AULD ROBIN GRAY [1]. Scottish, Slow Air (4/4 time). G Major (Hunter): F Major (Neil). Standard. One part (Hunter): AB (Neil). The air which superseded the older air was composed by the Englishman Rev. W. Leeves (1748-1828), rector of Wrington in Somerset, to words composed by the Lady Anne Barnard (nee Lindsay, born 1750, the eldest daughter of the 5th Earl of Balcarres in Fife). The melody was set to a song by Lady Barnard, who wrote her lyrics to the favorite tune of one Suphy Johnson of Hilton. Suphy, incidently, became "one of the intelligent eccentrics of Edinburgh society--the girl who, as an experiment, was left to educate herself, who dressed in an oddly masculine manner, who practised blacksmithing as a hobby, and played the fiddle!" (Emmerson, 1971). Lady Barnard had the reputation of being comely, quick witted, and vivacious and has been referred to as 'the daughter of a hunderd earls' (Neil, 1991). She married at the rather advanced age of 43 to one Andrew Barnard, Bishop of Limerick, who died in 1807. Lady Anne apparently preferred her work to remain anonymous and shunned publicity, however, Neil (1991) tells the story that, on one occasion, she sang "Auld Robin Gray" for Lady Jane Scott (the writer of the modern "Annie Laurie"), who remarked "that she had sung it as if it were her own, and if Lady Barnard would give her a copy, she would keep the secret" (Neil, 1991). The following is one verse composed by Lady Anne (who either originally set the words to the Scottish tune "The Bridgroom Grat" or composed the original air herself):
***
I gang like a ghaist and I carena to spin,
I darena think o' Jamie, for that wad be a sin;
But I'll do my best a gude wife to be,
For auld Robin Gray is kind to me.
***
The real Robin Grey was a shepherd on her father's estate of whom the children were rather fond, but the tale related in the song seems to have been fashioned from fantasy. It tells of a young woman, forced by poverty to wed an elderly man, Auld Robin Grey, though she loves young Jamie. She is forced to endure a number of travails, such as Jamie going off to sea, her father breaking his arm, her mother sick, her marriage, but the final sorrow was supplied by Lady Anne's younger sister, Elizabeth, who suggested "steal the cow, sister Anne", and the verse was completed. The melody was a favorite piece de resistance of many Scottish fiddlers, including J.S. Skinner in the latter 1800's. Davie's Caledonian Repository. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 8. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 15, pg. 21.
BANKS OF (THE) CLAUDY, THE (Bruach an Chladaigh). AKA and see "An Cailin Donn," "Plain of Boccarough," "The Portaferry Boys." Irish, Air (2/4 or 4/4 time). F Major (O'Sullivan/Bunting): D Dorian (O'Neill, Stanford/Petrie): D Major (Stanford/Petrie). Standard. One part (O'Neill, Stanford/Petrie): AABBC (O'Sullivan/Bunting). Claudy is a village on the right bank of a small stream called the Faughan, which rises in the Sperrin mountains and flows into the River Foyle just before it enters Lough Foyle in County Londonderry. O'Sullivan (1983) notes that old collections record tune was a once popular Irish ballad, known throughout the island and beyond, for, according to A.L. Lloyd, the song has turned up "in Sussex and Scotland, Virginia, USA, and Victoria, Australia, practically word-for-word the same and we have to presume that these versions have probably come from, and been more or less fixed by, some printed original on a broadside or in a popular songster." O'Neill (1913) classifies the melody in a group with "Willy Reilly" et al (see note for "Willy Reilly" [2]). O'Neill relates hearing a memorable rendition by a Chicago piper named John K. Beatty, a native of County Meath who was a genial man and a good musician, though with an inflated opinion of his own abilities ("execution he had-too much of it-but neither time nor rhythm"):
***
An American lady, of wealth and social distinction, proud of her Irish
ancestry, once appealed to us for aid in getting out a suitable programme.
The best Irish talent obtainable was engaged. But how about Mr. Beatty?
It was contended that he could play The Banks of the Claudy with trills
and variations in acceptable style, yet no one could guarantee that he
would confine himself within limits. In any event he was the typical
bard in appearance. His confident air and florid face, adorned with a
heavy white mustache, and a head crowned with an abundance of long
white hair, would naturally appeal to an Irish audience, so his name was
placed on the programme, well towards the end, to minimize the effect
of his possible disregard of instructions.]
When his time came to execute The Banks of Claudy he met all ex-
pectations-and much more. Intoxicated by the applause, all was for-
gotten but the mad desire to get more of it, so he broke loose with
rhapsodical jigs and reels, his head on high, nostrils distended like a
race-horse on the home stretch, while both feet pounded the platform
in unison. He evidently 'had it in' for the regulators, for he clouted the
keys unmercifully, regardless of concord or effect, and when he quit,
from sheer exhaustion, it is safe to say that no such deafening laughter
and handclapping ever greeted an Irish piper before or since. (Irish Folk Music, pg. 26)
***
Sources for notated versions: the Irish collector Edward Bunting noted the melody from the harper Charles Byrne, probably at the end of the 18th century; . O'Neill (1850), 1979; No. 430, pg. 75. O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 43, pgs. 67-68. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; Nos. 422 & 423, pg. 107.
BLACKBIRD, THE [4]. American, "Piece" or Air. G Major. Standard. One part. Originally an Irish air, preserved by Pennsylvania fiddlers ("to their credit", says Bayard {1981}, who seems quite taken by the tune). "In this region it is not played as a dance, although dance versions have been recorded elsewhere, but as a 'piece' (i.e. a folk instrumental tune with no function beyond that of entertainment), or a 'dead march', which is what the players of both versions (see also 'Napoleon Crossing the Rhine' [2]) given here understand it to be. Joyce, notes that the air 'was played everywhere by pipers and fiddlers' (Joyce, 1909, p. 181); and in the course of tradition it has split into several rather sharply differentiated versions, of which our A represents the one seemingly best known. Our B version gives the air its usual American title of 'The Blackbird'. It is under this name that most country musicians in western Pennsylvania known the tune. To judge from collected and printed versions, 'The Blackbird' has undergone more extensive re-creation by some of its players in American than in the old country. It would appear that old-country players generally keep the main outlines of the air in tact, even though they may alter mode, tempo and rhythm. In western Pennsylvania the editor has recovered more than one version in which variation has involved truncation, reversal of the order of parts, displacement of some phrases as to relative location or pitch, and even the introduction of new turns to replace the old, familiar ones. Such changes may be observed in 'The Blackbird' (Martin version). Sometimes they cause the fine qualities of a tune to evaporate. But apparently the majestic movement of this tune has not been impaired by the alterations which (this) version has undergone. The extent to which popular re-creation may transform a tune without producing an entirely different melody could hardly be better exemplified than by these two sets. What has fixed the name of 'The Blackbird' upon the tune in this country, and made it a frequent name in Ireland, is the fact that, although it is primarily an instrumental tune here, it is also a vocal melody there, and is often set to a song of loyalty to the Young Pretender. In 1651 the royalist ballad-printer Richard Burton issued a broadside entitled 'The Ladies Lamentation. For the losse of her Land-lord', a song in two parts and eight stanzas lamenting the misfortunes and exile of Charles II. This ballad refers to Charles in the first stanza as the 'Black-bird (most Royal)' {Zimmerman, in his "Songs of the Irish Rebellion," printes sex verses of a song entitled "The Royal Blackbird."} In Ireland at a later period, the song-makers loyal to the house of Stuart seized on the piece with its symbolism so convenient to their necessities, and remade it--cutting it down to five stanzas, deleting all specific reference to the career of Charles II, giving prominence to the Blackbird symbol, modernizing the language, and introducing other variations. Thus remade, the song was understood to refer to Charles Edward Stuart, the famous 'Prince Charlie'--and in this guise it has persisted in tradition until the present day. It was also in Ireland, apparently, that this revision of the old Caroline ballad became attached to the tune represented by our version 'A' --a tune which Padraic Colum finds hard to associate with defeat, because of its beauty and pride. Along with this air, the song travelled to America, and the editor has recovered a fragment in Greene County. But the many instrumental versions of the tune in Pennsylvania doubtless reflect a tradition quite independent of the actual song, although its name has impressed itself upon the melody everywhere.
**
'The Blackbird' has had recent local tragedy associated with it as well as 'old, unhappy, far-off things'. A persistant tradition in southwestern Pennsylvania asserts that in Washington County a man once shot his son for singing this tune. The shooting actually occurred; but whether this tune is the one which occasioned it is not so certain. In 1822 a man named William Crawford was living at Horseshoe Bottom in Fallowfield Township, Washington County. He had been in the British army during the War of 1812, and was so ardently pro-English that he proudly styled himself 'Old Britannia.' He did not get along well with the rest of his family, and his son Henry used to snatch at every opportunity maddened the old man, and Henry sang it in his presence continually--despite threats of murder, to which no one paid much attention. On July 30, 1822, Crawford had a 'manure-hauling frolic' at his home. Henry appeared, and disregarding warnings, commenced 'The Blackbird,' when his father got his gun, took deliberate aim, and shot his son, killing him almost instantly. Crawford was hanged February 21, 1823. At his trial and thereafter he displayed an indifferent and contemptuous attitude toward the proceedings, and acted with what was taken for blasphemous levity and defiance. A full account of the tragedy--from which the above abstract was made--may be seen in Earle R. Forrest, 'History of Washington County Pennsylvania' (Chicago: S.J. Clarke Co., 1926), I 370, 374-6. The source just cited acconts for the father's reaction by stating that 'The Blackbird' was 'a popular patriotic American song of the day' (p. 374). If so, it could hardly have been the Jacobite piece associated with our tune; but it is not impossible that there was a patriotic native song set to this air at one time. At any rate, tradition has definitely associated the tune with this tragedy, which is frequently mentioned when the air is played in southwestern Pennsylvania. Other Pennsylvania instrumental versions of the air are Bayard Coll., Nos. 38, 90, 278...An unusual vocal set appears in Walker, The Southern Harmony, No. 43, to 'Hark! don't you hear the turtle dove, The token of redeeming love'; and the same is in the James edition of The Original Sacred Harp (1911), No. 208, with a note stating that the air appeared also in the Sacred Harp of 1844, and was taken from Dover's Selection, p. 154" (Bayard, 1944). A 3/4 time version appears in the John Carroll Manuscript compiled between 1804 and 1812 at Fort Niagra in New York. Musicologist Paul Tyler says Carroll was evidently a military fifer who was an aspiring fiddler. Paul Wells cites George Pullen Jackson (in his book Another Sheaf of White Spirituals) who finds the "Blackbird" melody used for American hymns prior to the Civil War, such as a piece called "Melody" from the Knoxville Harmony of 1838 and a more distanced variant for "Turtle Dove" from Southern Harmony (1835). Source for notated version: "Emery Martin, (near) Dunbar, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1943, learned from his father" [Bayard, 1944]: Numerous southwestern Pa. fiddlers [Bayard, 1981]. American Veteran Fifer, No. 91. Bayard (Hill Country Tunes), 1944; No. 88. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 177A-H, pgs. 131-134.
BONNY BREAST KNOT(S), THE. AKA and see "The Breast Knot," "Bonny Breist Knots," "Daddy Shot a Bear" (Pa.), "Jaybird" (Pa.), "Lady's Breast Knot," "Looking Glass," "The Pennsylvania Fifers" (Pa.). English, Reel or Country Dance Tune (2/2 time). England, Northumberland. D Major. Standard. AAB (Barnes): AABB (Kennedy, Raven). The country dance "Bonny Breast Knots" has been known since about 1770, according to Flett & Flett (1964), and long had a special place at Scottish weddings. Up until about 1900 in Roxburghshire and West Berwickshire, Scotland, it was always performed as the first dance after the wedding supper, with the bride and groom leading off with the best man and bridesmaid. Its status in the wedding rituals may be what is referred to in the song "The Briest Knots," quoted by Flett & Flett:
***
'Syne off they got a' wi' a fling,
Each lass unto her lad did cling,
And a' cry'd for a different spring,
The bride she sought the breast-knot.
***
Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes), 1986. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 47, pg. 23. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 166. Antilles (Island) AN-7003, Kirkpatrick & Hutchings - "The Compleat Dancing Master" (1973).
T:Bonny Breast Knot
L:1/8
M:C|
K:D
|:D|GBBG FAAF|Ee ed =c2 BA|GBBG FAAc|dAAG F2 D:|
|:g|fdfd fa ag/f/|ecec eg gf/e/|fdfd faac|dAAG F2 D:|
BUACHAILLÍN BUÍ, AN (The Yellow Little Boy). AKA and see "Come in the Evening," "Galloway Tom," "Galway Tom," "Galway Town," "The Goat's Horn," "The Kelso Races," "The Lark in the Morning," "The Little Yellow Boy," "The One-Legged Man," "The Spotted Cow," "The Thrush's Nest," "The Welcome," "A Western Lilt," "The Yellow Little Boy." Irish, Double Jig. D Major. Standard. ABCD (Breathnach): AABB (O'Neill). The tune is best-known under the title "Lark in the Morning." Breathnach states he took the name from the version published by O'Farrell in Collection of National Irish Music for the Union Pipes (c. 1797) and finds two more versions by O'Farrell in the latter's Pocket Companion. Source for notated version: fiddler Tommy Potts (Ireland) [Breathnach]. Breathnach (CRE I), 1963; No. 27, pg. 12. O'Neill (1850), 1979; No. 706, pg. 131.
CAMP CHASE [2]. Old-Time, Breakdown. A Major. AEAE, DGDG (Harvey Sampson) or Standard. AABB. No relation to version #1. The legend attached to the tune has been related by several writers (with slight variations) but most versions begin at the point that Solly "Devil Sol" Carpenter (fiddler French Carpenter's grandfather and himself one of the most influential fiddlers in West Virginia history) is imprisoned during the Civil War at a Union prison in Camp Chase, located near the west side of Columbus, Ohio, where the present-day Fort Hayes is situated. Little remains of the prison camp save for a cemetary on West Sullivan Ave., and a small stone retaining wall on West Broad Street, Columbus.
**
The story goes that while he was incarcerated the commandant held fiddler's contest to give the best player a chance to fiddle his way to freedom, or, as some versions go, to win a reprieve from a death sentance. Devil Sol, a man named Bowie and others played and apparently all the fiddlers played the same tune. Solly won by adding some unusual new notes to the tune according to his fancy (or perhaps, as one writer suggests, in desperation). West Virginia fiddler Wilson Douglas, a protege of French Carpenter, relates "There was quite a few who played in the contest; but Saul put these two high notes in. That tune, he called it 'Camp Chase.' It was some kind of a tune before but they hadn't named it yet. And when he got out of there he called it 'Camp Chase,' and it's gone by that name ever since." Although Sol gained his freedom in the contest he had to sign a parole, pledging not to take up arms against the Union; as the story goes, he ignored this and headed south to join another Confederate unit.
**
Alan Jabbour notes a similarity between one of the versions of "Camp Chase" and "George Booker," and suspects it may be the latter that was played in the contest; the name "Camp Chase" may then have been applied to the tune by W.Va. fiddlers who were familiar with the legend and Solly's Carpenter's music (Bill Hicks {1972}; Krassen {1983}). "George Booker" seems related, notes Jabbour, to the 18th century Scottish strathspey "The Marquis of Huntly's Farewell."
