DONALD WG LINDSAY & ROO GEDDES
Honeymoon Bridge
CD Review by Alex Monaghan.
Own Label DL002
17 tracks, 76 minutes
www.donaldwglindsay.com
Bagpipe.news November 2026.
A double album of songs, airs and pipe music, Honeymoon Bridge showcases the innovative extended pipe chanter developed by Donald WG Lindsay, along with fiddle from Roo Geddes. It mixes well known traditional material with less common tunes such as How Can I Be Sad On My Wedding Day from the Dixon manuscript, and adds a number of new compositions. The likes of St Kilda Wedding and Echo Mocks the Corncrake will be familiar to fans of 1990s Scottish folk, while Teampall an Ghleanntáin and Tabhair dom do Lámh are drawn from the older Irish repertoire. Lindsay supplies strong vocals on eight tracks, backing himself on pipes or enlisting Geddes on fiddle and piano. The songs range from Lindsay’s own to ancient ballads such as Sir Patrick Spens and Lord Randall, with a few night visiting songs and a couple of cheerful tales well known in the Scottish tradition.
There’s a pleasing rawness to the sound, as if this album were recorded in a bare bothy somewhere in the highland wilderness. It was not, but the effect certainly enhances our appreciation of the even tone which the Lindsay chanter achieves. Smallpipes blend beautifully with fiddle harmonies, and work well with the vocal tracks. They also produce fine interpretations of classic ceol beag including A’ Mhisg a Chuir an Nollaig Oirnn, Cuir ’sa Chiste Mhòr Mi, Johnnie MacGill’s and Ho Rò Mo Bhobag an Dram which it turns out is not a Glasgow insult. Honeymoon Bridge is full of wee treasures, all wrapped in a piping sound you may not have heard before.
