BOOLONZIE, THE. Scottish, Quickstep. D Major. Standard. AABB. A traditional tune published by the Gows. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 566.
BOYNE WATER, THE [1] (Briseadh na Bóinne). AKA and see "As Vanquished Erin," "The Battle of the Boyne Water," "Bayne Water" (W.Va.), "Barbara Allan" (Pa.), "The Bottom of the Punch Bowl," "Boyne Water Quickstep," "Cameronian Rant," "The Cavalcade of the Boyne," "Come Kiss Wi' Me, Come Clap Wi' Me," "Findlay," "King William's March," "Lass If I Come Near You," "Leading/Driving the Calves," "Leading the Calves in the Pasture," "Native Swords," "One Pleasant Morning Beside the Glen," "Playing Amang the Rashes," "Praises of Limerick," "The Rashes," "Rosc Catha na Mumhan," "Sheila Ni Gowna," "Song of the Volunteers," "Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation," "To Look for My Calves I Sent My Child," "The Wee German Lairdie" "Wha the Deil Hae We Gotten For a King," "When the King Came O'er the Water." Irish, Air or March (4/4 time). A Dorian (Breathnach, O'Neill, Perlman, Roche): E Minor (Joyce). Standard. AB (most versions): AA'BB (Breathnach). The name Boyne itself is derived from the name of the goddess Boinn, literally 'cow-white', "a name well suited to a pastoral people whose wealth was chiefly in cattle" (Matthews, 1972). The name of the tune, however, commemorates the Battle of the Boyne (named for the Boyne River in County Meath, eastern Ireland, though the battle itself was fought three miles west of Drogheda), fought July 1st, 1690, in which the English monarch King William III defeated the Irish forces under King James II. "It has always been, and still is, very popular among the Orangemen of Ulster (for it dashed the hopes of the Irish for religious freedom and the Stuarts for Kingship). The ballad follows the historical accounts of the battle correctly enough. The air is well known in the south (of Ireland) also, where it is commonly called Sebladh na n-gamhan, 'Leading the Calves,' A good setting is given by Bunting in his second collection: the Munster and Connaught versions are given by Petrie in his Ancient Music of Ireland, vol. II, p. 12. I print it here as I learned it in my youth from the singing of the people of Limerick, not indeed to 'The Boyne Water' of Ulster, but to other words (given below). My setting differs only slightly from that of Bunting; and it is nearly the same as I heard it played some years ago by a band on a 12th of July in Warrenpoint" (Joyce).
***
Samuel Bayard (1981) believes "Boyne Water" was composed in the seventeenth century, and thinks it has always been more of a vocal air rather than an instrumental tune. As witnessed by the myriad of titles in the beginning of this entry, it has been a popular air in the British Isles and, as Bayard states, "altogether, the forms suggest that it has undergone a long traditional development." He believes the second half may have been the original tune, with the first half being fashioned out of elements from earlier strains. Bronson discerns the origins of the whole tune family in a Scottish melody found in the Skene Manuscript of c. 1615. Flood (1913) dates the tune from c. 1645, long before the famous battle, though how he arrived at this date is obscure. Cowdery (1990) believes it may be from a reference to a melody published by Petrie (1855), called "To Seed for the Lambs I Have Sent My Child," in which the latter writer declared, "in its superior purity of expression, and in its passionate depth of feeling, affords intrinsic evidence of an original intention, and consequent priority of antiquity, which will not be found in that which I consider to be the derived from of it called 'The Boyne Water.'" O'Neill (1913) concludes the same Gaelic airs printed by Petrie are early antecedents of "Boyne Water," Nos. 1529 ("A Long mo Gamain" {To look for my calves I sent my child"}) and 1530 ("An Tuainirc na nGainna". Breathnach (1985), in CRE II (No. 124), gives a polka setting and remarks it was used for the last figure of the Clare polka set, and says that "Rosc Catha na Mumhan" (The Munster War-Cry) is sung to this air.
