BÍ AG TREABHADH LEAT. AKA and see "Speed the Plough."
CHARLIE MULVIHILL'S (REEL) [2]. AKA and see "Cronin's Fancy Hornpipe," "The Doon," "The Kilfenora," "O'Keeffe's," "Speed the Plough," "Tom Billy's." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard. AAB. Source for notated version: accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border) [Moylan]. Moylan (Johnny O'Leary), 1994; No. 204, pgs. 117-118. Topic 12T312, "Billy Clifford."
CRONIN'S FANCY HORNPIPE. AKA and see "Charlie Mulvihill's," "The Doon," "The Kilfenora," "O'Keeffe's," "Speed the Plough," "Tom Billy's." Irish, Hornpipe. D Major. Standard. AABB. Source for notated version: Sean McGuire. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music) 1977; Vol. 1, No. 34.
DEVIL'S HORNPIPE. Old-Time, Hornpipe. A Major. Standard. AABB'. The melody is similar to "Speed the Plough" and "Blanchard's Hornpipe." It is in the repertoire of Roy Wooliver. The title appears in a list of tunes compiled by W.E.G. of Verbena (Chilton County), Alabama, in the "Union Banner," September 29th, 1922. Source for notated version: John Hartford [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 189.
GOD SPEED THE PLOUGH. AKA and see "Speed the Plough."
KILFENORA REEL [3]. AKA and see AKA and see "Charlie Mulvihill's," "Cronin's Fancy Hornpipe," "The Doon," "O'Keeffe's," "Speed the Plough," "Tom Billy's."
NAVAL PILLAR, THE. AKA and see "Speed the Plough."
O'KEEFE'S PLOW. AKA - "O'Keeffe's Plough." AKA and see "Tom Billy's (Reel)," "Cornin's," "O'Keeffe's Reel," "Speed the Plow."
O'KEEFFE'S REEL [2]. AKA and see "Charlie Mulvihill's," "Cronin's Fancy Hornpipe," "The Doon," "Father Kelly's," "The Kilfenora," "Mulvihill's Reel" [2], "Speed the Plough."
SPEED THE PLOW/PLOUGH [1] (Bí ag Treabhadh leat). AKA and see "The Doon Reel," "God Speed the Plow," "The Naval Pillar." English (originally), Irish, Scottish, Old Time, American; Reel, Breakdown or Hornpipe. England; Yorkshire, Northumberland. USA; New England, New York, southwestern Pennsylvania, Maine, Michigan, Arkansas, Missouri. Ireland; Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border. A Major (most versions): G Major (Breathnach, Hall & Stafford, O'Neill {1915}): D Major (Johnson, Moylan). Standard. One part (Burchenal): AB (Athole, Bayard, Hardie, Kerr, Skye): AA'B (Bacon): AABB (Barnes, Breathnach, Brody, Ford, Hall & Stafford, Huntington, Johnson, Merryweather & Seattle, Miller & Perron, O'Neill, Phillips/1989, Sharp): AABB' (Moylan): AA'BB' (Phillips/1994). The phrase 'God speed the plough' is derived from a wish for success and prosperity in some undertaking, and is many centuries old. It occurs as early as the 15th century in the song sung by the ploughmen on Plough Monday (the first Monday after the twelve days of Christmas). Linscott (1939) concludes (perhaps speculatively) the name of this dance and tune indicates association with or derivation from the ancient rituals connected with 'Plough Monday' in Great Britain. This festival, he says, was part of the worship of agriculture which the early villagers practiced and occured in mid-winter (January): "The prayers for a good harvest were presented to the house gods with great ceremony; bread and cheese were set into the plough, and a like offering scattered to the fields for the crows. The first offering was to seek the blessing for the harvest; the second, to appease the adverse elements" (Linscott, 1939).
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A note in O'Neill {1913} (based on the authority of the British Musical Biography) states the air was composed in 1799 by John Moorehead of Armagh, Ireland (though born in Edinburgh, emigrating to Armagh in 1782), a famous violinist who came from a musical family and who acquired some reknown in the latter 18th century. He was violinist of Covent Gardern Theatre in 1798, though his life ended tragically some six years later when he committed suicide by hanging in 1804. Apparently his tune was first called "The Naval Pillar." A year after Moorehead was supposed to have composed it the melody was used for a play called "Speed the Plough" (1800) written by Thomas Morton, and was published in New York as an instrumental piano piece about the same time. It quickly entered tradition on both sides of the Atlantic--apparently about the same time--and it has appeared regualrly in fiddle-tune collections since that time in America and the British Isles.
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In America the tune was known in the tradition as early as 1839 when it was printed in George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels, volume I. "Speed the Plow" is cited as having often been played for country dances in Orange County, New York, in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly) and it also appears in the repertoire list of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham (the elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's). The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tumes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. To entertainer John Hartford it appears a cousin of "Greenfields of America," and he likens it to "Devil's Hornpipe" as played by Roy Wooliver. Burchenal (1918) prints a New England contra dance of the same name with the tune, and Linscott (1939) supports that the same dance has always been linked with this tune in that region.