**
It will be noted that there are similar such legends in British Isles and other traditions in which a fiddler tries to play his way to freedom (or plays a masterpiece just before he is executed). Perhaps the oldest, and certainly one of the most famous, is the myth of the Greek harper Orpheus, who played his way out of Hades. See also the tunes "MacPherson's Farewell," "Last of Callahan," "Callahan" and the Cajun "Guilbeau's Waltz" and "Valse a Napoleon" which have similar tales attached.
**
Sources for notated versions: French Carpenter (WVa) [Krassen]; Bruce Molsky [Phillips]. Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddling), 1983; pg 58-59. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 44. Augusta Heritage Recordings AHR-004C, Harvey Sampson and the Big Possum String Band - "Flat Foot in the Ashes" (1986/1994. Learned by Calhoun County, W.Va., fiddler Harvey Sampson, probably from one of the Carpenter family). Shanachie Records 6040, Gerry Milnes & Lorraine Lee Hammond - "Hell Up Coal Holler" (1999).
COOLEY'S REEL [1]. AKA and see "Joe Cooley's Reel" [2], "Lutrell Pass," "Reynold's Reel," "Ríl na Tulai," "Tulla Reel." Irish, Reel. E Dorian. Standard. AAB (Carlin, Laufman): AABB (Brody, Mallinson, McNulty, Mulvihill, Songer, Taylor): AA'BB (Miller & Perron, Moylan): AA'BB' (Alewine). The tune is associated with the renowned button accordion player Joe Cooley (1924-1973), originally from Peterswell, County Galway, near the northern boundary of the Sliabh Aughty mountians. Cooley spent much of his later life in an itinerant lifestyle in various cities in America, and back and forth to Ireland. He was a member for a time of the famous Tulla Céilí Band in Ireland.
**
Peter Wood, in his book The Living Note: the Heartbeat of Irish Music (1996), had this to say about Cooley:
**
Cooley's accordion playing made a great impression on all those
who heard him. He had great energy and style. Everything for
him was wrapped up in emotion. There was at the time, and
there have been since, technically better players, faster players,
players who know their way round the box better than Joe did,
but it was always about Joe that you'd find the crowd gathered,
looking at him, watching him drive his whole body behind his
box. You could be standing at the back of a place when Cooley
came to play, the place emptied out into the corners, but when
he strapped on the box and launched into a tune the crowds
would start toward him, even if they didn't know who he was.
He inspired people. Oh, they'd say, can't he make it talk.
**
There are several stories circulating regarding the origins of this extremely popular tune. According to David Taylor (1992) the reel was the composition of Co. Mayo and New York fiddler John McGrath (1900-1955). Philippe Varlet maintains it was the invention of accordion player Joe Mills of the Aughrim Slopes Céilí Band, who originally entitled it "Lutrell Pass." Charlie Piggott, writing in his book co-authored with Fintan Vallely, Blooming Meadows (1998), has yet another version, related to him by Joe's brother Séamus. Its origins date to the 1940's when the teenaged brothers attended a house session in the neighboring county of Clare. There they listened to an old man with a battered concertina playing in front of an open fire (Séamus remembers some of the buttons had been replaced by cigarette ends!), and one tune in particular caught their attention. On returning home the brothers tried their best to remember what the old man had played, staying up through the night working and worrying the remembered fragments until finally the reel took shape. Séamus credits Joe with the first part of their refashioned piece, while himself taking credit for the turn.
**
Sources for notated versions: Jay Ungar (West Hurley, New York) [Brody]; accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Slaibh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border), recorded in recital at Na Píobairí Uilleann, November, 1990 [Moylan]; Jim Bly (Co. Roscommon/Northampton, England) & Frank McCollam (Ballycastle, Co. Antrim) [Mulvihill]; set dance music recorded live at Na Píobairí Uilleann, mid-1980's [Taylor]. Alewine (Maid that Cut Off the Chicken's Lips), 1987; pg. 13. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 74. Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; pg. 117, No. 197. Laufman (Okay, Let's Try a Contra, Men on the Right, Ladies on the Left, Up and Down the Hall), 1973; pg. 35. Mallinson (Essential), 1995; No. 27, pg. 12. McNulty (Dance Music of Ireland), 1965; pg. 7. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Tunes), 1977; Vol.1, No. 33. Moylan (Johnny O'Leary's), 1994; No. 170, pg. 98. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 7, pg. 2. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 54. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Yellow Book), 1995; pg. 21. Avoca 139, Sean Maguire--"Music of Ireland." Fretless 118, Marie Rhines- "The Reconciliation." Gael-Linn Records, Frankie Gavin & Paul Brock - "Tribute to Joe Cooley." Green Linnet 1009, Patricia Conway and Mick Moloney- "Irish Music: The Living Tradition" (appears as "Joe Cooley's Reel"). Greenhays GR 710, John McCutcheon - "Fine Times at Our House" (1982). Philo 1040l, Jay Ungar and Lynn Hardy- "Catskill Mountain Goose Chase" (1977. Appears as third tune of "Four Reels"). Rounder 0111, Russ Barenberg- "Cowboy Calypso." Tara Records, Tony Linnane & Noel Hill. Voyager 320-S, Frank Ferrel- "Fiddle Tunes."
T:Cooley's Reel
L:1/8
M:C|
K:E Minor
EBBA (B2 B)A|~B2 AB dBAG|FDAD BDAG|FDFA dAFD|
EBBA (B2 B)A|~B2 AB defg|afef dBAF|1 DEFD E2 z2:|2 DEFD E2 zf|
|:eB ~B2 eBfB|eB ~B2 gedB|A2 FA DAFA|~A2 FA defd|eB ~B2 eBgf|
eB ~B2 defg|afef dBAF|DEFD E2 z2:|
DRUNKEN LANDLADY, THE. Irish, Reel. E Dorian. Standard. AABB. Bill Black (1996) notes a resemblance to "Pigeon on the Gate." A similar tune called "The Drunken Tailor" was recorded by accordionist Michael Grogan and fiddler John Howard in 1946. Seamus Ennis is often cited as the source for this tune, which he is thought to have collected in Connemara in the 1940's, though he first heard the title in County Cavan. Breandan Breathnach included the tune "The Drunken Landlady" (in A Dorian) is his "Man and His Music" article on Seamus Ennis, from 1982. Sources for notated versions: Donal De Barra (Co. Limerick) [Mulvihill]; Bothy Band [Sullivan]; from the playing of piper Séamus Ennis (Dublin), who learned them from his father, a piper taught by Nicholas Markey who in turn had been taught by the renowned piper and pipemaker Billy Taylor of Drogheda and later Philadelphia [Breathnach]. Black (Music's the Very Best Thing), 1996; No. 9, pg. 5. Breathnach (Ceol V, No. 2), 1982. Breathnach (The Man and His Music), 1997; No. 2, pg. 71. Mallinson (Essential), 1995; No. 70, pg. 30. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 5, pg. 2. Sullivan (Session Tunes), Vol. 3; No. 61, pg. 25. Taylor (Crossroads Dance), 1992; No. 33, pg. 24. Atlantica Music 02 77657 50222 26, Kim Vincent - "Atlantic Fiddles" (1994). Islander Records, Kim Vincent - "Welcome Paddy Home" (1989). Shanachie 79006, Mary Bergin- "Feadoga Stain." Shaskeen - "My Love is in America."
X:1
T:Drunken Landlady, The
L:1/8
M:C
S:Séamus Ennis
K:A Dorian
f|eA A2 edBd|eA A2 edBd|dedB G3A|Bddf edBd|eA A2 edBd|
eA A2 (3gfe dB|d2 ef gbaf|1 (3gfe dB A3:|2 (3gfe dB A2||
Bd|:eaag a2 ga|b2 gb a2 ge|dedB G2 GA|Bddf edBd|
eaag aaga|b2 gb a2 ge|d2 ef gbaf|gedB A2:|
X:2
T: Drunken Landlady
Q: 350
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
S: Mary Bergin
Z: transcribed by B.Black
K: Edor
A | BE E2 BAFA | BE E2 BAFA | ABAF D2 FD | FAAd BAFA |
BE E2 BAFA | BE E2 BAFA | A2 Bc dfec | dBAF E3 :|
A | Beed e2 de | f2 df efdB | ABAF D2 FD | FAAd BAFA |
Beed e2 de | f2 df efdB | A2 Bc dfec | dBAF E3 :|
DOWD'S FAVORITE. AKA - "O'Dowd's Favorite." Irish, Cape Breton; Reel. G Aeolian (Gm) ('A' and 'C' parts) & B Flat Major ('B' part) [Brody]. Standard. AABBCC (Brody): ABC (Miller & Perron). The melody is a setting of the Scottish march/strathspey "The Braes of Bushbie," perhaps composed by John Bowie and appearing in his 1789 Collection. It was said to be a favorite of the great Scots fiddler Niel Gow's. Reworked as "O'Dowd's Favorite" (often called "Dowd's Favorite") it was famously recorded by County Sligo/New York fiddler Michael Coleman in 1921. Coleman himself probably obtained the melody from Sligo fiddler John O'Dowd, who also had emigrated to New York and where Coleman heard him play. See also the related tunes "The Rover" [4], "Dublin Lasses," "Murtough Mulloy" and "Tee Ree Reel;" they have a similar sequence in the first part. "The Curragh Races" and "The Maid in the Cherry Tree" are also related, and like "Dowd's Favorite," shift to the relative major in the second part. Sources for notated versions: Steeleye Span (England) [Brody] & Andy McGann (New York City) [Miller & Perron]; Hughie Gillespie [Bulmer & Sharpley]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 89. Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland), 1974, Vol. 2, No. 5. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 1977; Vol. 1, No. 22. Columbia CAL504-1, Paddy O'Brien (195?). Green Linnet GLCD 3105, Aly Bain - "Lonely Bird" (1996. Appears as "Dowd's Reel," learned from Sean Maguire). Green Linnet GLCD 3127, Sharon Shannon - "The Best of Sharon Shannon: Spellbound" (1999. Learned from Mirella Murrey, Clifden, Co. Galway). Pegasus Mooncrest 9, Steeleye Span- "Ten Man Mop." Philo 200l, "Jean Carignan" (appears as the third tune of 'Cape Breton Medley'. Carignan learned his version from the Andy McGann recording). Shanachie 29002, "Kathleen Collins." Shaskeen Records OS-360, Andy McGann - "A Tribute to Michael Coleman" (c. 1965).
EIGHTH OF JANUARY. AKA and see "Jackson's Victory." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA, Widely known. D Major. Standard or ADAE. AABB (Brody, Christeson, Phillips, Ruth, Sing Out, Sweet): AABB' (Krassen). One of the most popular and widespread of Southern fiddle tunes. Ken Perlman (1979) reports that the melody was originally named "Jackson's Victory" after Andrew Jackson's famous rout of the British at New Orleans on January, 8th, 1815. Around the time of the Civil War, some time after Jackson's Presidency, his popular reputation suffered and the tune was renamed to delete mention of him by name, thus commemorating the battle and not the man. Despite its wide dissemination, Tom Carter (1975) says that some regard it as a relatively modern piece refashioned from an older tune named "Jake Gilly." Not all agree-Tom Rankin (1985) suggests the fiddle tune may be older than the battle it commemorates, and that it seems American in origin, not having an obvious British antecedent, as do several older popular fiddle tunes in the United States. A related tune (though the 'B' part is developed differently") is Bayard's (1981) Pennsylvania collected "Chase the Squirrel" (the title is a floater).
***
"Eighth of January" was recorded for the Library of Congress from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, and from Mississippi fiddlers (John Hatcher, W.E. Claunch, Enos Canoy, Hardy Sharp) in 1939 by collector Herbert Halpert. It was in the repertoire of Cuje Bertram, an African-American fiddler from the Cumberland Plateau region of Kentucky who recorded it on a home tape in 1970, made for his family. In the 1950's Jimmy Driftwood famously refashioned the tune with new lyrics into his best-selling song "The Battle of New Orleans."
***
Missouri fiddler Glenn Rickman, born in 1901, was featured in an article in Bittersweet magazine and played "The Eighth of January" as part of his core repertoire. He had a seemingly curious habit:
***
I play the 'Eighth of January' over the telephone to a department store
here. Every eighth of January I call up the department store and they
put in on their loud speaker. This time I had it taped. I played 'Carroll
County Blues,...Sally Goodin',...Forked Deer' and 'Eighth of January.'
I'm glad to get to do this. The 'Eighth of January,' that was known way
back before my grandpa was born...
***
Rickman's playing over the phone for a department store audience is less curious when one considers that playing over the phone was at one time not unusual:
***
When the party line came in, telephones were used sort of like the radio
was later. Ten to fifteen families on a line could all listen in. On lines
like Slim Wilson's line, the neighbors would get a treat. The Wilson
family that lived near Nixa, Missouri, were all good musicians, and
when they were ready to play, they'd signal over the telephone line.
Everyone would take down the receivers and listen to the Wilson
family fiddling. Some would let the receiver hang down in a bucket
to help amplify the sound. (Allen Gage, Bittersweet, Volume IX, No. 3, Spring 1982)
***
Sources for notated versions: Charlie Higgins (Galax, Va.) [Krassen]; Cyril Stinnett (Oregon, Missouri) [Christeson]; Tommy Jackson [Phillips/1994]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 99. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddler's Repertory, Vol. 2), 1984; pg. 65. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 63. Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; pg. 39. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 50. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 17. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 80. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 15, pg. 7. Sing Out, Vol. 36, No. 2, August, 1991; pg. 77. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 76. Brunswick 239 (78 RPM) {1928}, Dr. Humphrey Bate and His Possum Hunters (Nashville, Tenn. Bill Barret was the fiddler for the tune, not Bate's regular, Oscar Stone). Caney Mountain Records CLP 228, Lonnie Robertson (Mo.) - "Fiddle Favorites." County 518, Arkansas Barefoot Boys- "Echoes of the Ozarks, Vol. 1." County 531, "Old TIme String Band Classics" (1975). County 541, Dr. Humphrey Bate & His Possum Hunters - "Nashville; the Early String Bands, Vol. 1." County 727, John Ashby- "Old Virginia Fiddling." Heritage 060, Major Contay and the Canebreak Rattlers - "Music of the Ozarks" (Brandywine, 1984). Kicking Mule KM-301, "Happy Traum, American Stranger" (1977). Marimac 9017, Vesta Johnson - "Down Home Rag." Mississippi Department of Archives and History AH-002, Hardy C. Sharp (Meridian, Mississippi) - "Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1985). Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Bob Walters (b. 1889) - "Drunken Wagoneer." Morning Star 45004, Ted Gossett's String Band (western Ky., originally recorded Sept., 1930) - "Wish I Had My Time Again." Ok 45496 (78RPM), The Fox Chasers. Rounder 0085, "Tony Rice." Rounder 7002, Graham Townsend--"Le Violin/The Fiddle." Spr 2655 (78 RPM), Buddy Young's Kentuckian's (AKA the Ted Gossett Band, originally recorded Sept. 1930). Spt 9775 (78 RPM), The Country String Band (AKA the Ted Gossett Band/Buddy Young's Kentuckian's/Tommy Whitmer Band). Voyager 340, Jim Herd - "Old Time Ozark Fiddling."