***
However old it actually is in oral tradition, Bayard (1991) finds the earliest printed appearances of the tune in William Graham's Lute Book of 1694 (as "Playing Amang the Rashes") and in D'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy (where it appears as an untitled air). The melody remained in popular usage throughout the British Isles for well over two hundred years. Robert Burns set three songs to it in Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, and it was the vehicle for the Scots songs "The Wee, Wee German Lairdie" and "Andro and His Cutty Gun" (the latter from Alan Ramsay's 1740 edition of the Tea-Table Miscellany). In Ireland, Sir Thomas Moore used the melody for his c. 1825 song "As Vanquished Erin." The air was widespread in American usage, often heard as the tune the popular song "Barbara Allan" was sung to, which fact has been noted by several writers (Bayard, Cowdery, Cazden). It is, for example, identified by Cowdery (1990) as one of four tunes which carry the tale of "(Bonny) Barbara Allen" (the second strain of both Joyce's version and Bunting's "To seek for the Lambs..." is the portion of the Irish tune which corresponds to the America "Barbara Allen"). As "The Battle of the Boyne" it was included in a Philadelphia chapbook of 1805, and, under the title "The Buoying Water," as an instrumental piece in the 1790 Whittier Perkins Book (Cazden, et al, 1982). According to Bronner (1987), it was used for an 1815 hit American blackface minstrel song by Micah Hawkins called "The Siege of Plattsburgh" or "Backside Albany." Cazden prints it with the Catskill Mountain (N.Y.)-collected song "A Shantyman's Life," which he states can be found in most collections of lumber camp songs. O'Neill (1913) lists "Boyne Water" as one of the "splendid martial airs" of Irish music.
***
The political connotations of "The Boyne Water" long remained attached to the melody, even after it was imported to North America. Bayard (1981) relates that the mere playing of the tune in the presence of Catholic Irish in western Pennsylvania "could bring on a mass attack," and repeats the Fayette County story of an old Irishman digging potatoes in the garden while his wife followed along beside him picking the up in a sack. She absent-mindedly began singing the air, upon which he turned around and, incensed, brained her with one blow of his spade. In fact, Pennsylvania fifers declined to play the tune for Bayard at gatherings, fearing to destroy the harmony of the group with "political pieces." Sources for notated versions: George Strosnider (Greene County), Hiram Horner (Westmoreland County), Mrs. Sarah Armstrong (Westmoreland County) {All Southwestern Pa.} [Bayard]; flute and whistle player Micko Russell, 1969 (Doolin, Co. Clare, Ireland) [Breathnach]; Sterling Baker (b. mid-1940's, Morell, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island; now resident of Montague) [Perlman]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 317A-D, pgs. 271-273. Breathnach (CRE II), 1976; No. 124, pg. 66. Gow (Beauties), 1819. Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 151 and No. 377, pgs. 183-184. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 204 & No. 260, pg. 45. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 208. Roche Collection, 1982; pg. 8, Vol. I, No. 4.
T:Boyne Water [1]
L:1/8
M:C
S:Joyce - Old Irish Folk Music
K:E Minor
ED|B,2 B2 B>cdB|AGFE D2 E>F|G2 FE BAGF|(E3D) B,2 E>D|B,2 B2 B>cdB|
AGFE D2 EF|G2 FE B>AGF|E4 E2||E>F|A2B2d2 e>f|e>d cB A3A|B2e2 e>def|
(e3d B2) Bc|dcde d2 cB|A>GFE D2 EF|G2 FE B>A GF|E4E2||
DUNCAN DAVI(D)SON. AKA and see "Duncan Davie," "1812" (USA), "1812 Quickstep" (USA), "The 1812 March," "Gentle Ann," "Handy Andy's Highland Fling," "Maggy's Weame Is Fu I Trow," "Shakkin Trews," "Welcome Here Again," "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (Shetland), "Ye'll Aye Be Welcome Back Again." Scottish, Strathspey. E Major (Gow, Hunter): D Major (Athole, Cole, Gow, Honeyman, Kerr). Standard. AB (Cole, Honeyman). AAB (Gow): AABB and variations (Gow, Hunter): AABB' (Athole, Kerr). Variations from the 18th century in the then-fashionable Haydenesque style (which Hunter identifies as "Italianate") appear in Carlin and Hunter's editions, composed by Nathaniel Gow (not Niel Gow, as is sometimes asserted). The confusion stems from the fact that the tune was published in Niel Gow's 1784 Strathspey Reels -- the collection was edited and published by his son Nathaniel however, who added the variations). Glen (1891) believes its ancestral tune to have been "Strick Upon a Strogin" in the Leyden MS of 1692 (Bayard {1981} remarks, "he may be right, but I see no special reason for thinking so."). The most common names for the tune have been "Duncan Davidson" and "Ye'll Aye Be Welcome Back Again," of which the latter, according to Glen, is the older form (he also thinks Burns composed the David title). Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearences of the tune in print in Alexander M'Glashan's 1780 collection (pg. 14), and, as "Duncan Davie," in Joshua Campbell's 1778 collection (pg. 31). See note for "Ye'll Aye be Welcome Back Again" for more information. Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 46. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 128. Gow (Complete Collection), Part 1, 1799; pg. 34. Graham (Popular Songs of Scotland), 1908; pg. 205. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; pg. 11. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 39. Johnson (Scots Musical Museum), Vol. 2; No. 149. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; Set 28, No. 3, pg. 17. Scot (Scottish Country Dance Book), Book 7, No. 4a (with references). Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884' pg. 94. Wilson (A Companion to the Ballroom), 1840; pg. 45.
