. Thanks a million for posting!
KristianOrTheBird 5 months ago
@uhudmen
Message me, and I'll tell ye! It's a common Gaughan tuning, but his phrasing is nigh on impossible to copy. Just can't be done!
DonegalRaymie201 5 months ago
This is the best of all Burns poems to my mind. It is extraordinarily finely-crafted; not a word jars or is out of place. It's just perfect. I also love singing the song, especially at this time of year, but I haven't tried it with a guitar - and anyway wouldn't want to do it like Dick in case it tempted anyone to make comparisons. As @hafpipe says just below, you can't beat a bit o' Gaughan!
ianpage99 6 months ago
This song never fails to bring tears to my eyes. Not sadness, just strong emotional response. Gaughan is a great storyteller.
littlejeff48 6 months ago
The Perfect song to relax to. Can't beat a bit o' Gaughan!
hafpipe 6 months ago in playlist Relax
@hafpipe A bit o' Gaughan should be compulsory.
paddyd65 6 months ago in playlist dick gaughan
Simply gorgeous. Thank you.
baggaratz 7 months ago
@uhudmen i would assume it's DADGAD
jack834834 7 months ago
dick gaughan
23thomo 8 months ago
Go on there Gaughan :-D
MrRobinworley 8 months ago
GOOSE PIMPLES RUN UP MY BACK, NECK & ARMS - a voice like no other. joy.
19davo66 8 months ago
This is such a powerful song , and Dick Gaughan has such a unique voice , simply love this . Thank-you again Allan for sharing , hugs Kira x
serindipity10 8 months ago
Visiting this again and again I realised that 'like' doesn't quite summarise this kind of genius
tarzanlordofthe 10 months ago
Is is wrong to consider this song one of your favorite of all time and still hunt dear and rabbits ? I recently saw him in Dublin with Andy Irvine excellent show from both.
fruitbowler 11 months ago
Anyone know where this footage is from?
lowjim 1 year ago
Very beautiful
cp1492 1 year ago
Hes in Sligo on saturday night
newjerseyflower 1 year ago
My God, he makes me weep!
Gimmer3 1 year ago
I was honored to be his support a while ago.. awesome charisma.. he just got back from touring australia.. on his way back, they broke his guitar :( he quickly had to buy a new one.. man, he was not amused at all ;) but performing just great.. thx God for his voice!
christianmachafolk 1 year ago
I could listen to this forever, perhaps I will. Such a beautiful heartfelt rendition.
pugwashsecond 1 year ago
God I love this song
jubjub2112 1 year ago 4
Just A great tune. Love the vocal. Your very talented my friend Frank
56stargazer 1 year ago
Never throw that "R" away!
This is beautiful!..:-)
Mariekesone 1 year ago
@Mariekesone Got this in my favorites its AMAZING ! i love the ending with the nature !
JesseMathews 1 year ago
Someone just gimme the damn hammer ONS and ive got this!
Funloverdude 1 year ago
Every thoughtful person I've known has loved this song.
'A Handful of Earth' is a great album, while 'A Different Kind of Love Song' covers amost every issue facing us in gem-like songs, opens up a new understanding of things, the havoc and horror that we wreek on the world and other humans.
I saw Dick live once and after the show he just sat at the edge of the stage and people came up to him to just talk.
2levina 1 year ago
@2levina
That's what Dick is like. Despite his talent & status amongst us folkies, he's just "one o' Jock Thampson's Bairns", (an ordinary joe).
I love the way he always leaves you with: "I hope to see you again, somewhere down the road!" Seems to capture much wisdom and patience.
DonegalRaymie201 1 year ago 3
Airdrie.
Funloverdude 1 year ago
Just superb... Miss you old pal, it has been years. Hope you are well comrade!
paulkernan 1 year ago
Garnet Rodgers does a beautiful version of this in his wonderful deep voice.