T:Eighth of January
L:1/8
M:2/4
K:D
e/a/|f/e/f/a/ f/e/d/f/|e/f/e/d/ BB/d/|ee/f/ e/d/B/A/|d/B/A/F/ De/a/|
f/e/f/a/ f/e/d/f/|e/f/e/d/ B/d/e/f/|a/f/e/a/ f/e/c/A/|d/B/A/F/ D:|
|:A/A/|AA/B/ AA/A/|A/d/B/A/ F/E/D/F/|AA/B/ AA/d/|B/A/F/E/ DD/F/|
AA/B/ AA/A/|A/d/B/A/ F/E/D/F/|AA/A/ A/d/f/e/|d/B/A/F/ D:|
FAIRY DANCE (Rinnce Na Sideoga/Sideog). AKA and see "Fisher Laddie," "The Haymaker," "La Ronde des Vieux," "Largos Fairy Dance," "The Merry Dance" (New England), "Old Molly Hare" (Old-Time). Irish, English, Scottish, Shetlands, American, Canadian; Reel. D Major (most versions): G Major (Merryweather): A Major (O'Neill/1001). Standard. AB (Honeyman, Raven): AAB (O'Neill/1001): AABB (Ashman, Brody, Ford, Sweet, Taylor, Trim): AABB' (Kerr): AA'BB' (Athole, Merryweather): AABCCD (Roche): AABBCCDDEEF (Cranford/Fitzgerald). Often this tune is a "beginning tune" for fiddlers, and though simple, it seems to have retained its popularity through the years. It was one of 197 compositions claimed and published (in Fifth Collection,"1809) by Nathaniel Gow under the title "Largo's Fairy Dance," which dates it to the latter eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Breandan Breathnach states that it was composed by Niel Gow for the Fife Hunt Ball held in 1802, but this is only partly true, according to Nigel Gatherer, for it was actually a pair of tunes Gow wrote, the second being "The Fairies Advance." Both tunes together make up "Largo's Fairy Dance." Emmerson identifies this tune in a class of tunes defined by the rhythm 'quarter note-two eighths-quarter note-two eigths,' which includes "De'il Among the Tailors," "Rachel Rae," and "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" (which Emmerson {1971} says is substantially a set of "Fairy Dance").
***
In Ireland, it was learned by Joyce in his boyhood in County Limerick, c. 1840. He (1909) says a Donegal setting of this will be found in the 'Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society.' O'Neill (1913) records that a special dance was performed to the tune in that country. Under the title "The Fairy Reel" the tune features in stories of enchantment by the wee folk. A tale is told by Padraig Mac Aodh-O'Neillin in his 1904 book Songs of Uladh (Songs of Ulster) of the origins of the tune which stem from a fiddler of the Mac Fhionnlachs from Flacarragh:
***
There was a gathering of Bel-Taine on St. John's Day (23rd of June), around
the bonfire in Caislean-na-dThuath in northern Dun-na-nGall about 150-160
years ago (~1850).
***
"...the fire was wearing low, the dancing nearly over, and the sturdiest
steppers getting tired, a stranger came among the people, announcing himself
in the words: "Sonas, sonas--luck on all here! The music called me, and I
going to bed." He said no more.
***
He was attired only in his night-garments. Much consternation was
caused by his curious appearance and behaviour, the more so as he was quite
unknown to the festive-maker. He went around asking the young girls to
dance with him; but out of fifty or more assembled there, he found but one
(and she, happily, was not a native of the district) who expressed herself
willing to accept his invitation. There were three or four fidilers there
and one piper, and he called on them to turn on the "Fairy Reel." But not
one of them knew it; every man of them declared that the air and the name
was new to him. Whereupon the mysterious stranger snatched the fidil out of
the hands of mac Fhionnlaoich, the Falcarrach man, who was nearest him, and
flourishing his bow with the grace of a master, turned on the tune himself,
the people standing around with their mouths wide open in wonderment.
***
"Now," he said to mac Fhionnlaoich, when he had finished the wonderful
tune, "there's your fidil for you. Turn on the 'Reel.' Play it after me;
for you're the only man in the Five Kingdoms can do that same!"
***
So mac Fhionnlaoich complied--somewhat reluctantly, it must be said-and played the 'Fairy Reel: through from beginning to end without a break, while the weird stranger and his fair partner danced, all the people looking on. When he had finished dancing with the girl he slipped a gold peiece into her hand, and turning solemnly towards the people, said: "Remove the fire seven paces to the North, and enjoy yourselves till daybreak. A Sonas, sonas--luck with all here!"
***
And so saying, he strode off into the darkness, disappearing as
mysteriously as he had come.
***
I give this story pretty much as I got it from my friend Padraig mac
Aodh o Neill, who got it from Proinseas mac Suibhne, the schoolmaster of
Losaid, in Gartan
***
Another fairy tale collected (by Seamus Ennis) on Tory Island mentions the tune, is again related by Mac Aoidh, and has parallels in other cultures. It seems that an islander, while going to collect his sheep at Port Glas, overheard wonderful music emanating nearby and investigated. The fairy folk were playing the "Fairy Reel" and the man, being an avid and accomplished dancer, felt compelled to join in. The music and dancing lasted and lasted, and he danced and danced, unable to stop until by chance another islander came upon him. This second man heard no music, and saw nothing of the fairy celebration, and asked the first what he was doing. He got the reply that the dancer was enchanted and would not be able to stop until a mortal laid hand on him. This was done, and the dancer saved from his fate. Mac Aoidh translates: "The soles of his shoes and his socks were worn through and his feet were sore to the bone from the roughness of the place he was dancing on." A similar tale is told by Canadian storyteller Alan Mills (to the accompanying fiddling of Montreal musician Jean Carignan) collected from French-Canadian tradition, which he calls "Ti-Jean and the Devil" (with the Devil substituting for Fairies).
***
A Pennsylvania collected version appears in Bayard (1981) as "Rustic Dance" (No. 52, pg. 38), and, as "La Ronde des Vieux" it was recorded in the latter 1920's by French-Canadian fiddler Willie Ringuette.
***
The tune is associated with a traditional dance in the village of Askham Richard, which lies a few miles from York, England. The famous Dorset novelist Thomas Hardy, himself an accordion player and fiddler, mentioned the tune in The Fiddler of the Reels:
***
Then another dancer fell out - one of the men - and went into
the passage in a frantic search for liquor. To turn the figure into
a three-handed reel was the work of a second, Mop modulating
at the same time into 'The Fairy Dance,' as best suited to the
contracted movement, and no less one of those foods of
love which, as manufactured by his bow, had always intoxicated her.
***
Sources for notated versions: Dave Swarbrick (England) [Brody]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]; Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton), who adapted J. Scott Skinner's variations [Cranford]. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; NO. 30b, pg. 9. Bain (50 Fiddle Solos), 1989; pg. 7. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 100. Cranford (Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 129, pg. 53. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 71. Honeyman (Secrets of the Gaelic Harp), 1898; pg. 8. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin Tunes); No. or pg. 24. Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Song), 1909; No. 129, pgs. 65-66. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; Set 14, No. 2, pg. 10. Merryweather (Merryweather's Tunes for the English Bagpipe), 1989; pg. 53. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1986; No. 986, pg. 170. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 162. Roche Collection, 1982, Vol. 3; No. 138, pg. 43 (listed as a Long Dance). Skinner, Harp and Claymore, 1903. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 113. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 61. Taylor (Where's the Crack), 1989; pg. 13 (appears as "Fairy Reel"). Trim (Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 24. Edison 50653 (78 RPM), Joseph Samuels (appears as 4th tune of "Devil's Dream Medley"). Glencoe 001, Cape Breton Symphony- "Fiddle." Transatlantic 341, Dave Swarbrick- "Swarbrick 2." Fife Strathspey and Reel Society - "The Fiddle Sounds of Fife" (1980). "Bob Smith's Ideal Band, Ideal Music" (1977). "Fiddlers Three Plus Two." Ron Gonella- "A Tribute to Niel Gow."
X:1
T:Fairy Dance
L:1/8
M:C|
R:Reel
B:The Athole Collection
K:D
f2fd f2fd|f2fd cAeA|f2fd gfed|1 cABc d2de:|2 cABc defg||
|:a2af b2ba|gfge a2ag|1 fefd B2 e>d|cABc defg:|2 fefd Bged|
cABc d2D2||
X:2
T:Fairy Dance, The
L:1/8
M:C
S:Joyce - Old Irish Folk Music
K:D
f2fd f2fd|gfed cdeg|f2fd gfed|cABc d2d2|f2fd f2fd|gfed cdeg|fafd gfed|cABc defg||
a2af b2bf|g2ge a2 ag|f2fd gfed|cABc defg|a2af b2bf|g2ge a2 ag|fagf gfed|cABc d2d2||
X:3
T:Fairy Reel, The (Irish)
R:reel
Z:Transcribed by Philippe Varlet
M:C
L:1/8
K:G
~B3 A GBdB|{d}cBAG FGAc| BG~G2 cBAg|fdaf {a}gedc|
~B3 A GBdB|{d}cBAG FGAc| BG~G2 cBAG|1 FDEF G3 A :|2 FDEF GABc||
~d3 g e3 d|cA A/A/A d3 c|BG~G2 cBAg|fdaf {a}gfge|
~d3 g e3 d|cA A/A/A d3 c|BG~G2 cBAG|1 FDEF GABc :|2 FDEF G4||
FINGER LOCK, THE. Scottish, Pibroch. A piece of piobaireachd music attributed to Ranald MacAilean Og of Cross on the Island of Eigg (c. 1662-1741), said to have been a good performer on harp and fiddle, though he was best known as a piper. The tune is sometimes associated with Calum MacRaibeart, the son of an Irish armorer who had been imported (along with his brother David, a harper) to Muckairn by the Earl of Cawdor. There are numerous stories and legends about Ranald, colorful and robust. He is said to have been a man of enormous physical strength-he stopped a mill-wheel turning at full speed, and was called upon to hold down the dying chief of Clanranald, Evil Donald (Domhnall Dona Mac 'ic Ailean), when the Devil came to claim him in payment for a debt Donald owed. Ranald was supposed to have overcome the ghost of a headless woman which was terrorizing the district of Morar and Arisaig. He was known to have been on good terms with the local witches (though he avoided participating in their rites), and they warned him that they had forseen impending danger, saving him from drowning on the river Lochy. In his old age he became blind and bedridden, but scarcely diminished in temper, for if he thought himself neglected by his kin he would lull them into approaching by his pleasant talk and calm demeanor, then cuff them a terrible blow about the head (Sanger & Kinnaird, Tree of Strings, 1992).
GARRYOWEN (Garad-Eogan Le Atrugad). AKA - "Garry/Gary Owen." AKA and see "Auld Bessy," "Battle of Limerick," "The Bivouac (of the Dead)," "Bosom that Beats," "Daughters of Erin," "Finnegan's Dream," "Hurrah for the Women of Limerick," "Let Bacchus' sons not be dismayed," "O! Friendship will smile," "The Scotch Laddie," "We May Roam Thro' This World." Irish (originally), Scottish, English; Jig and (in England) North-West Morris Dance Tune. G Major (Cole, Ford, O'Neill, Phillips, Trim, Sweet, Wade): F Major (Gow, Harding): A Major (Kerr): D Major (Russell). Standard. One part (Russell): AAB (Gow): AABB (Cole, Ford, Harding, Kerr, O'Neill, Sweet, Wade): AABB' (Phillips). "Garryowen," the name of a suburb of Limerick, was written c. 1770-1780 supposedly in honor of the moneyed young hooligans who ran riot in the Irish county at the time. Garryowen translates as "Owen's garden." Samuel Bayard, however, finds the first printed appearance of the tune in Aird's 1787 Collection under the title "Auld Bessy." Another early Irish printing is in O'Farrell's Pocket Companion. After its use in a pantomime called Harlequin Amulet, produced in 1800, the jig gained great popularity as a fife and fiddle tune. It is sometimes (mistakenly) attributed to 'Jackson of Cork', a reference to the famous 18th century uilleann piper and composer Walter "Piper" Jackson. Doolin, north County Clare, tin whistle player Micho Russell described it as a "very old jig," often played for the dance called the 'plain set' in Clare and surrounding Irish counties.
***
In the United States it was adopted as a favorite marching air by General George Custer's 7th Cavalry, an association which helped to popularize the jig throughout country following Custer's demise. "It had been said that the 7th acquired the song through Captain Miles Keogh, an Irishman and a former member of the Papal Guard, but it seems unlikely that (its American use) can be ascribed to a particular person, since 'Garryowen' appeared in a number of Civil War songsters, and was therefore presumably well known to any number of American soldiers in 1861-1865 -- dates preceding Keogh's association with the 7th" (Winstock, 1970; pgs. 102-104).
***
The melody was cited as having commonly been played at Orange County, New York country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly) and it was used as a tune for a single step in the English North-West morris dance tradition. Queen Victoria requested the tune of piper Thomas Mahon (along with "St. Patrick's Day" and "Royal Irish Quadrilles") during her first visit to Ireland in 1849, and the piper was thus "surprised when he learned that not only the Queen, but the Prince Consort was familiar with the best gems of Irish music" (O'Neill, 1913). His performance pleased the Queen and she directed that he might thenceforth bear the title "Professor of the Irish Union Bagpipes to Her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria."
***
Words were set to the jig melody at some point, and go:
***
Let Bacchus' sons be not dismayed
But join with me, each jovial blade
Come, drink and sing and lend your aid
To help me with the chorus:
***
Chorus:
Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale
And pay the reckoning on the nail;
No man for debt shall go to jail
From Garryowen in glory.
***
We'll beat the bailiffs out of fun,
We'll make the mayor and sheriffs run
We are the boys no man dares dun
If he regards a whole skin.
***
Our hearts so stout have got no fame
For soon 'tis known from whence we came
Where'er we go they fear the name
Of Garryowen in glory.
***
Adam, 1928; No. 26. Aird (Selections), Vol. 3, 1788; No. 600 (appears as "Auld Bessy"). American Veteran Fifer, 1927; No. 59. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 502 (appears as "Gary Owen"). Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 63. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 118. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 2, 1802; pg. 30. Harding's Original Collection, 1928; No. 7. Harding's All-Round, 1905; No. 187, pg. 59. Howe (Diamond School for the Violin), 1861; pg. 49. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes), No. or pg. 16. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 17, pg. 37. Old Fort Snelling Instruction Book for the Fife, 1974; pg. 61.O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 971, pg. 180. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 1001, pg. 172 (includes variations). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 365 (appears as "Gary Owens"). Robbins, 1933; No. 69. Russell (The Piper's Chair), 1989; pg. 23. Saar, 1932; No. 5. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 22. Trim (Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 52. Wade (Mally's North West Morris Book), 1988; pg. 4. Winstock (Music of the Redcoats), 1970; pg. 103. Edison 50870 (78 RPM), Joseph Samuels, 1919 (appears as 1st tune of "St. Patrick's Day Medley").
