Brochan Lom
{{short description |Scottish song}}
"Brochan Lom" is a Scottish Gaelic nonsense song about porridge. The tune is popular and appears frequently at Scottish country dances and ceilidhs. It falls into the category of "mouth music" (Puirt a beul), used to create music for dancing in the absence of instruments. It is a strathspey song and is commonly sung or played for the Highland Schottische (a popular ceilidh dance),{{cite web|author=Learning and Teaching Scotland|title=Music of Scotland: Strathspey - Brochan Lom|url=http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/resources/musicofscotland/STRATH/brochan.htm|accessdate=1 November 2013|url-status=bot: unknown|archiveurl=https://wayback.archive-it.org/1961/20100807003214/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/resources/musicofscotland/STRATH/brochan.htm|archivedate=7 August 2010}} and for the Highland Fling.
As an instrumental tune, Brochan Lom is also known as The Orange And Blue, Katy Jones’, Kitty Jones, Kitty Jones’, The Orange & Blue Highland, Orange And Blue, The Orange And Blue Highland Fling.{{cite web|author=The Session|title=The Orange And Blue reel|date=25 October 2003 |url=http://thesession.org/tunes/2091|accessdate=1 November 2013}}
Lyrics
The words vary in different traditions but a common variant is:
| English translation | |
|---|---|
| :Brochan lom, tana lom, brochan lom na sùghain
:Brochan lom, tana lom, brochan lom na sùghain :Brochan lom, tana lom, brochan lom na sùghain :Brochan lom 's e tana lom 's e brochan lom na sùghain : :Séist :Brochan tana, tana, tana, brochan lom na sùghain :Brochan tana, tana, tana, brochan lom na sùghain :Brochan tana, tana, tana, brochan lom na sùghain :Brochan lom 's e tana lom 's e brochan lom na sùghain : :Thugaibh aran dha na gillean leis a' bhrochan sùghain :Thugaibh aran dha na gillean leis a' bhrochan sùghain :Thugaibh aran dha na gillean leis a' bhrochan sùghain :Brochan lom 's e tana lom 's e brochan lom na sùghain : :Séist : :Seo an rud a gheibheamaid o nighean gobh' an dùine, :Seo an rud a gheibheamaid o nighean gobh' an dùine, :Seo an rud a gheibheamaid o nighean gobh' an dùine, :Brochan lom 's e tana lom, 's e brochan lom sùghain. : :Séist | :Porridge thin and meagre, porridge thin from sowans.
:Porridge thin and meagre, porridge thin from sowans. :Porridge thin and meagre, porridge thin from sowans. :Porridge thin, it is meagre and thin, it is porridge thin from sowans. : :Chorus :Meagre and thin porridge, thin, thin, meagre porridge :Meagre and thin porridge, thin, thin, meagre porridge :Meagre and thin porridge, thin, thin, meagre porridge :Porridge thin, it is meagre and thin, it is porridge thin from sowans. : :Give ye bread to the young men with sowans-gruel, :Give ye bread to the young men with sowans-gruel, :Give ye bread to the young men with sowans-gruel, :Porridge thin, it is meagre and thin, it is porridge thin from sowans. : :Chorus : :This is what we used to get from the smith's daughter at the Dun :This is what we used to get from the smith's daughter at the Dun :This is what we used to get from the smith's daughter at the Dun :Porridge thin, it is meagre and thin, it is porridge thin from sowans. : :Chorus |
"This above was a jocular song that arose about some ill-made porridge, which being very thin was declared to be like gruel, or even 'sowans' (the fermented juice of oatmeal husks boiled, in bygone times a favourite article of food in Scotland."{{cite book|author=Frances Tolmie|title=One Hundred and Five Songs of Occupation from the Western isles of Scotland (1911)}}
Use in movies
- It appears as a drinking song in Whisky Galore! {{cite web|title=Whisky Galore - drinking song| website=YouTube | date=6 June 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVTC9utUcC4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/jVTC9utUcC4 |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|accessdate=1 November 2013}}{{cbignore}}
- It is a background music theme in The Bridal Path.{{cite web|title=The Bridal Path (1959)|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052649/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd|publisher=IMDb|accessdate=4 November 2013}}
- In Pasolini's film The Canterbury Tales, Nicholas in the Miller's Tale spies John the Carpenter (Michael Balfour) singing this tune while leaving for Osney and runs next door to make advances on his wife Alison. The recording used in the film is of Jimmy MacBeath.
Recordings
- The Highland Council website "Am Baile: Highland history and culture" has [https://www.ambaile.org.uk/search/?searchQuery=brochan+lom two versions]:
:* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120905084333/http://www.ambaile.org.uk:8080/483/48315.mp3 a version with voice and piano] from the CD Cluich Còmhla – Òrain is Ranna where the words are very clearly pronounced.
:* a version sung by Christina Stewart with instrumental accompaniment, from the album Bairn's Kist (2011).
- The website of Learning and Teaching Scotland has a [https://wayback.archive-it.org/1961/20100807052125/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/resources/musicofscotland/STRATH/BROCHANFIDACCPNO.mp3 version on violin].
- Calum Kennedy recorded this on the album "Songs in Gaelic" (2008){{cite web|last=Kennedy|first=Calum|title=Brochan Lom|website=YouTube |date=10 November 2008 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxVlmUn3K8g |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/YxVlmUn3K8g |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|accessdate=8 December 2012}}{{cbignore}}
- Robin Hall & Jimmie Macgregor with The Galliards recorded this on the album Scottish Choice (1960){{cite web|last1=Hall|first1=Robin|last2=Macgregor|first2=Jimmie|title=Brochan Lom, Tana Lom / Bodachan A' Mhirein|website=YouTube |date=24 September 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrePSyQqUxs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/zrePSyQqUxs |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|accessdate=1 November 2013}}{{cbignore}}
- Oran [http://www.reverbnation.com/oran/song/326906-brochan-lom-gaelic-song-from-album recorded a version] on their album "Kith & Kin".
- The Glasgow Gaelic Musical Association recorded [https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005S4LAE8/ref=dm_dp_trk15 a choral version] on the album "Orain Is Puirt-a-Beul" (1993).
- The Session lists [http://thesession.org/tunes/2091/recordings 16 instrumental recordings] of the tune.
External links
- [https://wayback.archive-it.org/1961/20100622164741/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/resources/musicofscotland/STRATH/brochan.htm Brochan Lom], Learning and Teaching Scotland. Includes a [https://wayback.archive-it.org/1961/20100807052125/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/resources/musicofscotland/STRATH/BROCHANFIDACCPNO.mp3 recording], a list of the [https://wayback.archive-it.org/1961/20100807050327/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/resources/musicofscotland/strath/brochanconcepts.htm musical concepts] exemplified by the tune, and a [https://wayback.archive-it.org/1961/20100807051953/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/resources/musicofscotland/STRATH/STRATHPARTS/STRATHPDF/BROCHANSINGLELINE.PDF score] with the concepts as annotations
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20131103070627/http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/singasang/brochan_lom.htm Brochan Lom, Traditional]}}, Scots Independent. Includes phonetic pronunciation of the Gaelic words.
- [http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=em&p=2467&c=110 Sheet Music - Brochan Lom], Mama Lisa's World: International Music & Culture
- [http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=9268 Lyric Request: Brochan Lom Tana Lom / Hot Porridge Cold], and [http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=102934 Lyrics Add: Brochan Lom], discussions on the Mudcat Cafe Forum regarding the meaning and pronunciation of the words