Sojourneer 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
They don't write love poems like this one anymore.
skanemermaid 1 year ago
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skanemermaid 1 year ago
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957Ivano 1 year ago
Years since I've seen you Dick... Peace to you and this, your favourite song so faithfully sung. Paul on Donegal
paulkernan 1 year ago
Beautiful older version. That man is a genius
neillconnor 1 year ago
Gaughan makes playing and singing at the same time seem effortless
samuelmunro2 1 year ago
Jesus, I'm having a Dick Gaughan night, and it just seems to get better and better. Absolutely stunning voice...a throat full of working class gravel, a head full of honesty and integrity and a heart that beats like a shipyard hammer. Keep 'er between the hedges, Dick.
iansweans 1 year ago 13
@iansweans
I'm wanting to come to yer next Gaughan nite ya bass!
DonegalRaymie201 3 months ago
Somebody knows some comparable artists? Would love to hear more songs like this...
WuRscHtBr0T 1 year ago
@WuRscHtBr0T Dick Gaughan is unique but his nearest Irish equivalent is Christy Moore. Nearest English equivalents are probably Martin Carthy and Billy Bragg. I don't think they'd claim to have such good voices. Nearest U.S equivalent is Bob Dylan, I'd say. Some other very fine Scottish musicians include Capercaillie and Karen Polwart.
heliotropezzz333 1 year ago
@WuRscHtBr0T Sorry, I meant Karine Polwart. Karen Mattheson is the singer with Capercaillie. Also a French (Breton) equivalent would be Alan Stivell
heliotropezzz333 1 year ago
@WuRscHtBr0T Sorry for a third reply, but I've just thought that you might also enjoy John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. It's not easy to find Renbourn's best on youtube, though there are some good covers.My favourites include some of the artists I've mentioned, mostly near the first vids I favourited.
heliotropezzz333 1 year ago
@heliotropezzz333 Thanks alot for the proposals! I already listened to some
of them and mostly liked it!
WuRscHtBr0T 1 year ago
@WuRscHtBr0T Who were your favourites?
heliotropezzz333 1 year ago
@heliotropezzz333 Well, i didn't listen to many songs yet, but i enjoyed the following ones:
I liked the Southwind by John Renbourn or Black Waterside by Bert Jansch.
Another one by Dick Gaughan i found in your favourites - the song for ireland - also faved that one.
Then there's Black Is The Colour and Ride on by Christy Moore. I love his interpretations. And i also really liked Follow the Heron by Karine Polwart. She has a beautiful voice.
WuRscHtBr0T 1 year ago
@WuRscHtBr0T
Good taste you have!
DonegalRaymie201 1 year ago
Dick Gaughan when he was young. Just been listening to Finbar Furey, Luke Kelly, Liam Clancey and others but this guy's voice just blows them away.
Liquid gold.
zaneyron 1 year ago
I read somewhere this was Gaughan's favourite song. Lyrically it's genius and I'm glad another genius, Gaughan sings it with such restrained passion. I find I have to turn to this recording about one a week to remind myself of how to sing, how to play. how to arrange and how to write. I don't believe it possible to better this.
tarzanlordofthe 1 year ago
@tarzanlordofthe
Yes, Dick does say this is his favourite song, that he never tires of singing it! Maybe because Burns wrote the lyrics, or maybe because the lyrics are simply sublime!
DonegalRaymie201 1 year ago
MINTEED
swazzerankin 1 year ago
Long time favorite!! Dick Gaughan is one of the all time greats!!!
coolanddark 1 year ago
sublime
SuperBeanson 1 year ago
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loZoneranger560 1 year ago
Amazing! Beautiful song, very honest and exceptionally from the heart.
Stereotuna 1 year ago
This version is second to none,just perfect,10 out a 10,
1234mdad 1 year ago
This beautiful song, and Dick Gaughan's finest rendition of it, are heard best, in my opinion, on his 1985 Celtic Music recording, Dick Gaughan Live In Edinburgh (CM CD 030).
Still available from your best stockists !
DG is a fine performer who never sells a crowd short, in my experience. He is also not inclined to suffer fools gladly.
At one London gig I was at, a particular individual started to get a bit boorish and rowdy ... DG fixed him with a glare, and .. "Hey, you! Shut the fuck up!
saxonfield3 1 year ago
Oh, Thank God (and the poster and YouTube) this is available to be seen.