X:1
T:Cary Owen (sic)
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Gow - 2nd Repository
K:F
f|~fcB ~AGF|A>BA A2f|~fcB ~AGF|GAG G2f|~fcB ~AGF|
ABA A2d|c>de f2A|GAG G2:|
A/B/|(A/B/c)A ~c2A|c2A c2f|d2B d2B|d2B d2e|f2g {fg}a2g|f2d c2A|
cde f2A|GAG G2 A/B/|{AB}c2A {AB}c2A|{AB}c2A c2f|d2B d2B|
d2B d2e|f2g {fg}a2g|f2d c2A|cde f2A GAG G2||
X:2
T:Garryowen
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:O'Neill - 1001 Gems (1001)
K:G
g/f/|edc BAG|B>cB Bgf|edc BAG|ABA Agf|edc BAG|B>cB B2 B/c/|def gdB|A>BA A2:|
|:B/c/|d2B d2B|dec dgf|e2c e2c|efd e2f|g2a b2a|gfe edB|def gdB|A>BA A2:|
|:g|e/f/ge dBG|BGB Bgf|e/f/ge dBG|AFA Agf|e/f/ge dBG|BGB BAB|def gdB|ABA A2:|
|:B/c/|dBg dBg|dBg d2g|ecg dcg|ecg e2f|g2a b2a|gfe dcB|def gdB|ABA A2:|
|:B/c/|d2B g2B|b3 bag|f2g a2b|c'ba gfe|d2B g2B|b3 bag|def gdB|ABA A2:|
|:c/B/|A2B c2c|B2c d2d|e/f/gd gbd|e/f/gd e2f|g2d b2d|gfe dcB|def gdB|ABA A2:|
GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME, THE [1] (or "An Spailpin Fanach"). AKA and see "As Slow Our Ship," "Brighton Camp," "The Gal I Left Behind Me," "Pretty Little Girl" (I Left Behind Me), "An Spailpin/Spalpeen Fanach," "The Rambling Laborer," "The Wandering Harvest Labourer." Old-Time, American, Irish, Scottish, English; March, Two-Step, Polka, Set, Sword, Country and Morris Dance Tune (2/4 time). G Major (almost all versions): A Flat Major (O'Sullivan/Bunting): C Major (Ashman). Standard. One part (Linscott, Raven): AB (Bayard, O'Sullivan/Bunting, Shaw): AABB (Ashman, Brody, Ford, Kennedy, Perlman, Phillips, Sweet, Tubridy): AABBCC (Hall & Stafford).
***
There are many conflicting theories about the exact origins and dates of the tune that is claimed vociferously by both the English and Irish. "The Irish name, according to Bunting (1840), is 'The S(p)ailpin Fanach' or "The Rambling Laborer.' The music and words were printed in Dublin in 1791, although it was known much earlier. It is claimed by one authority that this tune originated when Admirals Hawke and Rodney were watching the French Fleet off the coast in 1758. Still another opinion assertes that in Queen Elizabeth's time it was very popoular and was played when a man-of-war weighed anchor or when a regiment moved in or out of town." (Linscott, 1939). "The song derives from an old British marching song; Spaeth identifies it with an Irish folk-tune, first written down in 1800...(also closely related to) "Brighton Camp" to which William Chappell (1893) assigns the date 1758 (See note on "Brighton Camp" for more details, esp. regarding Chappell's research). Kidson (Groves) can date it with confidence only from 1797, from a manuscript collection then in his possession. Fuld (1966) insists that the manuscripts Chappell refers to have not been located, and despite the persistent thought that the tune was known as "Brighton Camp" no printings of the melody under that name have been found to exist. Kidson (Groves) does find evidence of the melody as "Brighton Camp," although not before its publication in The Gentleman's Amusement c. 1810. Alfred Moffat, for one, in his Minstrelsy of Ireland (pg. 14) maintains that while it may be true that the British knew the tune in 1758-59 during the encampments of Rodney and Hawke, it still is quite possible the air was imported from Ireland, citing its "Irish flavour" and its resemblance to the Irish melody "The Rose tree in full bearing."
***
Moffat maintains Bunting's version "is a mere parody on the genuine air," an opinion that Kidson (Groves) agrees with, saying the Bunting's elaborate version (as with Moore's) "quite destroy the strongly marked rhythm of the simple marching form." Chappell and Bunting communicated about "The Girl I Left Behind Me," the latter writing in 1840 to the English musicologist: "It is a pretty tune, and has been played for the last fifty years, to my knowledge, by the fifes and drums, and bands of different regiments, on their leaving the towns for new quarters." Some writers maintain that Bunting may have been conservative in his date and say that there is evidence that "The Girl I Left Behind Me" was often played in the years before the American Revolution when a British naval vessel set sail or and army unit left for service abroad. This may have inspired Thomas Moore write his song "As slow our ship," published in Irish Melodies in 1818, to the air "Girl I Left Behind Me."
***
"The Girl I Left Behind Me" has a long and illustrious history in America. Dolph (1929) prints a standard text popular at the time of the Civil War, which was a great favorite with Gen. George Custer, and is still the official regimental song of the 7th Cavalry (see also "Garryowen"). "My grandfather tells me that he heard it played by bands in both armies at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, in 1862" (Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, Vol. III, 1980). Cauthen (1990) finds reference to its being played during the Civil War in an account by Georgia fiddler Ben Smith of the 12th Alabama Infantry; she calls it a "show tune" which was popularized during that war and which entered folk tradition through discharged soldiers. The United States army troop [The Old Guard] at Fort Snelling, Minesota, considered it a favorite in the 19th century. Today it remains in use by the army and is played at the United States Military Academy at West Point as part of the medley for the cadets' final formation at graduation.
***
Notwithstanding its popularity as a song or martial air, "The Girl" gained renewed currency as a dance tune in the South. Linscott (1939) remarks that in New England it was a great march favorite and that it "has always been popular as a country dance tune." The piece was a 'catagory tune' in an 1899 Gallatin, Tenn., fiddle contest; each fiddler would play his (or her?) rendition, with the best version winning a prize (C. Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). It was cited as having commonly been played at Orange County, New York country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly), and was in the repertoire of Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner whose hey-day was in the early 20th century. Also in repertories of Uncle Jimmy Thompson (1848-1931) {Texas, Tenn.) as "The Girl I Left Behind," Mainer Mellie Dunham (Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's), and Buffalo Valley, Pa., dance fiddlers Harry Daddario and Ralph Sauers. It was recorded for the Library of Congress by folklorist/muicologist Vance Randolph in the early 1940's from Ozark Mountain fiddlers.
***
The English novelist Thomas Hardy, himself an accordionist and fiddler, mentioned the tune in scene notes to The Dynasts:
***
A June sunrise; the beams struggling through the window curtains.
A canopied bed in a recess on the left. The quick notes of 'Brighton
Camp' or 'The Girl I Left Behind Me,' strike sharply into the room
from fifes and drums without.
***
Morris and sword dance versions in this setting of the tune have been collected from the Abingdon, Handsworth, Bampton, Longborough, and Lichfield, England, areas, {the latter has a 'C' part which is the tune 'Here we go round the Mulberry bush...'}. In Scotland "The Girl I Left Behind Me" was the name of a solo dance with twelve steps and was performed to "The Girl..." melody. This Scottish dance was transported to Cape Breton and entered dance tradition there where it was performed during the 19th century.
***
Sources for notated versions: harper Arthur O'Neill, 1800 (Ireland) [Bunting]; John McDermott (New York State, 1926) [Bronner]; 10 southwestern Pa. fifers and fiddlers [Bayard, 1981]; William Garrett with Hack's String Band [Phillips]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]; caller George Van Kleeck (Woodland Valley, Catskill Mtns., New York) [Cazden]; Angus McPhee (b. c. 1924, Mt. Stewert, Queens County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]. American Veteran Fifer, No. 64. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 2b, pg. 1. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 338A-J, pg. 322-325. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 119. Bronner, 1987; No. 4, pg. 27 (appears as last tune of "Virginia Reel Medley." Bruce-Emmett (Fifer's Guide), 1880; pg. 52. Bunting, 1840; pg. 43. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 9. Cazden, 1955; pg. 14. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Times), Vol. 2, 1859; pgs. 187-188 (appears as "Brighton Camp"). Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 116. Hall & Stafford, 1974; pg. 12. Hazeltine (Instructor in Martial Music), 1820; pg. 29. Howe, Diamond School for the Violin, 1861; pgs. 51, 61, 62. Hulbert, 182?; pg. 19. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tune)s; No. or pg. 7. Karpeles (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 31. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 55, pg. 27. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 3; pg. 41. Linscott (The Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 79-80. Moffat, (202 Gems), pg. 8. Neal (Esperance Morris Book), 1910; pg. 19. Old Fort Snelling Instruction Book for the Fife, 1974; pg. 35. O'Malley, 1919; pgs. 26, 35. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 972. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 972, pg. 167 (appears as "The Spalpeen Fanach"). O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 57, pgs. 87-90. Ostling, 1939; pg. 10. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 153. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 97. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 94. Riley (Flute Melodies), 1814; Vol. 1, No. 349. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), Set 1, 1911; pg. 1. Sharp (Sword Dance Tunes), 1911-1913; Book 1, 5, Book 3, pgs. 4 & 12. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 382. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 45. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Vol. 1), 1999; pg. 10. White's Excelsior Collection, 1907; pg. 72. Augusta Heritage Records 003, Ernie Carpenter, "Elk River Blues: Traditional Tunes From Braxton County, W.Va." (appears as "Pretty Little Girl I Left Behind Me"). Brunswick (78 RPM), John McDermot (central N.Y.), 1926 (appears as last tune of "Virginia Reel Medley"). Cassette C-7625, Wilson Douglas - "Back Porch Symphony." Mag, Hubert and Ted Powers- "Powers Town Music." Edison 51381 (78 RPM), Jasper Bisbee (Mich.), 1923. Folk Legacy Records FSA-17, Hobart Smith - "America's Greatest Folk Intsrumentalist" (appears as middle tune of "Banjo Group 2"). Gennett 6826 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts (Ky.). OKeh 45150 (78 RPM), Franklin Co., Va., fiddler Howard Maxey {1882-1947} (1927). Paramont 3017 (78 RPM), 1927, John Baltzell (Mt. Vernon, Ohio). RCA Victor LCP 1001, Ned Landry and His New Brunswick Lumberjacks - "Bowing the strings with Ned Landry." Tradition TLP 1007, Richard Chase - "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians," 1956. Victor 36402A (78 RPM), Woodhull's Old Tyme Masters (N.Y.), 1941. Voyager 340, Jim Herd - "Old Time Ozark Fiddling."
T:Girl I Left Behind Me, The
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Shaw - Cowboy Dances
K:G
g/f/|ed c/B/A/G/|AG E>F|GG G/A/B/c/|d2 B(g/f/)|ed c/B/A/G/|AG E>G|FA DE/F/|
G2G2||GB de/f/|gd B>G|Bd ef|g2 f(g/f/)|ed c/B/A/G/|AG E>G|FA DE/F/|G2G2||
GREENLAND MAN'S TUNE, DA. Shetland, "Listening Tune" or Shetland Reel (4/4 time). A Mixolydian. Standard. AABB. A tune from the days when Shetland islanders would go whaling off the coast of Greenland. Robin Morton (1976) notes a Scandinavian influence in the tune, while Anderson & Georgeson (1970) state that this "best known of all the Sheltland Reels" bears a strong resemblance to a country dance tune from Jutland, Denmark. There are many variants to the tune. Source for notated version: Willie Hunter (Shetland) [Anderson & Georgeson]. Anderson & Georgeson (Da Mirrie Dancers), 1970; pg. 16. Boys of the Lough, 1977; pg. 20. Philo 1042, Boys of the Lough - "The Piper's Broken Finger" (1976). Transatlantic TRA 311, Boys of the Lough - "The Piper's Broken Finger."
GREIG'S PIPES (Píopaí Greig). AKA and see "Cobbler's Hornpipe," "Connolly's Reel," "Craig's Pipes," "The Fiddler is Drunk," "The Foxhunters," "Greg's Pipe Tune," "Gregg's Pipes," "Gun Do Dhuit Am Bodach Fodar Dhomh" (The Old Man Wouldn't Give Me Straw), "The Kerry Huntsman," "Kregg's Pipes," "The Manchester," "Píopaí Greig," "Willy Wink(ie)'s Testament," "Willy Wilky." Scottish, Shetland, Canadian, Irish; Reel. Shetland, Whalsay. Canada; Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island. G Major (Breathnach, Mulvihill, Taylor, Tubridy): A Major (Athole, Cranford, Hardie, Perlman). Standard, AEAE or AEAC#. AABB (Taylor): ABC (Feldman & O'Doherty, Tubridy): ABBC (Mulvihill): AABBCC' (Perlman): ABBCCDD (Cranford/Fitzgerald): AABBCCDD (Athole, Gow, Hardie): AABB'CDE (Breathnach). AEAC# tuning was preferred for "Greig's Pipes" in the 18th century (Johnson, 1983) as it is set, for example in Neil Stewart's 1761 collection, but it is also played in ADAE tuning. Played in AEAE tuning, the tune was employed on the island of Whalsay, Shetland, by fiddlers John Irvine and Andrew Polson as one of the tunes for the "bedding the bride" ritual (Cooke, 1986). AEAE is also a common tuning for the piece on Cape Breton Island, especially with the early-mid 20th century generations of fiddlers, such as Mary Hughie MacDonald and Donald MacLellan (Paul Cranford, 1997) {Winston Fitzgerald, however, played it in standard tuning}. "Greig's Pipes" is a double-tonic tune that is also in the pentatonic scale; a characteristic now-a-days recognized as Scottish, but the double-tonic was also common in English music prior to 1700 when it dropped out of favor in that part of the island. To avoid the need to tune up and retune after playing the piece, it was, according to Charles Milne of Dufftown, the last item of an evening's program (Collinson, 1966). The melody appears in the Gillespie Manuscript of Perth, 1768, and Joshua Campbell's 1778 Collection of Newest and Best Reels (pg.11), though John Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing in Neil Stewart's 1761 collection (pg. 44). A Cape Breton bagpipe setting was printed by Barry Shears in his Gathering of the Clans Collection (1991) under the title "Gun Do Dhuit Am Bodach Fodar Dhomh" (The Old Man Wouldn't Give Me Straw), and Perlman (1996) adds that another Cape Breton title is "Greg's Pipe Tune." A dorian setting of the tune also goes by the name "Gregg's Pipes" in Kerr's 4th. Several Irish versions are found as "Craig's Pipes."
***
In Ireland the tune appears in print in O'Farrell's Pocket Companion, a setting reprinted by O'Neill in Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (288, 1922). O'Neill printed the tune elsewhere under the title "Limber Elbow" (a poor version, says Breathnach), and the first part of the tune appears in his "Edenderry Reel." Other Irish names include "The Kerry Huntsman" and "Connolly's Reel."
