These 13 tracks represent personal and cultural touchstones for
Derek Bell. Some songs ("She Moved Through the Fair," "The Boys of Bluehill," "Hillsborough Castle," and "The Greencastle Hornpipe") present
Bell as a solo harpist (and occasionally on oboe, English horn, or gong), some include backing by the New Irish Chamber Orchestra, and others feature
Chieftains alumni
Sean Potts on tin whistle and
Peadar Mercier playing bodhran and bones. All the songs are in their most basic forms, with few of the embellishments that one would get from, say, a
Chieftains record, and the entire record has a beguiling gentle lyricism that is quite poignant ("Down by the Sally Gardens" and "Eibhlín a Rúin," in particular). "The Gartan Mother's Lullaby" alone is worth the price of the disc, and anyone seeking an instrumental version of "She Moved Through the Fair" -- which has been done by the likes of
Davey Graham,
Jimmy Page (ripping off Graham's arrangement note for note under the title "White Summer"), and
Marianne Faithfull -- couldn't do better than
Bell's exquisitely lilting harp version. ~ Bruce Eder