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Flett & Flett report the tune a Scottish country dance and that it is the first half of the Perth Medley, peculiar to the Perth Hunt Balls. The tune was included by J. Scott Skinner in his 1921 concert set romantically entitled "Spey's Fury's." In Scotland the country dance Speed the Plow is sometimes known by an alternate title, the Inverness Country Dance. The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he published c. 1800, soon after the tune was written. The tune does not generally appear in Cotswold morris tradition, a type of rural ritual dance in southern England, though it was introduced to the village of Bampton, Oxfordshire, dances in 1975 (Bacon, 1974).
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O'Neill (1913) believes the tune to be Irish in character, and states it was regarded as English due to its being first heard in English theatres, though he regretfully determined it too associated with England to include in his Dance Music of Ireland.
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Sources for notated versions: J. Scott Skinner (Scotland) [Phillips]; Willie Woodward (Bristol, N.H.) [Linscott]; Albert Quigley, c. 1950's (New England) [Miller & Perron]; Bradley Grimshaw (northern N.Y., 1958) and Hogg (Pa., 1948) [Bayard]; piper Seamas Ennis, 1959 (Dublin, Ireland) [Breathnach]; Paul Goelz [Johnson]; Kelly Jones (Mo.) [Phillips/1994]; an MS collection by fiddler Lawrence Leadley, 1827-1897 (Helperby, Yorkshire) [Merryweather & Seattle]; George Edwards (Woodland Valley, Catskill Mtns., New York) [Cazden]; Charlie Mulvihill via accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region) [Moylan]. Adam, 1928; No. 58. Bacon (The Morris Ring), 1974; pg. 53a. Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes), 1986. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 275A-B, pgs. 230-231. Breathnach (CRE II), 1976; No. 160, pgs. 84-85. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 264. Burchenal (American Country Dances, Vol. 1), 1918; pg. 37. Carlin (English Concertina), 1977; pg. 37. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 17. Cazden, 1955; pg. 344. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 2), 1984; pg. 7. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 21. DeVille, 1905; No. 68. Fiddler Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 1996; pg. 32. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 78. Hall & Stafford (Charlton Memorial Tunebook), 1974; pg. 34. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 37. Harding Collection (1915) and Harding's Original Collection (1928), No. 15. Howe (Musicain's Omnibus), pg. 41. Huntington (William Litten's), 1977; pg. 23. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes); No. or pg. 12. Johnson, Vol. 7, 1986-87; pg. 9. Kennedy (Fiddler's Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 16, pg. 8. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 6, pg. 24. Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 112. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 5. Merryweather & Seattle (The Fiddler of Helperby), 1994; No. 5, pg. 29. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler's Repertoire), 1983; No. 94. O'Malley, 1919; pg. 24. O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 371, pg. 179 (listed as a hornpipe). Phillips (Fiddle Case Tunebook: British Isles), 1989; pg. 44. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 229. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 189. Robbins, 1933; No. 78, pg. 25. Saar, 1932; No. 13. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1994; pg. 4. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 15. Sym, 1930; pg. 7. White's Unique Collection, 1896; No. 79, pg. 15. Beltona BL2096 (78 RPM), Edinburgh Highland Strathspey and Reel Society (1936). F&W Records 4, "The Canterbury Country Orchestra Meets the F&W String Band." Fretless 136, Arm and Hammer String Band- "Stay on the Farm." Green Linnet 1023, Joe Shannon and Johnny McGreevy- "The Noonday Feast." Kicking Mule 209, Hank Sapoznik- "Melodic Clawhammer Banjo." Mulligan 017, "Molloy, Brady, and Peoples." Topic 12T280, J. Scott Skinner- "The Strathspey King."Voyager 320-S, Frank Ferrel- "Fiddle Tunes." "The Fiddler's Companion" (1980).
T:Speed the Plough
L:1/8
M:C|
S:Reel
B:The Athole Collection
K:A
E|A2(Ac efec|eaec efec|dfdB cecA|FBBA GABc|ABcd efec|eaga ecAc|
decd BcAB|FAGB A2A||g|a2 (ag aece|aAgA fAec|dfdB cecA|FBBA GABd|
cAce aece|fgaf ecAc|decd BcAB|FAGB A2A||
TOM BILLY'S (REEL) [3]. AKA and see "Charlie Mulvihill's," "Cronin's Fancy Hornpipe," "The Doon," "The Kilfenora," "O'Keeffe's," "O'Keefe's Plow," "Speed the Plough." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard. AABB. Not "Tom Billy's" [1] or [2]. Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland), Vol. 1, No. 41. Mallinson (Essential), 1995; No. 9, pg. 4. Shanachie 79023, "Chieftains 3" (1971/1982).
T:Tom Billy's Reel
T:O'Keefe's Plow
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
N:O'Keefe's Plow
Z:Roger Landes
K:D
dcdA BAFB|AF F/2F/2F EFDE|F/2F/2F AF G/2G/2G BG|ABde fdec|d/2d/2d dA BAF
B|AF F/2F/2F/2 EFDE|F/2F/2F AF G/2G/2G BG|1ABde fe e/2e/2e:|2ABde fdde||
fa a/2a/2a afdf|g/2g/2g fg edBd|fa a/2a/2a bafd|ABde fe e/2e/2e|fa a/2a/
2a afdf|g/2g/2g fg|{f}edBA|F/2F/2F AF G/2G/2G BG|1ABde fe e/2e/2e:|2ABde fdec||