***
Sources for notated versions: accordionist Sonny Brogan (County Sligo/Dublin, Ireland) [Breathnach]; Mary MacDonald (Cape Breton) [Dunlay & Greenberg]; John Clancy (Bronx, New York) [Mulvihill]; Hughie McPhee (b. 1924, Elmira, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island; now resident of Priest Pond) [Perlman]; Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford]; set dance music recorded live at Na Píobairí Uilleann, mid-1980's [Taylor]; fiddlers Francie and Mickey Byrne (County Donegal) [Feldman & O'Doherty]. Breathnach (CRE I), 1963; No. 96, pg. 41. J. Campbell, Newest and Best Reels (c. 1778). Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 100, pg. 42. Dunlay & Greenberg (Violin Music of Cape Breton), 1996; pg. 136. Feldman & O'Doherty (The Northern Fiddler), 1979; pg. 169. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 24. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 122. Lowe, Collection of Reels and Strathspeys, 1844. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 6, pg. 2. O'Neill (Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody); No. 288. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 104. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 16. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Yellow Book), 1995; pg. 20. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Vol. 1), 1999; pg. 24. Celtic SCX 57, Dan R. MacDonald et al - "The Fiddlers of Cape Breton." Green Linnet GLCD 1128, Brendan Mulvihill & Donna Long - "The Morning Dew" (1993). Rodeo RLP 107, Joe MacLean - "And His Old Time Scottish Fiddle" (c. 1967. Appears as "Athole Reel"). Rodeo RLP 59, Dan R. MacDonald - "Fiddling to Fortune with..." Rounder 7009, Doug MacPhee - "Cape Breton Piano" (1977).
X:1
T:Greig's Pipes
L:1/8
M:C|
S:Reel
B:The Athole Collection
K:A
f|eAcA eAAf|eAcA BFFf|eAcA eAcA|B/B/B (cA BFF:|
|:B|cAcA cAAB|cAcA BFFB|cAcA EacA|B/B/B (cA BFF:|
|:A|EA,CA, EA,A,F|EA,CA, FB,B,F|EA,CA, EA,CA,|B,/B,/B, (CE FB,B,:|
|:G|A2 A>E CA,A,E|A2 (AE FB,B,G|A2 A>E CA,EC|B,/B,/B, (CE FB,B,:|
X:2
T:Greig's Pipes
L:1/8
M:C|
K:G
B3 B BAGA|B2 GB AGEG|B3 B BAGB|A2BG AGEG|B3B BAGA|
B2 dB AGEG|B~d3 eBdB|AcBG AGEG||DG G2 DGBG|DGBG AGEG|
DG G2 DGBG|dBAc BGGE|DG G2 DGBG|DGBG AGEG|DG G2 DGBG|
DBAc BGGB||d2 Bd egge|d2 BG AGEG|d2 Bd eg g2|agbg ageg|
D2 Bd egge|d2 BG AGEG|d2 Bd eg g2|a2 bg aged||
I HAVE NO MONEY ("Níl Aen Airgiod Agam," "" or "Táim gan Airgead"). AKA and see "Miss Hamilton." Irish, Reel. C Major (O'Neill): D Major (Breathnach). Standard. AB (O'Neill/1850 & 1001): ABB' (O'Neill/Krassen). Sources for notated versions: whistle player Mick Crehan, 1971 (Co's. Clare and Kildare, Ireland) [Breathnach/CRE II]; from the playing of piper Séamus Ennis (Dublin), who learned them from his father, a piper taught by Nicholas Markey who in turn had been taught by the renowned piper and pipemaker Billy Taylor of Drogheda and later Philadelphia [Breathnach/Ceol]. Breathnach (Ceol V, No. 2), 1982. Breathnach (The Man and His Music), 1997; No. 6, pg. 73. Breathnach (CRE II), 1976; No. 137 [1], pg. 74. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 124. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 1356, pg. 253. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 610, pg. 111. Globestyle Irish CDORBD 085, Jackie Daly - "The Rushy Mountain" (1994. Reissue of Topic recordings). Green Linnett GLCD 1119, Cherish the Ladies - "The Back Door" (1992. Learned from Chicago fiddler Liz Carroll). Green Linnet GLCD 1187, Cherish the Ladies - "One and All: the best of Cherish the Ladies" (1998).
T: Níl Aon Airgead Agam
T:I Have No Money
L:1/8
M:C
S: Séamus Ennis
K:D
FAdB A3G|(3FGA dA FEEG|FAdB A2 Af|afeg fedB|
FAdB ABAG|FAdA FEEG|FAdB Af|afeg fedf||
Afef dcdf|afeg fb b2|afef dcdB|ABAG FADf|
Afef dcdf|afeg fb b2|af (3gfe fdBd|A2 AG (3FGA D2||
(3FGA dB A3G|(3FGA DA FEEG|(3FGA dB A2f|afeg fedA|
(3FGA dB A3G|(3FGA dB FEEG|FAdB A3f|afeg fedf||
afef dcdf|afeg fb b2|afef dcdB|ABAG FDDf|afef dcdf|afeg fb b2|
afge fdBd|A2 AG FA D2||
IDA RED. AKA- "Idy Red." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; West Virginia, southwest Virginia, north Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas. A Major (Phillips): G Major (Krassen). AEAE or Standard. AB: AABB (Krassen). Ida Red was originally supposed to have been an African-American bad man, but the gender of the character in most versions is feminine or androgynous. The tune, which varies widely though retains distinctive cadences, was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's. Riley Pucket's (north Georgia) version of the tune, released in 1926, became the second best-selling country music record for the year. Kentucky fiddler Jim Bowles plays a crosstuned version.
***
Ida Red who lives uptown, weighs three hundred and forty pounds,
Down the road and 'cross the creek, don't get a letter but once a week.
***
Refrain
Ida Red, pearly blue,
My little honey don't I love you.
***
I don't know and I don't care, know there's hard times everywhere,
Ida Red you won't do right, won't do nothin' but quarrel and fight.
***
Down the road hat in my hand, hello sherrif I've killed my man,
Ida Red you won't do right, won't do nothin' but quarrel and fight.
***
Down the road a mile and a half, my little honey looks back and laughs,
Ida Red you're workin on the road, work enough money to buy a load.
***
Ida Red, Ida Blue, Ida bit a hoecake half in two,
If I'd a-listened to what Ida said, I'd a-been sleepin' in Ida's bed. {Kuntz}
***
I went down town one day in a lope,
Fool around till I stole a coat;
Then I come back and I do my best,
Fool Around till I got the vest.
O weep! O my Idy!
For over dat road I'm bound to go. {Thede}
***
Sources for notated versions: Double Decker String Band (Kuntz): Frank West (Murray County, Oklahoma) [Thede]; Bob Wills and Sleepy Johnson (Texas) [Phillips]; Tweedy Brothers (W.Va.) [Phillips]. Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; pg. 37. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 16. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 387-388. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 117 (two versions). Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 60-61. Fretless 144, Double Decker String Band- "Giddyap Napoleon." Bluebird 5488A (78 RPM), Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers (North Ga.) {1934}. Gennett 6604 (78 RPM), 1928, Tweedy Brothers (Wheeling, W.Va. brothers Harry, George, and Charles who played twin fiddles and piano). Rounder CD0364, The Red Mules - "The Marimac Anthology: Deep in Old-Time Music." Victor 19434 (78 RPM, recorded 1925), Fiddlin' Cowan Powers 1877-1952? (Russell County, S.W. Virginia).
T:Ida Red
L:1/8
M:2/4
B:Kuntz - Ragged but Right
K:A
c>c BB|A/B/A/F/ EF|AA/c/ B/A/F|EF AA/B/|cc/c/ BB|A/B/A/F/ EE/F/|AA/c/ B/A/F|
EF A>(c||c/)e/e [ee][ee]|c/A/B AA|B/A/B/A/ c/A/B|E/E/F AA|c/B/c/d/ ee|c/d/e AA|
B/A/B/A/ cB|E/F/A A2||
HUNT THE SQUIRREL [1]. AKA and see "The Geud Man of Ballangigh." English, Scottish, Irish, American; Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). USA, New England. A Major (Fleming-Williams, Johnson, Karpeles, Raven, Sharp): G Major (Barnes): F Major (Stanford/Petrie). Standard. AB (Stanford/Petrie): AABB (most versions). Both dance instructions and melody of this English piece appear earliest in Walsh's Country Dancing Master of 1718 (pg. 16), and in Playford's The Dancing Master, volume I, 17th edition (London, after 1721). Directions for the dance to this tune have also been recovered from the Holmain MS. (c. 1710-1750) from Dumfries-shire, Scotland. The dance involves a gentleman following or 'chasing' his partner for a phrase of music, after which she turns and 'hunts' him; the whole being a coy stylization of pursuing love. Indeed, this was stated in a mock letter to the satirical newspater The Spectator (1711-1712), purportedly sent by a country squire concerned over the spectacle of his sixteen-year-old daughter dancing in public:
***
Among the rest (of the dances), I observed one, which I think, they call
Hunt the Squirrel, in which while the Woman flies the Man pursues
her; but as soon as she turns, he runs away, and she is obliged to follow.
The Moral of this Dance does, I think, very aptly recommend Modesty
and Discretion to the Female Sex. But as the best Institutions are
Liable to Corruptions, so, Sir, I must acquaint you, that very great
Abuses are crept into this Entertainment. I was amazed to see my
Girl handed by, and handing young fellows with so much Familiarity;
and I could not have thought it had been in the Child.
***
The author of English Folk-Song and Dance found the melody in the repertoire of fiddler William Tilbury (who lived at Pitch Place, midway between Churt and Thursley in Surrey), who, in his young days, used to play the fiddle at village dances. He derived his repertoire from an uncle, Fiddler Hammond, who had been the village fiddler before him and who died around 1870. The conclusion was that this and similar country dance tunes survived in the tradition (at least in southwest Surry) well into the second half of the 19th century. American sources are nearly the same in both tune and dance figure as English sources, report Van Cleef and Keller (1980); it appears in Cushing Wells' German flute MS (Norwich, Connecticut, 1789) and in Clement Weeks' dance MS (Greenland, New Hampshire, 1783). The tune is not to be confused with other popular melodies of the period, "Hunt the Hare" and "Hunting the Hare." Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes), 1986. Fleming-Williams & Shaw (English Dance Airs; Popular Selection, Book 1), 1965; pg. 10. Johnson (Twenty-Eight Country Dances as Done at the New Boston Fair), Vol. 8, 1988; pg. 5. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 23 (appears as "The Geud Man of Ballangigh"). Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 24. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909/1994; pg. 78. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; No. 487, pg. 123.
JACK BROKE DOWN THE PRISON DOOR. Shetland, Shetland Reel. Shetland, Whalsay. G Major. Standard. AABB. G.M. Nelson (in Anderson & Georgeson, 1970) relates the story behind the tune which was written by one John Gaudie, born in Levenwick, Shetland, in the 19th century. John was a young man of uncommon strength and a good fiddler who worked in the Sandwick copper mines until he met with an unfortunate accident. It seems he was ascending the mine shaft after his shift one night when a man above him (some say it was John's rival for the affections of a young woman) dropped a proving hammer which struck John on the head. He survived the resulting severe concussion but was ever after plagued with serious neurological problems which manifested generally as "spasms of violent madness," but which, luckily, left his musical abilities intact. In fact, though he could find little employment due to his disability, he had plenty of time to spend with his fiddle and, still a young man, he was acknowledged to be the best fiddler in Shetland at that particular time. Unfortunately, his disability hampered him to the extent that when he visited town he sometimes became belligerent. On one occasion when he visited Lerwick he committed a breach of the peace and was seized upon by special constables and local citizenry, to be placed in "Nicol's Hotel," or the local jail, run by an old soldier named Sergeant Nicol.
***
When Johnnie realised where he was his fury increased still further
and, during the evening, with hand and foot, for there is no record
of his possessing any other implement, he broke down the door and,
once outside, set course for Clickimin and thence for home as hast
as he could go. Everybody was glad to see him go and no attempt
was made to restrain him. Johnnie, however, when he got home attributed
his escape not only to his strength but to his subtle diplomacy in avoiding
the authorities after he had broken goal. This amused him greatly, and as
he enjoyed it to the full he took down his fiddle and composed that lively
Shetland reel entitled "Johnnie Brood da Prison Door," or "Jack Brook
da Prison." (Nelson)
***
The melody is in repertory of Shetland Fiddle Band, and therefore is now widely known in the islands. Similar in parts to the Irish "Roving Bachelor." Sources for notated versions: Aly Bain (Shetland) [Brody, Miller & Perron], Willer Hunter (Shetland) [Cooke]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 141. Cooke (The Fiddle Tradition of the Shetland Isles), 1986; Ex. 41, pg. 99. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 1977; Vol. 2, No. 23. Philo 2019, Tom Anderson and Aly Bain- "The Silver Bow." Leader LER 2022, "Aly Bain & Mike Whellans."
T:Jack Broke Da Prison Door
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=220
C:Trad Shetland
R:reel
K:G
"G"G2 BG "(Em)"BdBG|"(Am)"cBAB "D"dBAB|"G"G2 BG "(Em)"BdBG|[1"D(Am)"ABAG
E2 DE/2F/2:|[2"D"ABAG E2 DG||!
"G"g2 gd edBG|"G"g2 gd "D"eaaf|"G"g2 gd "(Em)"edBG|[1"(Am)"ABAG "(D)"E2
DG:|[2"(Am)"ABAG "(D)"E2 D2||!
JACKSON'S MORNING BRUSH ("Sgaile Micseoin" or "Muisguilt Mhicseoin"). AKA and see "Fairy Haunts," "Morning Brush," "My Mountain Home." Irish, Double Jig. Ireland; Co. Monaghan, Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border. D Major. Standard. AABB (Roche, Songer): AABBC (Cole, Miller & Perron): AABBCC (Kerr): ABCD (O'Sullivan/Bunting): AABBCDD (O'Neill/1850, 1001 & 1913): AABBCCDD (Moylan): AABBCCDD' (O'Neill/Krassen). "Jackson's Morning Brush" is the most famous composition by the Irish gentleman musician and composer Walker "Piper" Jackson, who fashioned it in the middle of the last half of the 18th century ("1775," states Bunting). The title refers to the tail of an unfortunate fox, believes Breathnach (1996). His home has been cited as either Creeve, Ballibay, County Monaghan (by Bunting), or Ballingarry, County Limerick, although Breathnach (1996) finds sound evidence that the townland of Lisduan in the parish of Ballingarry is correct. Jackson (d. 1798) was a man of some wealth and land who lived in a residence known as the Turret that commanded a magnificent view of the countryside, although by 1826 it was in ruins having been struck by lightening some years previously. Jackson's name appears as president in notices of a convivial society in Limerick called Cuideachda gan Cúram (company or companionship without care). Grattan Flood says that upon his death he willed sixty pounds a year to the Ballingarry parish, half to go to the Catholic pastor and half to the Protestent rector; Breathnach finds this to be in error, as are many of Flood's assertions, and that the bequestor was actually Miles 'Hero' Jackson, a Sheriff of the city of Limerick and the piper's brother.
