CEOL NA gCEARTAN (Music in the Forge). AKA and see "Music in the Forge," "My Sweetheart Jane," "Peigin Leitir Mor," "The Pretty Girls of Mayo," "Sweeney's Reel," "Sweet Biddy of Ballyvourney." Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard. AB. Source for notated version: piper Willie Clancy (1918-1973, Miltown Malbay, west Clare) [Mitchell]. Mitchell (Dance Music of Willie Clancy), 1993; No. 50, pg. 58.
CHALK SUNDAY. AKA and see "Johnny Dennehy's," "Pretty Jane," "Tom Billy's (Jig)" [3], "The White Pony." Irish, Jig and Air. G Major. Standard. AABB. "From Davy Condon, thatcher, of Ballyorgan, 1844. Chalk Sunday was the Sunday after Shrove Tuesday, when those young men who should have been married, but were not, were marked with a heavy streak of chalk on the back of the 'Sunday coat,' by boys who carried bits of cholk in their pockets for that purpose, and lay in wait for the bachelors. The marking was done while the congregation were assembling for Mass: and the young fellow ran for his life, always laughing, and often singing the concluding words of some suitable doggeral such as:--"And you are not married though Lent has come!" This custom prevailed in some parts of Limerick, where I saw it in full play: but I think it has died out" (Joyce). The tune corresponds to the first two parts of "The Dublin Jig" (Bayard, 1981; No. 517, pg. 466). The melody appears as one of "The Farranfore Jigs" by the group Shegui (with John Skelton) on their album "Around the World for Sport" (1980), whose source was given as Sliabh Luachra fiddlers Tom Billy (Murphy) and Jack Dennehy (sic) {Dennehy's home was Farranfore, County Kerry}. O'Neill calls the tune "Pretty Jane" and it appears in Levey's (1973) second collection under the title "The White Pony." See also "Johnny Dennehy's." Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 19, pgs. 12-13.
T:Chalk Sunday
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Joyce - Old Irish Folk Music
K:G
B/A/|G>AG B>AB|GBd g2e|dBG AGE|A>BA A2 B/A/|G>AG BAB|GBd g2 e|
dBG AGE|G2G G2:|
|:(3d/e/f/|g>ag fed|ede/f/ g2 f/e/|dBG cBc|ABd e2 (3d/e/f/|gag fed|
ede/f/ g2e|dBG AGE|G2G G2:|
DUBLIN JIG [2]. American, Jig. USA, southwestern Pa. G Major ('A' and 'B' parts) & E Minor ('C' part). Standard. ABC. Bayard (1981) identifies this as a composite tune made from combining strains; the 'A' and 'B' part of this "Dublin Jig" are close to "Chalk Sunday" (Joyce) or "Dublin Boy". Tunes generally resembling this one or parts of this one, he says, are "Pretty Jane" and "Sir Archibald Campbell's Jig." Source for notated version: Hiram Horner (fifer from Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pa., 1960) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 517, pg. 466.
GOODBYE LIZA JANE [1]. AKA- "Liza Jane." Old-Time, Bluegrass, Western Swing; Breakdown. USA. A Major. Standard. AABB. Two influential recordings were made of the tune in the 1920's which helped spread its popularity among early country musicians, remarks Charles Wolfe (1991). The first was by the east Tennessee string band The Hill Billies, who released it under the title "Mountaineers Love Song," and the second was by another band from the same area, the Tenneva Ramblers, as "Miss Liza, Poor Gal." Bob Wills (Texas), the father of western swing, said this was the first tune he learned (as "Goodbye, Miss Liza Jane") to fiddle.
***
Swing Ma, swing Pa, goodbye, goodbye,
Swing that gal from Arkansas, Goodbye Liza Jane.
***
Chorus
Oh how I loved her, ain't that a shame,
Oh how I loved her, Goodbye Liza Jane.
***
Swing that gal and don't be late, goodbye, goodbye,
Knock down Sal, big fat gate, Goodbye Liza Jane.
***
Take a chaw of tobacco, spit on the wall, goodbye, goodbye,
Swing that gal clear across the hall, Goodbye Liza Jane.
***
Three wheels 're off and the axel's draggin', goodbye, goodbye,
You can't ride the little red wagon, Goodbye Liza Jane.
***
A version of the tune and song, under the title "Rejected by Eliza Jane," was collected by the African-American collector Thomas Talley which he printed in his book Negro Folk Rhymes (1922, reprinted 1991 edited by Charles Wolfe). His lyrics go:
***
W'en I went 'cross de cotton patch
I give my ho'n a blow.
