"Dun Ringill" is a song written by

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...

and performed by his band Jethro Tull. The song was released on the group's 1979 album '' Stormwatch''. Written as a tribute to the fort of the same name, the song features folk rock elements that rebelled against the musical trends of the period. Released as an album track, "Dun Ringill" has since become a fan favorite for the band. It has since appeared on compilation albums and in the band's live setlist.

Background

"Dun Ringill" was written by

as an ode to the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

-era fort of the same name. The fort, located on the coast of the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, was occupied by the

Clan Mackinnon Clan MacKinnon ( gd, Clann MhicFhionghain ) is a Highland Scottish clan from the islands of Mull and Skye, in the Inner Hebrides. Popular tradition gives the clan a Dalriadic Gaelic origin. The 19th-century historian W. F. Skene named the clan ...

for centuries. The ruins of Castle Ringill, located near Loch Slapin, were located on Anderson's Scottish property, thus inspiring him to write an the song. Anderson explained: "Dun Ringill" features a spoken-word introduction by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

meteorologist Francis Wilson, who also appears on the album's opening track, "North Sea Oil". Wilson would later reprise the role on a radio performance of a song, in addition to appearing years later as a guest for Anderson while he guest-hosted as a DJ on

Greater London Radio BBC Radio London is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM broadcasting, FM frequency, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, ...

Release and influence

"Dun Ringill" was released on the '' Stormwatch'' album in September 1979 as the album's eighth track. The song was not released as a single. The track has since appeared on compilation albums such as '' The Best of Jethro Tull – The Anniversary Collection'', '' 20 Years of Jethro Tull: Highlights'', ''

The Best of Acoustic Jethro Tull ''The Best of Acoustic'' (2007) is a greatest hits album by Jethro Tull. It includes some of the band's biggest acoustic hits from 1969 to 2007. Track listing #"Fat Man" - 2:51 #"Life is a Long Song" - 3:18 #"Cheap Day Return" - 1:22 #"Mothe ...

'', and ''

50 for 50 ''50 for 50'' is a three-disc compilation album by the English progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released in 2018. Released to commemorate the band's 50th anniversary, the collection includes 50 tracks, selected by frontman Ian Anderson himself ...

''. An early recording of the song was released in October 2019 in anticipation for the forty-year anniversary "Force 10" box-set reissue of ''Stormwatch''. Swedish

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

band

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Mikael ...

drew influence from the song for their 2016 song "Will O the Wisp", released on their 2016 album '' Sorceress''. Opeth's

Mikael Åkerfeldt Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (; born 17 April 1974)Mikael Åkerfeldt
, Op ...

commented, " Will'is a song inspired by 'Dun Ringill' by Jethro Tull. ... I just wanted to go for a simple, catchy vocal melody. It has a slightly positive vibe to it, but the lyrics are really, really dark." Writer Daniel de Visé of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

spoke glowingly of the song in a retrospective review, commenting, "The crown jewel of 'Stormwatch''is 'Dun Ringill,' a sort of Nordic fairy tale set to a beautiful melody and answered by a lovely contrapuntal figure on Ian's acoustic guitar. It's probably my favorite Ian Anderson song."

Live performances

"Dun Ringill" has appeared intermittently in the band's live setlist, being performed on the first date of the ''Stormwatch'' tour in Jacksonville, Florida on 2 October 1979. Following the ''Stormwatch'' tour, Jethro Tull performed an acoustic rendition of the song on 14 April 1980 for a radio show hosted by

Richard Digance Richard Digance (pronounced DYE-jance; born 24 February 1949) is an English comedian and folk singer. Early life Digance was born in Plaistow, East London. After his family moved to nearby East Ham, he attended Vicarage Lane Primary School ...

—replete with Wilson making a guest appearance to reprise his spoken-word introduction on the track. A live version of the song performed at a 16 March 1980 show in the Netherlands has since appeared on the 40th anniversary reissue of ''Stormwatch''. "Dun Ringill" also appears on the concert video ''

Slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term slip ...

'', released in July 1981. The song was one of four on ''Slipstream'' for which the band filmed a new music video. The video features Anderson

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

ing to the song while on a rocky portion of the

Cliffs of Dover The White Cliffs of Dover is the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of , owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, deposi ...

References

{{authority control Jethro Tull (band) songs 1980 songs Song recordings produced by Ian Anderson Songs written by Ian Anderson