***
A volume of his original melodies plus older airs was published in Dublin by Sam Lee c. 1774 (as Jackson's Celebrated Irish Tunes, reprinted in 1790), and is probably the manuscript O'Neill (1913) refers to as containing the oldest setting of "Jackson's Morning Brush" (which he finds republished in Grattan Flood's The Story of the Bagpipe, a version which consists of only the first and third strains of O'Neill's setting). Soon after Lee's publication a version with dance directions appeared in Exshaw's Magazine and Walker's Hibernian Magazine in 1778; the same dance instructions appear in the Dublin publication The Charms of Melody, 1776. "Jackson's Morning Brush" was introduced, according to O'Neill (1913) in John O'Keefe's opera The Agreeable Surprise in 1781, and thereafter was included in almost every collection of Irish music. The melody retains some currency among traditional musicians today.
***
Sources for notated versions: the Irish collector Edward Bunting noted the tune "from a piper in 1797"; accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region, Kerry), recorded in recital at Na Piobairi Uilleann, February, 1981 [Moylan]; "from Bernard Delaney and others of our best traditional musicians in Chicago" [O'Neill/1913]; Kerry Elkin (Massachusetts) [Songer]. Aird (Selection of Scotch, English and Irish Airs), c. 1795; No. 22. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 58. Holden (Old Established Tunes), volume I, 1806-7; pg. 5. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 4; No. 194, pg. 22. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 1977; Vol. 1, No. 48. Moylan (Johnny O'Leary), 1994; No. 37, pgs. 22-23. Murphy (Irish Airs), 1809; pg. 5. O'Farrell (Pocket Companion), volume II, 1801-10; pg. 88. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 77. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 899, pg. 167. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 146, pg. 39. O'Neill (1913), pg. 135. O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 124, pgs. 179-180. Roche Collection, 1983, Vol. 1; No. 104, pg. 45. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 109.
X:1
T:Jackson's Morning Brush
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Jackson's Celebrated Irish Tunes (Dublin, 1790)
K:D
D|DFE EFD|DFA AFA|BAB d2f|gee e2D|DFE EFD|DFA AFA|BAB d2e|fdd d2:|
g|fed f/g/af|fda fdB|AFA dfa|gfg e2g|fed f/g/af|g/a/bg f/g/af|fed e/f/ge|fdd d2:|
g|fdf ece|dBd AGF|EFG dfa|gfg e2g|fdf edc|dB/c/d/B/ AFA|DFA d2e|fdd d2:||
X:2
T:Jackson's Morning Brush
N:"Collected by Delaney"
B:O'Neill's 899
Z:Transcribed by Dan G. Petersen, dangp@post6.tele.dk
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:D
D|DFE EFD|DFA AFA|BAB def|gfg e2D|
DFE EFD|DFA AFA|BAB d2e|fdd d2:|
g|fed faf|ede fdB|AFA def|gfg e2g|
fed faf|ede fdB|AFA d2e|fdd d2:|
g|fdf ece|dBd AFA|DFA def|gfg e2g|
fdf ece|dBd AFA|DFA d2e|fdd d2g|
fdf ece|dBd AFA|DFA def|gfg e2g|
afd gec|dcB AFA|DFA d2e|fdd d2||
g|fed faf|gbg faf|fed faf|gfg e2g|
fed faf|gbg faf|fed eag|fdd d2:|
JOHN COME KISS ME NOW. English, Scottish; Air and Country Dance Tune (4/4 or cut time). England, Northumberland. G Major (Chappell): F Major (Emmerson, Johnson). Standard. One part (Chappell): AB (Emmerson, Johnson). Originally an English tune appearing in the Cuming Manuscript (a fiddle book from Edinburgh, 1723-4), the McFarlane Manuscript, 1740, (in an experimental air-jig-allegro form by William McGibbon), and the Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (1768), the title also appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he published c. 1800. "John Come Kiss Me Now" is structured on an imported Italian 16th century form called "passamezzo moderno" (which involved stock chord progressions) and was the most popular tune in that form in both England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries (Johnson, 1984). Despite several Scottish appearances, Simpson (in British Broadside Ballads) traces the tune in England to a lute-tablature mansucript of c. 1570. Both a once-popular French tune known as "(Les) Bouffons/Buffons/Buffens" and the morris dance tune "Shepherd's Hey" equal the first (and sometimes sole) part of "John Come Kiss Me Now." The French variant was traced by Ward through European manuscripts back to the year 1552. Bayard notes that the tune was part of the Welsh harpers' tradition under the name "Pen Rhaw" (The Spade Head), but that second strains differ in nearly all sets of the tune he reviewed, and he concludes that the first strain formed the nucleus of the tune with other strains being independently joined. Chappell (1859) prints the first strain, which he finds (with fifteen variations) in The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (c. 1650, therein credited to the famous English composer William Byrd), Robinson's New Citharen Lessons (1609), Airs and Sonnets, and a MS in the British Museum; another 16th century version appears in a MS book of "Airs and Sonnets" at Trinity College, Dublin, accompanied by verses in 16th century Scots. The first strain appears with a second in several more publications, including Playford's Introduction to the Skill of Music (1654), Musick's Delight on the Cithren (1666), A Book of Lessons for the Cithern & Gittern (1652), Apollo's Banquet for the Treble Violin, D'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy, McGibbon's Scots Tunes (1768), and others. Emmerson (1971) reports that "John Come Kiss Me Now" survives in the second strain of the well-known country dance jig "New Rigg'd Ship;" reviewing the common-time version presented by Johnson, however, leads him to say the jig is best described as "a set of the old air." Robin Williamson's version is from Robert Edwards' Music Commonplace Book of 1650. Edwards was minister of Murroes Church in Angus, near Panmure House. Williamson explains that a number of airs were adapted in 16th century to lyrics which satirized the old church, so much so, in fact, that an act of Parliament was passed in 1552 condemning printers of "Ballattis, sangis, blasphematiounis, rymes" whether in Latin or English. The new Church of Scotland was quick to adopt the airs of songs popular at the time for religious purposes, even though many of the original lyrics were bawdy in nature (though what that nature might have been is apparently unknown. Chappell {1859} printed the first four lines but stated that nothing more remained of the original song, at least in English, though, as previously noted Scots versions do exist). The Church's first publication of these rewritten songs was in "Gude and Godlie Ballatis" (see also "Scots Wha Hae") in which "John Come Kiss Me Now" appears in what (to Williamson's mind) is a curiously sanitized version:
***
Johne cum kis me now
Johne cum kis me now
Johne cum kis me by and by
And mak no mair adow
***
which continues in the Church version:
***
The Lord, Thy God, I am
That Johne dois the call,
Johne representit man
Be grace celestiall etc.
***
Chappell finds several references to the tune in the literature throughout the 17th century, and deduces from these that it was used more as a dance than a song. In Thomas Heywood's A Woman killed with kindness, 1600, the tune is mentioned by Sisley, who says, "I love no dance so well as 'John, come kiss me now;" and in Tis Merry when Gossips Meet (1609), by Samuel Rowlands, can be found "Not an old daunce, but 'John, come kisse me now.'" John Hawkins writes disdainfully of the air in Cromwellian times:
***
...Fidlers and others, hired by the master of the house; such as
in the night season were wont to parade the city and suburbs
under the title of Waits...Half a dozen of fidlers would scrape
"Sellinger's Round," or "John, Come Kiss Me," or "Old Simon
the King" with divisions, till themselves and their audience were
tired, after which as many players on the hautboy would in the
most harsh and discordant tones grate forth "Greensleeves,"
"Yellow Stockings," "Gillean of Croydon," or some such
common dance tune, and the people thought it fine music.
***
Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), Vol. 1, 1859; pg. 268. Emmerson (Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String), 1971; No. 2, pg. 14. Johnson, Scots Musical Museum, 1792; No. 305. Flying Fish Records, Robin Williamson - "Legacy of the Scottish Harpers." Maggie's Music MMCD216, Hesperus - "Early American Roots" (1997).
T:John Come Kiss Me Now
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Chappell - Popular Music of the Olden Times
K:F
F>G AG/F/|GD GA/G/|F>G A/G/A/B/|cC c2|F>G AG/F/|B/A/B/c/ dc/B/|
A/B/c/A/ G>F|F4||
T:John Come Kiss Me Now
L:1/8
M:C
S:Jones - Relicks (1794)
K:F
F3G AGAF|B3A BABG|F>G AGAB|cCEG cBAG|F3G AGAF|B2 B>B BcdB|
c3d cBAG|F2 E2 F4||
JOHNNY JIGAMY. Scottish, Air (4/4 time). A song went to this tune, going in part:
***
'Guid claret best keeps oot the cauld
Makes a man baith gash and bold...'
***
T:Johnnie Jigamy
S:Greig-Duncan Collection Vol.7
Z:Nigel Gatherer
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Amix
A<AA>B A>B e2|d>eg>B A<G E2|G<GG>A G>A B2|D>EG>A B<A A2:|]
A<aa>g b>a a2|g>ab>g a>g e2|g>ag>e d>e g2|G<GG>A B>A A2:|]
JOLLY OLD MAN (An Sean Duine Sugac). AKA and see "Brisk Young Lad," "Brisk Irish Lad," "Bung Your Eye," "There came a young man." Irish, Double Jig. A Dorian. Standard. AAB. The title comes from the Chicago collector, Captain Francis O'Neill O'Neill, who had the untitled tune from Jimmy O'Brien, a County Mayo piper who spent a few months in Chicago in the 1870's. O'Neill describes him as "a neat, tasty Irish piper of the Connacht school of close players, and though his Union pipes were small, they were sweet and musical." The 'jolly old man' of the title was the elderly father of a family of flute playing sons, who tried his best to dance a certain jig step to O'Brien's piping. "He appealed to the piper, in strident tones, 'Single it, single it; I can't double with the other foot.' This concession granted, he continued for a time, amidst great applause." O'Neill named the tune in honor of Mr. Maloney, the elderly dancer. (O'Neill, IFM, pg. 20). The alternate title "Bung Your Eye" comes from Aird's Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs (1782), but the earliest appearance of the tune appears to be as the air to the song "There cam' a young man to my Daddie's door" published by Herd in 1769. Source for notated version: County Mayo piper Jimmy O'Brien (c. 1870's) [O'Neill]. O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 161, pg. 90. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 895, pg. 166. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 142, pg. 38.
T:Jolly Old Man, The
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:O'Neill - 1001 Gems (142)
K:A Mixolydian
E|AGA c2d|edc BcA|GFG B2c|dge dBG|AGA c2d|edc Bcd|ecA ABG|A3 A2:|
|:e|aga b2a|age edB|GAB d2d|dge dBG|1 aga b2a|age edB|A2A ABG|A3 A2:|2
AGA c2d|edc Bcd|ecA ABG|A3 A2||
KATY HILL [1]. AKA- "Going Around the World," "Sally Johnson." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA; Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, northeast Alabama, Missouri, Nebraska. G Major. Standard. AABB (Christeson, Lowinger, Phillips): AB (Brody). North Carolina fiddler Tommy Jarrell told an interviewer in 1982 he thought the melody derived from "Piney Woods Gal," and that "Sally Johnson" was in turn derived from "Katy Hill": "There's three tunes played just about like that, right there" (Peter Anick, "An Afternoon with Tommy Jarrell," Fiddler Magazine, Spring 1995). The tune was popularized by Tennessee's Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, but it was also known as a signature tune of north Georgia fiddler Lowe Stokes (1898-1983). Stokes recalled his father playing the tune but he actually learned it from Alabama fiddler Joe Lee (b. 1883, Etowah County, Alabama), a man who influenced that generation of north Georgia fiddlers including the great Clayton McMichen. Lee was, Stokes declared in an interview printed in 1982 (in Tony Russell's Old Time Music), the "best old time fiddler I ever heard, but he couldn't win a prize to save his life," due to the degree of the performance anxiety he suffered from when on stage. The tune was listed in reports (1926-31) of the De Kalb County (northeast Alabama) Annual (Fiddlers') Convention (Cauthen, 1990).
***
Randolph County, West Virginia, fiddler Woody Simmons (b. 1911) told his version of the tale of the great bluegrass fiddler Chubby Wise's audition with Bill Monroe to Goldenseal magazine in 1979. Wise, who lived in Florida, heard on Saturday night that Monroe's regular fiddler, Big Howdy Forrester, was going to be inducted into the army on Monday. He drove to Nashville that night, sought out Monroe's venue, and asked to see the bandleader. He was shown in back behind a curtain and there was Monroe:
***
He went in there and asked...'I hear you need a fiddle player.' Bill said, 'Yes I do.' Said, 'Can you play?' Said, 'Yes.' Said, 'How about playing me a hoedown.' He said, 'All right.' Said he played Katy Hill. Monroe said to him, he said, 'How about playing one of my songs that I sing, and let me sing and you play it.' And he said he done Footprints in the Snow. Bill said, 'Where's your clothes at?' So he fiddled for him for several years" (Mountains of Music, John Lilly ed., 1999, pg. 23).
***
Sources for notated versions: Alan Block [Phillips]: Bob Walters (Burt County, Nebraska) [Christeson]: Kenny Baker [Brody, Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 154. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 100. Lowinger (Bluegrass Fiddle), 1974; pg. 20. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 25. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 130. Caney Mountain Records CEP 213 (privately issued extended play LP), Lonnie Robertson (Mo.), c. 1965-66. CMH 6237, Paul Warren- "America's Greatest Breakdown Player." Columbia 15620-D (78 RPM), 1930, Lowe Stokes (North Georgia). County 538, Charlie Monroe- "On the Noonday Jamboree- 1944" (appears as "Going Around the World"). County 745, John Ashby (Va.) - "Down on Ashby's Farm." County 750, Kenny Baker- "Grassy Fiddle Tunes." Heritage XXIV, Smokey Valley Boys - "Music of North Carolina" (Brandywine, 1978). Heritage XXXIII, The Puryear Brothers Band - "Visits" (1981. Learned from the Ithaca, N.Y., Correct Tone String Band). RCA Camden CAL-719, Bill Monroe- "The Father of Bluegrass Music." Rounder 0089, Oscar and Eugene Wright - "Old-Time Fiddle and Guitar Music from West Virginia" (learned from Fiddlin' Arthur Smith). Rounder CD 0371, Mac Benford & the Woodshed All-Stars - "Willow" (1996). Voyager 301, Bill Long- "Fiddle Jam Session." Voyager 340, Jim Herd - "Old Time Ozark Fiddling."
T:Katy Hill
M:2/4
L:1/16
Q:122
C:Trad.
R:Reel
A:Missouri
D:As recorded by Cyril Stinnett on his album "Cyril Stinnett Plays His
D:Favorite Old Time Tunes.'
Z:B. Shull, trans.; R.P. LaVaque, ABC
K:G
d2-|:d2g(a bg)a(g|eg)d(g ea)ge|d(eg)(a bg)a(g|e)d-[dg][eg]- [d3g3]e-|!
gdg(a bg)a(g|eg)d(g ef)g(a|ge)d(B A)(GEG)|(DE)GB A([GB][G2B2]):|!
|:[G3B3]G A(GE)(F|G)(AB)d e(fge)|(dB)GB A(GE)(G|DE)GB A[GB][G2B2]|!
[G3B3]G A(GE)(F|G)(AB)d e(fga)|(ge)d(B A)(GE)G|(DE)GB A([GB][G2B2]:|!
[G3B3]G A(GE)(F|G)(AB)d e(fga)|(ge)d(B A)(GE)G|(DE)GB A(FG2:|!
