This month the Archival Tune is a few samples of Gaelic songs sung by Duncan Angus McRae of St. Raphael’s. Someone states at the beginning of the tape that these were recorded in 1915 for John McMartin, who was one of the owners of the Hollinger Gold Mines. No more than two-dozen of these recordings were made, given to friends and relatives of the family. The original was destroyed and “the record from which the tape is copied is perhaps the only well-preserved copy in the possession of a relative of John McMartin.”

Duncan Angus McRae died in the late 1940s at over 90 years of age. He was “one of the better Gaelic singers of this county.”

There are 20 songs on the tape, but I’ve chosen two: My Handsome Dark Girl and Will You Go With Me Mary?

This recording was part of the collection of reel-to-reel tapes donated by Father MacPhail and can be found on Small Reel 21, Side 1.