Mynydd Yr Heliwr
Key: E | Meter: 6/8 | Tempo: moderate BPM
Key: E | Meter: 6/8 | Tempo: moderate BPM
ABC length: 193 
X: 2
T: Mynydd Yr Heliwr
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Edor
|:e3 B2e|dBA BAF|G2G EGB|c2d cBA|
e3 B2e|dBA BAF|G2G EGB|AGF E3:|:
E3 G2A|B2B EFG|F2F [BB,]2[BB,]|E2E FED|
EGB e2e|dBA BAF|G2G EGB|AGF E3:|

History

Mynydd Yr Heliwr (“The Huntsman’s Mountain”) is a composed jig, not a traditional tune in the strict sense, though it is now played and treated as part of the Welsh session repertoire. It was written by Stephen Rees, a fiddler, whistle and pibgorn player, and piano accordionist who joined the Welsh group Ar Log in 1983.

Rees went on to become a founder member of Crasdant and built an academic career at Bangor University specialising in the traditional music of Wales, including work on the crwth and the pibgorn through the society Clera. His compositions sit comfortably alongside the older Welsh dance tune repertoire, and Mynydd Yr Heliwr is a good example of a modern tune written in a traditional idiom.

The tune was published in an Ar Log tunebook, now out of print, and its earliest known recording is by Ar Log with singer Dafydd Iwan, released on the album Yma o Hyd (Sain SCD 2063) in 1993. There it appears as part of an instrumental set, Hoffter Gwilym / Mynydd Yr Heliwr / Nans o’r Felin.

Because it circulated for some years through tunebooks, sessions and word of mouth before wider online documentation, some transcriptions of the tune diverge from one another, and its authorship was not always credited correctly in early online listings. Players who learned it directly from Ar Log tunebooks or recordings generally play a more regular, symmetrical version than some of the earlier session transcriptions suggest.

There is no evidence connecting the tune to an older dance tradition or dance function; it was written as a session and concert tune rather than for a specific dance.

Musical Characteristics

  • A modern-composed jig with a strong Welsh melodic character, built from stepwise phrases and small leaps rather than wide arpeggiated runs
  • Written in 6/8 but often played with a slightly more relaxed, weighted feel than a fast Irish or Breton jig
  • Two-part structure, each part generally treated as an 8-bar phrase and repeated (AABB)
  • Some early printed and online transcriptions show irregular part lengths; most session players now favour the more regular 32-bar setting
  • Modal colour is central to its identity — the Dorian sixth gives the tune a slightly open, unresolved quality compared with a major-key jig
  • Moderate technical difficulty: the tune itself is not fast or ornament-heavy, but the modal intervals need to be heard accurately rather than assumed from habit

Mode

  • Mode: Dorian
  • Scale (on E): E F♯ G A B C♯ D E
  • The flattened third and seventh give the tune its characteristic Welsh-folk flavour, neither fully major nor minor in feel
  • An older session transcription sets the tune in A Dorian; this is the same tune a fourth higher and is occasionally still played in that key, though E Dorian is now the more common session setting

Harmony

Section Typical Outline
A Em – D – G – Em
B Em – C – D – Em

Keep the harmony simple and modal. Avoid resolving too firmly onto a major tonic chord — a bare fifth or a suspended chord under the final phrase suits the tune better than a full triad. Guitarists and bouzouki players sometimes substitute a Dsus4 or Cadd9 for colour, but a full V–I major cadence tends to fight the mode rather than support it.