LEATHER BREECHES/BRITCHES. See "Lord MacDonald's Reel" which is thought to be the origin of the American version. AKA and see "Old Leather Britches," "Oh Those Britches Full of Stiches," "MacDonald's Reel," "McDonald's Reel," "Slanty Gart." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA, very widely known. G Major. Standard. AB (Bayard): AABB (Brody, Lowinger): ABCDD (Christeson): AABBCC (Shumway, Thede): AA'BB'CC' (Phillips): AABCCDDC' (Krassen). 'Leather Breeches' was a knickname in some parts of the south for green beans dried in the pod and later cooked, although any verses connected with the tune have referred to garments made out of leather.
***
Many sources note this tunes popularity in the United States: for example, Marion Thede said it was "among the most frequently heard fiddle tunes in the Southwest," while Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner stated it was "a great favorite in early Texas cattle country" (Shumway). It was in repertory of Alabama fiddler D. Dix Hollis (1861-1927) who considered it one of "the good old tunes of long ago" (as quoted in the Opelika Daily News of April 17th, 1926), and it was commonly played by Rock Ridge Alabama fiddlers around 1920 (Bailey). It was mentioned in the autobiography of fiddler Tom Freeman of Cullman County, Alabama, and was listed in the Tuscaloosa News of March 28th, 1971 as a specialty of "Monkey" Brown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who had a local reputation in the 20's and 30's (Cauthen, 1990). The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress (by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph) from the playing of Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's, and (by Herbert Halpert) from the playing of Mississippi fiddlers John Hatcher, Stephen B. Tucker, and Hardy Sharp in 1939. "Leather Breeches" was played in the non-standard key of 'D' Major by Surry County, North Carolina, fiddler Benton Flippen (b. 1920).
***
The melody was a standard at fiddlers' contests in many areas of the South and Mid-West. It was a 'category tune' for an 1899 fiddle contest in Gallatin, Tenn., in which each fiddler would play his version; the best rendition won a prize (C. Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). It was predicted to "vie with the latest jazz nerve wreckers for first place" at a fiddlers' convention in Chilton County, Alabama, according to the Chilton County News of June 1, 1922 (Cauthen, 1990), and was also predicted by the Northwest Alabamian of August 29th, 1929, that it was likely to be played at an upcoming contest. A.B. Moore, in his 1934 History of Alabama, said it was one of the standard tunes in the square dance fiddler's repertoire, and it was listed as one of the definitive fiddle tunes for a contest in Jackson, Alabama, in the Clarke County Democrat of May 6, 1926 (Cauthen, 1990). "Leather Breeches" has retained popularity to this day as a contest tune. A story has been told of California old-time mandolin player Kenny Hall who played this tune in the 1970's at the 'national' contest at Weiser, Idaho, a hot-bed of Texas-style or 'contest' fiddling. Hall said he had learned the tune from an old Texas fiddler, and that his was what "real" Texas fiddling was all about, which did not endear him to many Texans that weekend. Compounding his faux pas, was that he referred the Texas version of the tune by the title "Perma Press." The Texans were not amused.
***
Samuel Bayard suggests the rhyme sung to the melody by old-time musicians is borrowed from an Irish air (song) called "The Britches On." "This (Bayard's 1944 set) is the best set of 'Leather Breeches' yet to turn up in western Pennsylvania. The tune is often accompanied by a rhyme which in Greene County (Pa.) tradition runs:
***
Leather breeches full of stitches,
Old shoes and stockings on--
My wife she kicked me out of bed
Because I had my breeches on.
***
Mrs. Armstrong recalled only two lines:
***
Leather breeches, full of stitches,
Mammy sewed the buttons on.
***
Bayard notes the tune is descended from, or related to, an Irish air called "The Breeches On" or "The Irish Lad" and a widespread Scottish reel generally called "(Lord) McDonald's Reel." Ford (1940) prints these words:
***
Leather Breeches full of stitches,
Leather Breeches, Leather Breeches;
Mammy cut 'em out an'
M'daddy sewed an' sewed the stitches. (Ford)
***
Sources for notated versions: 'Uncle' Am Stuart (b. 1855. East Tennessee) [Krassen]; John White (Garfield County, Oklahoma) passed down from Uncle John MacDonald (Jack County, Texas) [Thede]; Stick Osborn (St. Joseph, Missouri) [Christeson]; Mrs. Sarah Armstrong, (near) Derry, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1943 [Bayard, 1944]; 15 southwestern Pa. fiddlers [Bayard, 1981]; Kenner C. Kartchner (Arizona) [Shumway]; Ralph Sauers (Dice, Pa.) [Guntharp]; Wil Gilmer with the Leake County Revellers and Howard Forrester [Phillips]. Adam, No. 33. Bayard (Hill Country Tunes), 1944; No. 16. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 328A-O, pgs. 293-298. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 166. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 88. Cole, pg. 22. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 48. Guntharp (Learning the Fiddler's Ways), 1980; pg. 72. Jarman, 1944; pg. 5. Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddling), 1983; pg. 15-16. Lowinger (Bluegrass Fiddle), 1974; pg. 19. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, Vol. 1), 1994; pg. 139. Robbins, No. 61. Shumway, 1990; pg. 268. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 53, pg. 19. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 115. Thomas (Devil's Ditties), pgs. 134 & 135. White's Excelsior Collection, pg. 27. Caney Mountain Records CEP 210 (extended play LP, privately issued), Lonnie Robertson (Mo.), c. 1965-66. Columbia 15149 (78 RPM), The Leake County Revelers (1927). Columbia 33397, Dave Bromberg - "Midnight on the Water" (1975). County 201, The Old Virginia Fiddlers- "Rare Recordings." County 506, The Skillet Lickers- "Old Time Tunes." County 532, "The Leake County Revelers: 1927-1930 Recordings" (1975). County 543, Earl Johnson and His Clodhoppers - "Red Hot Breakdown" (originally recorded in 1927). County 707, Lewis Franklin- "Texas Fiddle Favorites." County 714, Kenny Baker and Joe Greene- "High Country." County 733, Clark Kessinger- "The Legend of Clark Kessinger." Edison 51548 (78 RPM), 1923, John Baltzell (appears as last tune of "Drunken Sailor Medley"). Flying Cloud FC-023, Kirk Sutphin - "Fiddlin' Around." Flying Fish FF-336, Pete Sutherland - "Poor Man's Dream" (1984). Folkways FTS 31098, Ken Perlman - "Clawhammer Banjo and Fingerstyle Guitar Solos." Hilltop Records 6022, Uncle Jimmy Thompson. June Appal 024, Luke Smathers String Band- "Mountain Swing." June Appal 028, Wry Staw - "From Earth to Heaven" (1978. Learned from Virgil Cravens of Cedar Falls, N.C. "one of the last of the traditional southern hammer dulcimer players). Library of Congress AFS 4804-B-1, 1941, Osey and Ernest Helton (Western N.C.). Marimac AHS #3, Glen Smith - "Say Old Man" (1990. Learned from Bob Crawford). Marimac 9038, Dan Gellert & Brad Leftwich - "A Moment in Time." Marimac 9060, Jim Bowles - "Railroading Through the Rocky Mountians" (1992). Marimac 9111, Carter Brothers and Son - "Goin' Up Town: Old Time String Bands, Vol. 2" (orig. rec. 1928). Mississippi Department of Archives and History AH-002, John Hatcher - "Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1985). Philo 1051, Boys of the Lough (with mandolinist Kenny Hall) - "Good Friends, Good Music" (1977). Rounder 1027, Johnnie Lee Wills- "Tulsa Swing." Rounder 0024, "Hollow Rock String Band." Vocalation 5456 (78 RPM), Uncle Jimmy Thompson (Tenn., Texas) {4/1930}. Vocalation (78 RPM), Uncle Am Stuart (b. 1856, Morristown, Tenn.), 1924. Voyager 309, Benny and Jerry Thomasson- "The Weiser Reunion: A Jam Session" (1993).
T:Leather Breeches
L:1/8
M:2/4
S: Viola "Mom" Ruth - Pioneer Western Folk Tunes (1948)
K:G
|:D/G/B/G/ A/G/B/G/|D/G/B/G/ A/G/E/G/|D/G/B/G/ A/G/B/G/|
D/E/D/C/ B,/(A,/ G,)| D/G/B/G/ A/G/B/G/|D/G/B/G/ A/G/E/G/|
c/B/A/G/ FD/D/|D/G/G/A/ B/G/G||
K:D
d>ddd|A/d/d/e/ f/(d/d)|d>ddd|A/B/A/G/ (F/E/)D|d>ddd|
A/d/d/e/ f/(d/d)|g/f/e/d/ c>A|A/d/d/e/ (f/d/)d:|
K:G
|:d/g/b/g/ a/g/b/g/|d/g/b/g/ a/g/e/g/|d/g/b/g/ a/g/b/g/|d/e/d/c/ B/A/G:|
LITTLE BEGGARMAN. AKA and see "The Duck Chews Tobacco," "The First of May" [3], "Gilderoy" (Ire.), "Giolla Rua" (Ire.), "Johnny Dhu," "The Little Beggar Boy," "An Maidrin Ruadh" (The Little Red Fox)," "The Old Soldier with a Wooden Leg" (W.Va.), "Old Soldier," "The Red Haired Lad," "The Red Headed/Haired Irishman" (Ky.), "Wooden Leg" (W.Va.). Irish, Hornpipe. A Mixolydian (Mallinson): G Major/Mixolydian (Tubridy). Standard. AABB. Words to the tune begin:
**
I am a little beggarman, a begging I have been,
For three score years in this little isle of green;
I'm known along the Liffey from the Basin to the Zoo,
And everybody calls me by the name of Johnny Dhu.
**
Of all the trades a going, sure the begging is the best,
For when a man is tired he can sit him down and rest;
He can beg for his dinner, he has nothing else to do,
But to slip around the corner with his old rigadoo.
**
Mallinson (Enduring), 1995; No. 85, pg. 36. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Book Two), 1999; pg. 13.
T:Little Beggarman
L:1/8
M:4/4
K:G
GF|DGGF GABc|dedB c2 Bc|dGGF GABG|AFDE =F2 FE|
DGGF GABc|dedB c2 Bc|dggf gedc|B2G2G2:|
|:de|=f2 fe fede|=fedB c2 Bc|dGGF GABG|AFDE =F2 FE|
DGGF GABc|dedB c2 Bc|dggf gedc|B2G2G2:|
LITTLE MAGGIE. Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown and Song. USA; western North Carolina, southwestern Virginia. A Mixolydian. Recorded by the Stanley Brothers in 1946, when their music was more old-time than bluegrass in style. Mt. Airy, North Carolina, fiddler Tommy Jarrell remembered the tune "going around" the Round Peak area (where he grew up) around 1915 or 1916, and became quite popular with the younger folk. A tragedy occured about the same time when his 14 year old cousin, Jullie Jarrell, was tending a fire in the kitchen stove and, thinking it was out, poured kerosine over the wood to renew it which suddenly caused flames to flare and severely burn her. Tommy related:
***
I was coming from the mill on horseback carrying a sack of
cornmeal and all at once I saw the smoke and heard the younguns
come running towards me crying, 'Jullie's burnt up and the
house is a-fire.' I jumped off the horse and ran as fast as I could
to the house--later I though about how much faster I could have
gotten there by throwing the meal off and riding the horse, but
you don't think clear at times like that. When I reached the door
I saw Aunt Susan kneeling on the floor above Julie, weeping,
her hands all blistered from beating out the fire with a quilt.
Jullie was laying there crying, but there wasn't much we could
do for her so we ran to the spring for water to put out the fire
in the house. They put Jullie to bed right away--her whole body
was burned up to her chin, and at first she cried in pain but
after a while she didn't feel anything at all. That evening as
she was laying there she asked me to get my banjo and sing
"Little Maggie" for her. That was the only thing she wanted
to hear--it had just recently come around and everyone
seemed to take to it. I expect I played it the best I ever had
in my life, with the most feeling, anyway. It seemed to comfort
her and pick up her spirits a little, but by the following morning
she was dead. (Richard Nevins)
***
The song appears to have been played in neighbouring Grayson County, Virginia, a generation earlier, according to Richard Nevins, which points out how isolated the mountainous regions were around the turn of the century.
***
Yonder stands little Maggie, a dram-glass in her hand,
She's left me for another, left me for another man.
***
Flying Fish 102, New Lost City Ramblers - "20 Years/Concert Performances" (1978). Heritage XXXIII, Ernest East, Lawrence Lowe, Fred Cockerham - "Visits" (1981. Recorded at Tommy Jarrell's New Year's Eve party, 1972). Melodeon 7322, The Stanley Brothers. Rich-R-Tone 423, The Stanley Brothers.
MACPHERSON'S LAMENT. AKA and see "Antarctic Ice," "Macpherson's Rant," "Macpherson's Farewell," "McFarsance's Tes(ta)ment," "MacFossett's Farewell," "The Freebooter." Scottish (originally), English; Air or Lament. England, Northumberland. F Major (Gow, Neil): G Major (Hardie, Skinner): D Major (Lerwick): A Major (Carlin). Standard. AB (Skinner): ABCD (Hardie): AABBCCDD (Gow, Neil): ABCDEF (Lerwick). Though there is no proof, the melody is popularly thought to have been composed by one of Scotland's first so called fiddle composers, the legendary James Macpherson, "on the eve of execution, by Himself, 1700" (Skinner). It appears in a manuscript by an anonymous publisher, c. 1730, under the title "MacFossett's Farewell," and, still earlier, in the Margaret Sinkler Manuscript (1710) under the title "McFarsance's Tes(ta)ment." MacPherson was born in Banffshire about 1675, the son, it is said, of a beautiful gypsy woman and a Highland laird, MacPherson of Invershire, Inverness-shire. He was raised by his father who unfortunately died young, at which time he went to live with his mother (whose good looks he had inherited, though perhaps he acquired his immense physical presence and strength from his father). As MacPherson grew to adulthood he was lured to the wilder life and became the leader of a lawless gypsy roving band, and he developed a reputation as a freebooter who operated in the counties of Aberdeen, Banff and Moray. Highwaymen were not rare in Scotland, and once he was captured and condemned it is likely he would have been forgotten, but MacPherson insured his lasting fame with a grand gesture on the cold November morning of his execution (11/7/1700) on the scaffold at Market Cross in Banff.
***
Though various legends differ in the details the main thread has MacPherson, with his fiddle in his hand, stepping onto the platform whereupon he took up his bow and proceeded to play his last communication to the world, his rant (or sometimes three tunes: "MacPherson's Rant," "MacPherson's Pibroch" and "MacPherson's Farewell"). At the conclusion of his performance he offered his violin to the assembled spectators (or, as one version goes, "to anyone in the crowd who would think well of him"), but either no one was brave enough to take it from the hands of a condemned man, or he had no well-wishers in attendance, or no one wished to implicate themselves by receiving the instrument. He looked around scornfully, lifted the fiddle and broke it over his knee in a grand gesture of contempt, though (as if the shattering were not dramatic enough) some versions have him dashing the instrument over the head of his executioner and flinging himself headlong off the scaffold and into oblivion. At least one version has him throwing the pieces of the instrument into his awaiting grave, though the broken remains of the fiddle he supposedly played that day can be seen in the Macpherson Clan Museum at Newtonmore.
