# xmcd CD Database Entry
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# Disc length: 3284 seconds
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# Revision: 1
# Processed by: cddbd v1.4b39PL0 Copyright (c) 1996-1997 Steve Scherf
# Submitted via: tcd 2.0b
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DISCID=c00cd20e
DTITLE=James Galway & Phil Coulter / Winter's Crossing
TTITLE0=Slieve Gallion Braes-Steal Away
TTITLE1=Farewell to Country Antrim
TTITLE2=Thousands Are Sailing
TTITLE3=Cailin na Gruaige Baine
TTITLE4=Winter's Crossing
TTITLE5=The Gartan Mother's Lullabye
TTITLE6=Grand Banks Newfoundland
TTITLE7=The Shores of Amerikay
TTITLE8=Christmas Eve, Ellis Island
TTITLE9=The Belfast Polka - Pennsylvania Railroad
TTITLE10=Home Away From Home
TTITLE11=Hymn for the Heartland
TTITLE12=Steal Away
TTITLE13=Appalachian Round-up
EXTD=An inspiring collectino of seasonal music... from spirited ji
EXTD=gs to touching melodies, Winter's Crossing tells the tale of 
EXTD=the men and women who braved a rough ocean crossing to come t
EXTD=o America from Northern Ireland, full of hope and strength.
EXTT0=Our story begins in the mountains of Country Tyrone.  In the 
EXTT0=half life of dawn, ten families recently evicted from their l
EXTT0=ands set off to walk the fifty miles to Derry to catch the em
EXTT0=igrant ship.  The odd sad song is sung on their journey, for 
EXTT0=their hearts are heavy, as they say goodbye forever to Slieve
EXTT0= Gallion Braes.
EXTT1=At the quayside they encounter another group of emigrants--fr
EXTT1=om County Antrim.  Some are playing an Irish hornpipe to take
EXTT1= their mind off their sadness, while a different bunch, who a
EXTT1=re Scots Presbyterians, warm up their pipes and drums in a ma
EXTT1=rch.  Both tunes finally fit together, in a foretaste of how 
EXTT1=they will learn to live side by side in their new homeland.
EXTT2=In our research for this project we turned up a contemporary 
EXTT2=account of a heartbreaking departure.  Read by Liam Neeson, t
EXTT2=his is Thousands Are Sailing.
EXTT3=Back at the quayside in Derry, the Gaelic speakers from Doneg
EXTT3=al, even more intimidated than the others, camp for the night
EXTT3= a little distance away.  As heavy rain begins to fall, a you
EXTT3=ng girl sings in the darkness, of the love she will never set
EXTT3= eyes on again.
EXTT4=Finally underway, the ship pulls clear of Lough Foyle heading
EXTT4= for the open sea.  The emigrants crowd the decks looking lon
EXTT4=gly ashore, straining for one final glimpse of the hills of t
EXTT4=heir homeland.  All are heartbroken.  Some are terrified of w
EXTT4=hat lies ahead, others are excited at the adventure of this W
EXTT4=inter's Crossing.
EXTT5=Two weeks at sea and the crossing has been very rough.  Deep 
EXTT5=in the bowels of the ship in the damp and misery of steerage,
EXTT5= a young mother, cold, hungry and disoriented, follows her mo
EXTT5=st basic instinct of comfort her baby by creating a small hav
EXTT5=en of peace and calm.  She lulls the infant to sleep with The
EXTT5= Gartan Mother's Lullabye.
EXTT6=Six weeks at sea.  An icy dawn breaks to find the ship moving
EXTT6= slowly through dense fog.  The sound of seagulls tells them 
EXTT6=they are getting within sight of the first landfall, and the 
EXTT6=high swell and rolling sea are warnings that they are over th
EXTT6=e treacherous Grand Banks Newfoundland.
EXTT7=It is days later before the fog lifts and they get their firs
EXTT7=t distant view of the East Coast of America.  When the initia
EXTT7=l excitement and the deep sense of relief subside, reality da
EXTT7=wns.  They will shortly set foot in a strange land where they
EXTT7= have no family, no friends, no roots--and no idea what will 
EXTT7=become of them.  As the enormity of their situation dawns, th
EXTT7=eir thoughts turn to the family and loved ones left behind (T
EXTT7=he Shores of Amerikay -- for me, one of the saddest moments a
EXTT7=nd most poignant tracks on the album.)
EXTT8=In years to come, hundreds of thousands of immigrants would f
EXTT8=eel their hearts soar and their spirits rise as they first ca
EXTT8=ught sight of the city of New York.  The euphoria would be sh
EXTT8=ort-lived.  They would be set ashore at Ellis Island, the not
EXTT8=orious quarantine station through which all immigrants had to
EXTT8= pass.  If they were deemed to be ill, infirm, aged or unsuit
EXTT8=able for entry, they would be sent back on board ship, to rel
EXTT8=ive the hell of another Atlantic crossing.  The gateway to a 
EXTT8=dream, or a gateway to a nightmare, this is Christmas Eve, El
EXTT8=lis Island.
EXTT9="All our wars were happy, our songs were sad."  The Irish wer
EXTT9=e never sad for too long.  These were country folk, so from N
EXTT9=ew York they pressed westward to the farmland and hills of Pe
EXTT9=nnsylvania.  As they made new friends and met new neighbours,
EXTT9= one of the means of communication was to trade tunes.  Here 
EXTT9=The Belfast Polka is traded with Pennsylvania Railroad.
EXTT10=Time passes slowly in their new land, and they gradually accl
EXTT10=imate to new surroundings, new people and the vastness of thi
EXTT10=s new country of seemingly endless horizons.  Another day daw
EXTT10=ns over the fertile land of Pennsylvania, as they wake to gre
EXTT10=et the sunrise in their Home Away From Home.
EXTT11=However much they immerse themselves in their work and these 
EXTT11=new surroundings, their thoughts are never far from their hom
EXTT11=eland.  They gather to pray, to celebrate, to draw strength f
EXTT11=rom their shared experience and to remember the old country. 
EXTT11= This is a Hymn for the Heartland.
EXTT12=Years pass with births, marriages and deaths.  The immigrants
EXTT12= are growing older in this new land.  Was it really thirty ye
EXTT12=ars since they sang that song of parting as they said goodbye
EXTT12= forever to their loved ones?
EXTT13=The immigrants never forgot their homeland.  Never forgot the
EXTT13=ir music and they sure as hell never forgot how to party!  Ap
EXTT13=palachian Round-up is a celebration of their new homeland and
EXTT13= an affirmation of the human spirit.
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