Interpretation Notes

  • Play it a touch under standard jig tempo; several experienced players note it works better slightly slower than a typical Irish jig, closer to a relaxed march feel
  • Keep articulation clean rather than heavily lifted — this is not a tune that wants aggressive triplets or rolls in every bar
  • Let the Dorian sixth and flattened seventh speak clearly; players used to major-key jigs sometimes unconsciously sharpen these notes, which flattens the tune’s character
  • Phrase in complete 8-bar units rather than chopping the melody into 2-bar fragments; the tune’s shape depends on hearing the whole phrase arrive somewhere
  • A common mistake is rushing the tune as though it were a standard Irish session jig, which loses the more measured, song-like quality it has in its original Welsh setting
  • Regional practice: Welsh session players and those who learned the tune through Crasdant or Ar Log tend to favour a steadier tempo than English or Irish sessions that have picked the tune up more recently

Flute Approach

  • Breathe at the ends of 8-bar phrases where possible, rather than snatching breath mid-phrase, to preserve the tune’s shape
  • Favour a smooth, connected tone over heavy tonguing; this tune rewards a singing quality rather than a percussive one
  • Light ornamentation — a single cut or short roll on a held note — works better than dense ornament clusters more typical of fast Irish jigs
  • The main technical challenge is intonation on the modal sixth and seventh; practise these against a drone if they feel unfamiliar
  • Keep dynamic shading gentle: a slight lift into the second half of each phrase suits the tune better than sharp accents

Guitar / Accompaniment

  • A steady, unhurried strum or fingerstyle pattern suits the tune better than a driving jig rhythm
  • Bass movement should track the modal root and fifth (E and B) rather than implying a strong major-key pull
  • A drone-like open string (low E or A, depending on key) works well under the A part
  • Fingerpicking accompanists can bring out the modal colour with a Dsus4 or Cadd9 voicing under the B part
  • Avoid harmonically “correcting” the tune towards a major dominant-tonic cadence — this undermines the Dorian character that defines it

Session Notes

  • The tune is reasonably well established in Welsh and wider Celtic sessions, helped by Crasdant and Ar Log’s standing within the Welsh folk revival
  • It is most often played as part of a set with other Welsh jigs, including the two tunes it was originally recorded alongside, Hoffedd Gwilym and Nans o’r Felin
  • Usual session tempo is moderate rather than brisk — resist the urge to speed it up to match a fast Irish set
  • Some session players outside Wales know only the older, irregular transcription and are surprised to hear the more symmetrical version; it is worth checking which setting the rest of the session expects
  • As a composed rather than anonymous traditional tune, it is good practice to credit Stephen Rees when introducing it, particularly in written session listings

Similar Tunes

  • Hoffedd Gwilym — the tune that precedes Mynydd Yr Heliwr in Ar Log’s original recorded set; shares the same session and stylistic context
  • Nans o’r Felin — the tune that follows it in the same Ar Log set, forming a natural three-tune sequence
  • Ymdaith y Siandlwr / Hela’r Sgyfarnog / Cainc Ifan Ddall — a march set recorded by Crasdant, useful for hearing Stephen Rees’s playing and the wider Welsh march-and-jig repertoire he draws on
  • Y Crwtyn Llwyd — another tune associated with Crasdant’s repertoire, similarly rooted in an older Welsh idiom reworked for session performance
  • Ar Log, with Dafydd Iwan — recording, “Hoffter Gwilym / Mynydd Yr Heliwr / Nans o’r Felin”, from the album Yma o Hyd (Sain SCD 2063, 1993): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=643qHvNSWOc — the earliest known recording, and the tune played by the composer’s own band; the natural reference version
  • The Session — tune database entry with two contrasting ABC settings, background on the tune’s history, and extended discussion of its authorship and spelling: https://thesession.org/tunes/3700 — useful for comparing settings and understanding why versions differ
  • Traditional Arts Support Wales — printed dots with chord symbols: https://www.tradartsupport.org.uk/tunes/Mynydd.pdf — a straightforward reference for learning the tune with basic harmony indicated

Further links, including a dedicated teaching video, may be added later if a confidently verifiable one becomes available.

References

Personal Notes

This is a good tune to introduce to players who think “Welsh music” means only harp airs — it shows the more recent, session-facing side of the tradition, written by someone thoroughly steeped in the older repertoire rather than borrowing its surface. Learn it from a recording rather than relying on the first ABC transcription you find online; the two settings in circulation genuinely differ, and it is worth deciding which one your session actually plays before you turn up with the “wrong” version. Once you have the modal feel under your fingers, it sits comfortably alongside far older Welsh tunes without sounding out of place.