I thought I heared pretty Lizie say:
"Oh, yonder come my beau!"
***
So: I axed pretty Lizie to marry me,
An' what d'you reckon she said?
She said she wouldn' marry me,
If ev'ybody else was dead.
***
An': As I went up de new cut road,
An' she go down de land;
Den I though I heared somebody say:
"Good-bye, ole Liza Jane!"
***
Well: Jes get 'long, Lizie, my true love.
Git 'long, Miss Lizie Jane.
Perhaps you'll sack "Ole Sour Bill"
An' git choked on "Sugar Cain."
***
Sources for notated versions: Bobby Hicks (Brody, Phillips): Plank Road String Band via Delaware Gap String Band (Kuntz). Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 124. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 339-340. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 21. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 100. County 772, Bobby Hicks- "Texas Crapshooter." King 787, Reno and Smiley- "Banjo Special." Mountain 301, Kyle Creed- "Blue Ridge Style Dance Time." Kicking Mule 205, Delaware Water Gap- "From the Rivers of Babylon to the Land of Jazz" (1979. Appears as "Liza Jane"). Kapp KS 3639, Bob Wills and Mel Tillis- "Mel Tillis and Bob Wills in Person." Victor 21141 (78 RPM), The Tenneva Ramblers (1927, as "Miss Liza, Poor Gal"). Vocalation 5115 (78 RPM), The Hill Billies (1926, as "Mountaineers Love Song").
T:Goodbye Liza Jane
T:Liza Jane
L:1/8
M:C|
B:Kuntz - Ragged but Right
K:G
(G|G)F G2 A2 AA|[GB]A [G2B2] [G2c2] [G2c2]|BA G4 G2|FEDC D2 DF|
GFGB AGAc|BABd cBAc|BAGB AGFA|[G2B2] [G6B6] [GB]:|
|:[Dd]|[D4d4] [e3e3]e|B2 (d4 d) (3D/E/F/|G2 [G2B2] [G3A3] [GA]|
[G2B2] [G4B4] [GB] (3A/B/c/|d2d2 e3d|B2 d4 A2|BA G AGFA|1 GEDE G3:|2
GEDB, G,3||
JOHNNY DENNEHY'S. AKA and see "Chalk Sunday," "Pretty Jane," "The White Pony." Irish, Jig. A Major. Standard. AABB. Máire O'Keefe remarks that the jig comes from the playing of Maurice O'Keeffe who had it from John Dennehy, a fiddler from the Farranfore area whose playing was greatly influenced by Tom Billy Murphy the travelling music teacher of Sliabh Luarchra (Cork/Kerry). The tune appears to be a version of Joyce's "Chalk Sunday." See also "Bill Collins"/"Dan Collins Father's Jig." Gael-Linn CEF 176, Jackie Daly - "Many's a Wild Night."
T:Johnny Dennehy's
D:Jackie Daly, "Many's a Wild Night"
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:jig
Z:Paul de Grae
K:A
E | A2 B cBc | Ace a2 f | ecA BAF | BcB BAF |
A2 B cBc | Ace a2 f | ecA BAB | cAA A2 :||
||: f | ece a2 f | ece a2 f | ecA BAF | BcB BAF |
A2 B cBc | Ace a2 f | ecA BAB | cAA A2 :||
LIZA JANE [3]. AKA and See "'Lasses Cane," "Poor Liza Jane." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Oklahoma, Missouri. A Mixolydian (Brody, Phillips): G Major. AEAE or Standard. ABB (Thede): AABB (Brody, Phillips). Sources for notated versions: Joe Wilsie (Cherokee County; Oklahoma) [Thede]: Carter Brothers and Son (Brody, Phillips). In the repertoire of Uncle Jimmy Thompson (1848-1931) {Texas, Tennessee}. Recorded in 1939 for the Library of Congress by Herbert Halpert from the playing of Newton County, Mississippi, fiddler Hardy Sharp (b. 1884). See also "My Little Dony" for another Mississippi collected version in this song/tune family.
**
I'll go down the new cut road,
And Liza down the lane;
I'll throw my hat in the corner of the fence,
And scare poor Liza Jane. (Thede)
**
I'll go up on the mountain top
And plant me a patch of cane,
I'll make me a jug of molasses
For to sweeten little Liza Jane.
**
Hurry up, pretty little gal,
Hurry up Liza Jane,
Hurry up, poor little gal,
She died on the train.