I listened to a folk music show on WQLN out of Erie back in the early 80s and out of everything I heard, gravitated to Stan Rogers and Dick Gaughan above all others. This guy plays guitar and interprets the Irish music (Handfull of Earth) like no other. Long may he live...and thank you, Dick Gaughan. Your music is still touching lives as it has mine.
Cheers,
L
loZoneranger560 2 years ago 2
@loZoneranger560
I wasn't going to say anything until you said "interprets the Irish music (Handfull of Earth) like no other."
Dick does do Irish songs, but this great song is by the Scots Bard, Rabbie Burns, the author of "auld lang syne" amongst others. I just wish he was irish....
.
DonegalRaymie201 1 year ago 2
@DonegalRaymie201 He does have Irish ancestry, which he acknowledges, although he is Scottish by nationality. Gaughan is an Irish name.
heliotropezzz333 1 year ago
@heliotropezzz333 Maybe you should re-read my comment and see who I was replying to? I was talking about the song and who wrote it!
As for Dick, his paternal grandparents came from "poor" Co. Mayo. I guess around 40% of Scots must have some recent Irish ancestry. Higher, much higher in some areas!
DonegalRaymie201 1 year ago
@DonegalRaymie201 Sorry, When you said "I wish he was Irish" I thought you meant DG . I have a Gaughan great grandparent from Mayo. It'd be nice to think I was related to DG, but as the the old record office was burned down in the civil war, the records are lost.
heliotropezzz333 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Duckpasties - you are right - there are words there that are difficult to understand
The sentiment of the song is a marvellous combination of the political and the emotional. The verse
Thus every kind their pleasure find
The savage and the tender
Some social join and leagues combine
Some solitary wander
is a clear reference to the attempts by the government to prevent men combining socially (combination leagues) for fear of a revolution on the French model
scotrelf 2 years ago
Love this song! Been listening to Dick Gaughan for years...
Cochranflutes 2 years ago
Sometimes when I'm watching my son playing rugby verse 3 comes to mind and a tear comes to my eye. Great stuff by Burns and well sung by Gaughan.
FozzieFaeCumbersneky 2 years ago
But Peggy dear the evening's clear
Thick flies the skimming swallow
The sky is blue, the fields in view
All fading green and yellow
Come let us stray our gladsome way
And view the charms of nature
The rustling corn, the fruited thorn
And every happy creature
bunnydoc57 2 years ago
Thus every kind their pleasure find
The savage and the tender
Some social join and leagues combine
Some solitary wander
Avaunt! Away! the cruel sway,
Tyrannic man's dominion
The sportsman's joy, the murdering cry
The fluttering, gory pinion
bunnydoc57 2 years ago
The partridge loves the fruitful fells
The plover loves the mountain
The woodcock haunts the lonely dells
The soaring hern the fountain
Through lofty groves the cushat roves
The path of man to shun it
The hazel bush o'erhangs the thrush
The spreading thorn the linnet
bunnydoc57 2 years ago
Now westlin winds and slaughtering guns
Bring autumn's pleasant weather
The moorcock springs on whirring wings
Among the blooming heather
Now waving grain, wild o'er the plain
Delights the weary farmer
And the moon shines bright as I rove at night
To muse upon my charmer
bunnydoc57 2 years ago
Don't understand alot of what he's saying, maybe cos I'm English.
Great song though!
Duckpasties 2 years ago
@Duckpasties
What's unclear? I think every syllable is intelligible:
"Come let us stray, our gladesome way and view the charms o' nature. The rustling corn, the fruited thorn and every happy creature. We'll gently walk, and sweetly talk 'til the silent moon shines clearly. I'll grasp thy waiste and fondly pressed, swear how I love thee dearly..."
Nothing unclear about Dick's singing or Burns' words! Just not RP, that's all!
Try listening harder.
DonegalRaymie201 2 years ago 3
Thats not exactly what I meant.
I was reffering to words that a southerner will probably not understand such as dells and westlin'.
Duckpasties 2 years ago
Just a simple pleasure to view! Thank you for this wonderful piece!
DonegalRaymie201 2 years ago
....I don't think any of the commentators below have ever heard of sarcasm!!! Faugh.