***
It seems the best legends are those that embroider true facts, and that a freebooter named MacPherson was hanged in Banff in 1700 is a matter of record. It is a matter of belief, however, that he composed and played the rant which now bears his name. Alburger (1983) finds that there is no contemporary evidence that the outlaw was a fiddler, much less a composer:
***
Turning to the trial records, published in 1846, one finds this sole reference
to MacPherson and anything musical: 'M'Pherson...wes one night in the
house at that tyme, and drunk with the res, and danced all night.' The only
musician mentioned in this account is Peter Broune, who 'went sometymes
to Elchies, and played on the wiol' and 'got money sometyms for playing on
the wiol...' (He may have been one of the 'Browns of Kincardine' referred to
later in this chapter as early strathspey players and composers.) Nor is the
earliest broadside helpful. 'The Last Words of James Macpherson, Murderer',
printed about 1705, contains nothing about the dramatic gesture with which
he is thought to have ended his life, and nothing about fiddling. Apparently
there is a later version, which adds to the title the words 'To its own proper
tune'. It is quite likely that the tune was written after the event to suit the
broadside, for it fits the words perfectly...It may be that over the years
tradtional memory fused MacPherson's story with the musical facts about
Peter Broune, who was on trial at the same time.
***
There is another legend also connected with the execution which states that the local powers that were, being cognisant that a reprieve was on the way, moved the town clock ahead one hour so that it would arrive only after the hanging. Neil (1991) reports that the magistrates of the town were punished for this perfidious act for many years in that they were forced to keep the town clock 20 minutes behind the right time, and remarks that even to this day jests are still made about the veracity of the time in Banff. Collinson (1966, pgs. 210-211) also gives a similar thorough treatment of the legend of the highwayman and his melody.
***
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. Robert Burns also wrote a famous song to the tune, called "MacPherson's Farewell," which begins
***
Farewell, ye dungeons dark and strong,
The wretch's destinie!
MacPherson's time will not be long
On yonder gallows-tree.
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntingly gaed he,
He play'd a spring, and danc'd it round
Below the gallows-tree.
***
D.K. Wilgus, in his article "The Hanged Fiddler Legend in Anglo-American Tradition," finds evidence of an earlier MacPherson in Ireland with an almost identical story. He cites a chapbook called The Lives and Actions of the Most Notorioius Irish Highwaymen Tories and Rapparees, from Redmond O'Hanlon to Cahier Na Gappul, printed in Dublin in the early 19th century which contains a section entitled "Some Passages of the Life of Strong John Macpherson, a notorious Robber." The chapbook relates that the Irish highwayman, at the age of nineteen inherited:
***
A pretty little income1/4which he made a shift to spend in the company of
pert women and gamesters, in less than three years, during which he was
always a leading man at hurlings, patrons, and matches of foot-ball1/4He
was accounted in his time the strongest man in the nation; he could hold
a hundred weight at arms' length in one hand, and would make little or
nothing of twisting a new horse-shoe round like a gad; yet nothwithstanding
all this activity he was soon reduced to poverty, and so, from one step after
another, brought to the gallows1/4He was never known to murder anybody;
nay he was very cautious of striking unless in his own defence; though in
his time he committed more robberies single handed by far than Redmond
O'Hanlon did, with whom he was acquainted, but with none of his gang.
However, he was at last taken by treachery, and after being tried and found
Guilty was despatched by the common finisher of the law about 1678. As
he was carried to the gallows, he played a fine tune of his own composing
on the bagpipe, which retains the name of Macpherson's tune to this day.
***
Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; No. 131, pg. 81. Gow (Complete Collection), Part 1, 1799; pg. 4. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 115. Lerwick (Kilted Fiddler), 1985; pg. 76-77. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 80, pg. 107. Skinner (The Scottish Violinist, includes the 'traditional' and 'unwritten' melodies), pg. 40.
T:MacPherson's Lament
L:1/8
M:C
S:Gow - 1st Repository
K:F
(C/D/E)|F3G F2A2|GFGA {A}G2FE|F3G (AG)(FE)|{E}D4 D2 (C/D/E)|F3G F2A2|
{A}G>FGA {A}G2FE|F2 ED (GE)(FD)|C4 C2:|
|:d2|c2F2c2d2|c3A (GA)Bd|c2F2(c2d2)|D4 ~D2d2|c2F2c3A|{A}c3A (GB)AG|
F2 ED (GE)(FD)|C4 C2:|
|:(c/d/e)|f3g f2a2|{a}gfga {a}g2 fe|f3g (ag)fe|d4 d2 (c/d/e)|f3g f2a2|{a}gfga {a}g2fe|
f2 ed (ge)(fd)|c4c2:|
|:a>g|f2F2 (BA)(GF)|{AB}c2 F2F2 a>g|f2 F2 (c2d2)|D4 ~D2 a>g|
f>F (F2 {EF}A>)F (F2{EF})|{=B}c3A G2A2|F2 EF (GF)(ED)|C4 C2:|
MAIDRIN RUA(DH), AN (The Little Red Fox). AKA and see "The Duck Chew Tobacco" "The Little Beggarman," "The Red-Haired Boy." Irish, Air (2/4 time). E Flat Major. Standard. ABB. A macronic song, with verses in both Irish and English. The earliest known printing of the tune is in Robert A. Smith's "Irish Minstrel" of 1828 set to a text by James Hogg called "There's Gows in the Breast." Thomas Moore used the melody for his song "Let Erin Remember the Days of Old." "Maidrin Ruadh" was recorded early in the century from the playing of blind Uilleann piper Michael O'Sullivan, of Castlecove, Kenmare Bay, Kerry, who emigrated to America while a young man and located at Worcester, Mass. O'Sullivan, however, was an exceedingly superstitious and simple individual, and, after playing some of his best tunes into the phonogragh, "a scowl instead of a smile overspread his handsome features when he heard the machine reproduce the tunes. Evidently regarding this as another instance of the devil's handiword, he aimed several whacks of his cane at the enchanted box before he could be restrained" (O'Neill, 1913). The air retains some currency among traditional musicians today, especially after Mary O'Hara's influential recording of it in the 1960's. It is related to part of the old pipers' and fiddlers' showcase "The Fox Hunt." Source for notated version: the index to the Irish collector Edward Bunting's 1840 collection gives the Irish collector "G. Petrie, Esq., London 1839" as the source. Hannagan (Londubh an Chairn), No. 28. O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 129, pg. 187. Walsh (Ceol Ar Sinsear), pg. 41.
MAN OF ARAN. AKA and see "Man of Arran." Irish, Reel. Ireland, County Sligo. B Minor. Standard. AABB (Flaherty): AA'BB" (Black). The Aran Islands lie off the west coast of Ireland. The tune probably was composed by tin whistle player Darach de Brún, of the band Oisín. Source for notated version: flute player Colm O'Donnell (b. 1962, Aclare, County Sligo) [Flaherty]. Black (Music's the Very Best Thing), 1996; No. 91, pg. 47. Flaherty (Trip to Sligo), 1990; pg. 17.
T: Man of Arran
C: Darach de Brún
Q: 350
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: D
D | FBfe dB B2 | EAed cA A2 | FBfe dB B2 | FB B2 FB B2 |
FBfe dB B2 | ce e2 ce e2 | f2 fe dB B2 |1 cedc dB B :|2 eggf gfed ||
d2 fe df f2 | ce e2 ce e2 | d2 fe df f2 | cedc dBBc |
dfaf df f2 | cege ce e2 | dfeg fB B2 |1 dffe fedc :|2 cedc dcBA ||
MERRY OLD WOMAN [1] (An Sean Bean Sultmar). AKA and see "Ballai Lios Chearbhaill," "The Mouse in the Cupboard," "The Rakes of Newcastle West," "Repeal of the Union" [1], "Tumble the Tinker," "Walls of Enniscorthy," "The Walls of Liscarroll," "Wollop the Potlid." Irish, Double Jig. G Major. Standard. AAB (Cranitch, O'Neill/1915): AABB (Roche): AABB' (O'Neill/Krassen & 1001). Joyce prints the tune as "The Rakes of Newcastle-West," though O'Neill points out it is a "much simpler setting" than his. "The Merry Old Woman" is probably O'Neill's title, for in Irish Folk Music he says:
**
None of our best performers had any name for this favorite jig,
dint of persistent investigation we eventually learned that it was
so it could not be permitted to remain nameless any longer. By
known as 'Walls of Enniscorthy.' Few double jigs equal it. None
excell it , and I'm inclined to believe that it is one of "Old Man"
Quinn's tunes preserved to us by Sergeant Early.
**
Cranitch (Irish Fiddle Book), 1996; No. 10, pg. 128. O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 172, pg. 95. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 24. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 72, pg. 28. Roche Collection, 1982, Vol. 1; No. 80, pg. 37 (appears as "Repeal of the Union" 1st Setting).
T:Merry Old Woman, The [1]
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:O'Neill - 1001 Gems (72)
K:G
G/A/|B3 AGF|DGG G2A|BAB cBc|dgg fdc|BGB AFA|DGG FGA|BdB cAF|AGG G2:|
|:A|BAB cBc|dgg fdc|dgg gfg|agf g2[Aa]|1 BAB cBc|dgg fdc|B2d cAF AGG G2:|2
bgb afa|gfd cAF|Bcd cAF|AGG G2||
MILLER OF DRAUGHIN, THE. AKA and see "Man from Bundoran." Irish, Reel. E Minor. Standard. AB. A distanced version of the Scots tune "Miller of Drone." Source for notated version: Paddy O'Brien [Black]. Black (Music's the Very Best Thing), 1996; No. 280, pg. 150. Green Linnet GLCD 1200, Lunasa - "Otherworld" (1999. Appears as "Miller of Drohan"). Green Linnet SIF 3040, De Dannan - "Ballroom" (learned from the playing of Dermy and Tara Diamond of Belfast, although the group thinks it may have originally come from fiddler Tommy Gunn, from Co. Fermanagh).
T: Miller of Draughin
S: Paddy O'Brien (Offaly)
Q: 350
R: reel
Z:Transcribed by Bill Black
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Edor
Bd | eE E2 DEB,E | DEGA BAGA | GE E2 DEB,E | DEGA BABd |
eE E2 DEB,E | DEGA BAGA | GE E2 DEB,E | DEGA BdBA ||
G2 BG dGBG | Beef gedB | G2 BG dGBA | GEGA BdBA |
G2 BG dGBG | Beef gfeg | faef dedB | GEGA BABd ||
MR. TURNER'S ACADEMY COTILLION. American, Cotillion Tune (2/4 time). G Major. Standard. AABBCCDCCD. Boston, circa 1783: "At intervals I would be in company with a genteel young man who lived with his parents next door to my lodgings. He was a pupil of Mr. Turnner, dancing master. He introducet me in to the school, where I would often go as a spectator or visiter. Mr. Turnner had a great number of scholars of both sexes and wouyld sometimes practice them all together when I would make sure to attend. I learned at once his method and the dances then in vogue. I saw the master's boast lay principally in hornpipes, for he would have his best hornpipe dancer dress'd in a neat sailor's dress. At a practice in the daytime my young friend was one of the hornpipe dancers. In return of friendship I taught him many steps and soon made him the best dancer in the school, by private lessons" (quoted in Morrison, from dancing master John Durang). Morrison (Twenty-Four Early American Country Dances, Cotillions & Reels, for the Year 1976), 1976; pg. 53. North Star Records NS0038, "The Village Green: Dance Music of Old Sturbridge Village."
NATCHEZ UNDER THE HILL [1]. AKA and see "Turkey In the Staw," "The Old Bog Hole," "Old Zip Coon." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia. A Major. AEAE. AABB. The tune is related to, and perhaps pregenitor of, the American fiddling standards "Turkey in the Straw" and "Old Zip Coon" (it is distinct from the latter, a Northern relative, by virtue of the two different beginning measures). It appears to be American in origin, though Alan Jabbour sees the roots of the tune in the English country dance melody "The Rose Tree," while others note the similarities of the English morris dance tune "Old Mother Oxford." Jabbour (1971) states: "The only conspicuous difference in the melodic contours is that 'The Rose Tree' drops to tonic in the third phrase of the second strain, while the American tunes thrust up to the octave for rendering much of the same melodic materical." Though it seems clear its roots were in the British Isles, "Natchez Under the Hill" appears to have been one of the earliest American tunes that can be characterized as "old-timey" (i.e. having entered American traditional fiddling repertoire via the folk process) and a popular one. It was first published in this country in George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels, volume I (1839), and the title was mentioned in a humorous dialect story called "The Knob Dance," published in 1845, and set in Eastern Tennessee. Brown maintains the tune served as a "rhytmically enlivened" transitional melody between "The Rose Tree" and the song "Old Zip Coon" (curiously published in 1834, five years before the Knauff's printing of 'Natchez'--the two tunes were probably older than their publications), which closely follows "Natchez" harmonically and melodically (save the opening arpeggios of "Natchez" are replaced by a more singable phrase). By at least 1899 it was enough of a "chestnut" that it had become a category tune for fiddlers' contests, like the one held that year in Gallatin, Tennessee. Each fiddler would play his version, and the rendition judged the best won a prize (C. Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80).
**
Marion Thede (1967), quoting Cushman, elucidates the title, the name of a river town in the state of Mississippi:
**
'Natchez Under the Hill' was in that early day (the late 1700's and early
1800's) the sine qua non as the point of rendezvous for the rough and
care-for-nothing men who navigated the keel and flat boats on the
Mississippi River ere they were superseded by the steamboat. At that
early day the city of Natchez was an excellent market for the products
of the 'upper country', consequently hundreds of heavily laden and
richly-laden boats congregated there, to the great dread of the
law-abiding and peaceful inhabitants residing in the upper part
of the city, known as 'The Bluff;' for the wild and lawless boatmen
knowing no restraint...indulged in their caprices in every kind of
rowdyism known to man...thus did those specimens of American
freemen spend their leisure hours in drinking whiskey, yelling,
fiddling, dancing, and fist-fighting...'"
**
Sandy Hook, Kentucky, fiddler Alva Greene called his version "Matches Under the Hill." Kerry Blech suggests comparison with the Cape Breton/Scottish tune "Old Bog Hole" which seems to be a close relative or variant of "Natchez." A version of "Bog Hole" was fiddled by Joe MacLean on Rounder 7024, "Old Time Fiddle Music from Cape Breton Island."
**
"Natchez" was recorded in 1941 for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddler Lon Jordan, of Farmington, Arkansas (AFS 5317 A3), and was reissued on the Library of Congress LP AFS L62, "American Fiddle Tunes from the Library of Congress," edited by Alan Jabbour. Other Libarary of Congress recordings of the tune were made in 1937 of Theophilus G. Hoskins of Hyden, Kentucky (AFS 1520 A1), and in 1941 of Emmett Lundy of Galax, Virginia (AFS 4941 A3).
**
Sources for notated versions: W.S. Collins (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede]; Mrs. John Hunter (Richmond, Va.) [Chase]. Chase (American Folk Tales and Songs), 1956; pg. 208. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967;