**
I went to see my Liza Jane,
She was standin' in the door,
Her shoes and stockings in her hand
And her feet all over the floor.
**
The hardest work I ever did
Was a-brakin' on the train,
The easiest work that I ever did
Was a-courtin' Liza Jane (Thomas & Leeder)
**
Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 172. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 144. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 44-45. Thomas & Leeder (The Singin' Gathering), 1939; pg. 22. County 520, Carter Brothers and Son (Monroe County, Mississippi) - "Echoes of the Ozarks, Vol. 3". Folkways FA 2491, New Lost City Ramblers- "Gone to the Country." Flying Fish FF260, Alan Jabbour- "Sandy's Fancy." Okeh 45202 (78 RPM), Carter Brothers and Son.
MUSIC IN THE FORGE (Ceol na gCea/rtan). AKA and see "My Sweetheart Jane," "Peigin Leitir Mor," "The Pretty Girls of Mayo," "Sweeney's Reel." Irish, Reel. The tune was recorded by Seamus Ennis under this title. See also the 'A' part of "Sweet Biddy of Ballyvourney."
MY SWEETHEART JANE (Mo Suirideac Sineid). AKA and see "Life of man," "Music in the Forge," "Peigin Leitir Mor," "The Pretty Girls of Mayo," "Sweeney's Reel." Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard. AB (O'Neill/1850 & 1001): AA'BB' (O'Neill/Krassen). See also the 'A' part of "Sweet Biddy of Ballyvourney." O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 160. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 1546, pg. 285. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 760, pg. 132.
T:My Sweetheart Jane
L:1/8
M:C|
R:Reel
S:O'Neill - 1001 Gems (760)
K:G
DGGF Adde|ABcA dBcA|DGGF Adde|fdcA BGAF|DGGF Adde|ABcA dBcA|
DGGF Adde|fdcA AG G2||dggf g2 ag|fdde fgaf|dggf gbag|fdcA dBcA|
dggf g2 ag|fdde fga2|bgaf gdde|fdcA AG G2||
PRETTY GIRLS OF MAYO (Cailini Deasa Mhuigheo). AKA and see "Music in the Forge," "My Sweetheart Jane," "Peigin Leitir Mor," "Sweeney's Reel," "Sweet Biddy of Ballyvourney." Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard. AB (Breathnach, Cranitch): AA'B (Taylor): AABB (Mulvihill). Paddy Killoran recorded the tune under this title. Breathnach notes that he found an untitled version in P. W. Joyce's Ancient Irish Music (Dublin, 1912 {reprint}, 51). The variant in O'Neill, "Sweet Biddy of Ballyvourney," has a different second part, which Breathnach says does not go with the tune. The song ""Peigín Leitir Mór" is sung to this air. Sources for notated versions: fiddler Tommy Potts (Ireland) [Breathnach]; Paddy Cronin [Mulvihill]; Paddy Killoran [Lyth]; set dance music recorded at Na Píobairí Uilleann in the 1980's [Taylor]. Breathnach (CRE I), 1963; No. 75, pg. 34. Cranitch (Irish Fiddle Book), 1996; pg. 95. Lyth (Bowing Styles in Irish Fiddle Playing), Vol. 1; page 62. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 51, pg. 13. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Yellow Book), 1995; pg. 7. Yazoo Records, Paddy Killoran - "The Wheels of the World, Vol. 2."
PRETTY JANE (Sineid Boideac). AKA and see "Chalk Sunday," "Johnny Dennehy's," "The White Pony." Irish, Double Jig. A Major. Standard. AABB. Bayard (1981) sees some general resemblance between this tune and "The Dublin Jig." O'Neill (1850), 1979; No. 768, pg. 143.
PRETTY JANE'S REEL. American, Reel. A Major. Standard. AABB. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 38.
SOURWOOD MOUNTAIN [1]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Arkansas, Oklahoma, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama. D Major (Thede): A Major (Phillips). Standard or AEAE. AABB (Thede): AABB' (Phillips). The tune (and attached song) has been widely collected in the South, especially in a banjo settings, although like many a folk-song its origins are obscure. Sourwood Mountain is a place-name in the state of Massachusetts, and the ballad is said by some to have originated in that state. Mrs. Betty Jane Dodrill writes to say that family lore has it that the song was composed by her ancestor William Francis (Blue Bill) Combs (1840-1924), a fiddler and farmer who lived on Breezers Branch, North of Finney in Russell County, Virginia. Blue Bill served with the Confederate forces in the Civil War and was with General Lee at the surrender at Appomattox in 1865 (see The Heritage of Russell County Virginia, 1786-1988, Vol. II, pgs. 203-204). Whatever its origins (and despite the fact that melodic material was undoubtedly imported from the British Isles), it is one of the first truly American ballads, and the tragic tale of a young man fatally bit by a snake made its way into folk traditions throughout the United States. Sourwood is the name for chestnut or other bark used in tanning leather, and a fairly common commodity on the frontier.