DonsRecklessSon 2 years ago 2
I think these beautiful lyrics and this sublime performance are enough to restore faith in humanity!
Priceless stuff!
TheSoulboy90 2 years ago 2
Incongra, it's the same arrangement but not the same performance.
londonemski 2 years ago
@londonemski You're right
incongra 2 years ago
is this not, like, the EXACT version from handful of earth? - it sounds identical.
incongra 2 years ago
beautiful
JonnyTTV 2 years ago
had the chance to be his support some years ago.. awesome guy..
christianmachafolk 2 years ago
Hey Christian.....did he not ask you back?
DamianNixon 2 years ago 2
hey, negativ-voter, what's the deal?
christianmachafolk 2 years ago
Had the album, Handful of Earth, forever but not seen this live performance before. Superb song and unbeatable version. Thanks
charliedehaven 2 years ago
Jeez....I didnt know Dick sang this too. Great stuff.
DamianNixon 2 years ago 2
Wait a second. Just who did you learn the song from then, DN? Yours sounds so much like Gaughan's I can't believe you didn't get it from his performance.
t4texas 2 years ago
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DamianNixon 2 years ago 2
The recording seems to be from the late 70s or early 80s, just looking at the style of it. Unless he's had internet access a LOT longer than the rest of the world, it seems unlikely he was able to take his version of it from your YouTube postings...
AnonymousXIII 2 years ago
Hi Annoyin'mous XIII.......whaaaaaa.LOL.......are you for real??? ..and who are you??....and what do you care????. and WHERE'S YOUR SENSE OF HUMOUR??? ...(and for sure you're not a musician or you wouldn't even get into this discussion.. byeee)
DamianNixon 2 years ago
Actually I am a musician, though I haven't played in a while, and it seems to me that it's you who lack a sense of humour; but perhaps you're not a techie.
AnonymousXIII 2 years ago
Hey Damain.....that was funny!!! ...made me laugh any ways.
fionnghaile 2 years ago
What a powerful combination. Burns and Gaughan. Simply wonderful.
thistlewarrior 2 years ago 6
In the beginning...Dick Gaughan sang...and the world was born!
Winterlightshadow 2 years ago 3
Words fail me...incredible performance
lukessummerguitar 2 years ago 5
Is this why the Irish never went for
Cat Stevens?
=)
stoleninfo 2 years ago 3
that is sucha great comment! so true
brucefetter 2 years ago
Perhaps! But not just the Irish, as Dick is Leith's (Edinburgh) finest son! He's half Scots/ half Irish!
We'll have to share him!
DonegalRaymie201 2 years ago 8
@stoleninfo He's Scottish. And the song was written by a Scotsman?
sergeantfan3 4 months ago
@sergeantfan3 yes to both - the words refer to the french revolution and its impact on scotland and comparing it to nature - when he refers to 'socials join and leagues combine' he is talking of the combination acts which prevented seditious workers 'combining' to cause touble - nothng chnaged really! Maximum of 6 on the picket lines in the public sector strikes of 2011....
scotrelf 2 months ago
A god of music.
pekoe67 2 years ago
Wow...the year I first head Gaughan. Thankyou so much for this gem.
archtop57 2 years ago
Such a beautiful song, with sublime lyrics.
Handful of Earth should be made compulsory listening!
Quorush 2 years ago 15
Agree whole-heartedly; as perfect an album as you'll ever find. The man is a legend.
VamboRoolz 2 years ago
I owe you several pints o' the black stuff for this!
Love this song and performance more than I have the words to express.
Perhaps the cleverest, subtlest yet still most powerful lyrics Burns ever put to song, and a singer who does them justice! Just grateful to hear this pal! I owe you!
DonegalRaymie201 2 years ago 31
Superb, just Superb! Thanks so much for posting this. Loved every second of it!
DonegalRaymie201 2 years ago 5
WOW! Thank you for posting this! Powerful song!
ContryGent 2 years ago 3
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getarslim 2 years ago
Two greats, Robert Burns who wrote this song and Dick Gaughan for doing it justice
getarslim 2 years ago 5
Awesome thanks for these vintage Gaughan clips!!! you've a new subscrber- what's next!?
pipewatcher 2 years ago