**
The tune was mentioned by William Byrne who described a chance encounter with West Virginia fiddler 'Old Sol' Nelson during a fishing trip on the Elk River. The year was around 1880, and Sol, whom Byrne said was famous for his playing "throughout the Eld Valley from Clay Courthouse to Sutton as...the Fiddler of the Wilderness," had brought out his fiddle after supper to entertain (Milnes, 1999). Popular as a folksong, as a tune it had a place in traditional fiddle repertoire. It was, for example, popular enough to have been mentioned in a 1931 newspaper account as having been played at a LaFollette, northeast Tennessee, fiddlers' contest. It was also among the tunes listed as a standard in a square dance fiddler's repertoire, as asserted by A.B. Moore in his History of Alabama, 1934 (Cauthen, 1990). It was in the repertoire of fiddler Albert Hash of Rugby, Virginia, who thought it originated in the British Isles. Charles Wolfe (1982) states it was popular with Kentucky fiddlers, and the title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Many comic rhymes were sung with the tune, which usually begins something like:
**
I got a gal on Sourwood Mountain,
Da da da da-da da-da-da da;
Pretty girls there 'til you can't count 'em,
Da da da da-da da-da-da da.
**
Sources for notated versions: Clyde Ward (Bates, Arkansas) [Thede]; W. Franklin George (W.Va.) [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 229. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 102. Recorded for the Library of Congress (2740-A-3 and 2744-A-1/2), 1939, by Herbert Halpert from the playing of both H.L. Maxey and J.W. "Peg" Thatcher (Franklin County, Va.). Recorded for Edison in 1925 and Victor in 1924 by Fiddlin' Cowan Powers (b. 1877, southwest Va.), and for Vocalation in 1924 by Uncle Am Stuart (b. 1856, Morristown, Tenn.). County 778, Tommy Jarrell - "Pickin' On Tommy's Porch" (1984. Learned from his father, North Carolina fiddler Ben Jarrell and his Uncle Charlie Lowe). Gennett Records (78 RPM), Taylor's Kentucky Boys {with Doc Roberts} (1927). Heritage XXIV, Tommy Jarrell - "Music of North Carolina" (Brandywine, 1978). Tradition TLP 1007, Boone Reid - "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians" (1978).
SWEENEY'S REEL. AKA and see "Cailini Deasa Mhuigheo," "Life of man," "Music in the Forge," "My Sweetheart Jane," "Peigin Leitir Mor," "The Pretty Girls of Mayo." Irish, Reel. See note for "Pretty Girls of Mayo." The 'A' part of "Sweet Biddy of Ballyvourney" is also the same.
WHITE PONY, THE. AKA and see "Chalk Sunday," "Johnny Dennehy's," "Pretty Jane." Irish, Jig. A Major: G Major (Breathnach). Standard. AABB. The tune appears as one of "The Farranfore Jigs" by the group Shegui on their album "Around the World for Sport" (1980), whose source was Tom Billy (Murphy) and Jack Dennehy (sic). See also "Johnny Dennehy's"-Dennehy was a fiddler from the Farranfore, County Kerry, area (halfway between Tralee and Castleisland) greatly influenced by the fiddling of fellow Sliabh Luachra musician Tom Billy Murphy. Breathnach (CRE V). Levey (2nd Collection), 1873. Decca (78 RPM), Sean McGuire's Ceili Band (c. 1950's).
T:White Pony, The
M:6/8
L:1/8
Z:transcribed by Ted Hastings
S:Jimmy McHugh - Falkirk Fiddle Workshop
K:A
E|EAA BAF|Ace agf|ecA BAF|Bdc BAF|!
EAA BAF|Ace agf|ecA BAF|ABA A2:||!
e|aba afe|fef a2 f|ecA BAF|!
[1 Bdc Bce|aba afe|fef a2 f|ecA BAF|ABA A2:||!
[2 Bdc BAF|EAA BAF|Ace agf|ecA BAF|ABA A2||