T:Duncan Davidson
L:1/8
M:C
S:Honeyman - Tutor
K:D
D>FA>B A<F A2|D>Fd>B A<F E2|D>FA>B A<FA<g|f>de>f d<d d2|D>FA>B A<F A2|
D>Fd>B A<F E2|D>FA>B A<F A>g|f>de>f d<d dg||f>e d/ef/ g>fe>d|c>Ae>A f>Ae>g|
f>e de/f/ g>fe>d|c>de>f d<d dg|f>e de/f/ g>fe>d|c<A e>A f>Ae>g|
(3fga (3def (3gfg (3Bcd|(3efe (3dcB (3ABA (3GFE||
HIGHLAND LADDIE(, THE ORIGINAL) [1]. AKA - "Hielan Laddie." AKA and see "Bonny Laddie," "Clashing At Her," "Donkey Riding," "High Caul'd Cap," "I have two yellow goats" (Ireland), "The Lass of Livingston." Scottish, English, New England; Scotch Measure, Quickstep, March, Polka, or Country Dance Tune (cut time). England, Northumberland. D Major (Kerr, Raven): F Major (Johnson): G Major (Miller & Perron, Vickers): A Major (Emmerson, Gow). Standard. AB (Raven): AABB (Emmerson, Kerr, Seattle/Vickers): ABCD (Johnson): AABBCCDD (Gow). In the Gentleman's Magazine for 1750 that "The Highland Laddie written long since by Allan Ramsay, and now sung at Ranelagh and all the other gardens; often fondly encor'd, and sometimes ridiculously hiss'd," for, as Emmerson (1971) points out, the rising of 1745 of Bonnie Prince Charlie was fresh in the minds of many at the time. However, by the end of the century that memory had dimmed to the extent that Gow noted in his Repository (Part Second, 1802) "The Quick step (sic) of the gallant 42nd Regiment (The Royal Highlanders, or, more popularly, The Black Watch). Performed when the Regiment was reviewed by His Majesty at Ashford, May 7, 1802." It is still played on ceremonial occasions. The melody appears in the Drummond Castle Manuscript (in the possession of the Earl of Ancaster at Drummond Castle), inscribed "A Collection of Country Dances written for the use of his Grace the Duke of Perth by Dav. Young, 1734." John Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing of the tune in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection (pg. 47). Highland Laddie is also the name of a simple step dance which used to be taught to children, and is the name of a Scottish country dance.
***
Numerous sets of words exist to the melody. This was often sung to the pipe tune version:
***
Where ha' ye been a' the day?
Bonnie laddie, Hielan' laddie
Saw ye him that' far awa'
Bonnie laddie, Hielan' laddie
On his head a bonnet blue
Bonnie laddie, Hielan' laddie
Tartan plaid and Hielan' trews
Bonnie laddie, Hielan' laddie
***
Barry Finn reports that the melody was used as a capstan and a 'stamp and go' shanty, and (without the grand chorus) was also used as a halyard shanty. It was popular on the Dundee Whalers, then later used (c. 1830's and 40's) as a work song for stowing lumber and cotton in the Southeastern and Gulf ports of the United States. An older Dundee version goes:
***
Where have ye been all the day, Bonnie Laddie, Hieland Laddie
Where have ye been all the day, my Bonnie Hieland Laddie
***
Chorus:
Way hay & away we go, Bonnie Laddie, Hieland Laddie
Way hay & away we go, my Bonnie Hieland Laddie
***
I did see ye down the glen, Bonnie Laddie, Hieland Laddie
I did not see ye near the burn, my Bonnie Hieland Laddie
***
Chorus
***
No, I was not down the glen, no, I was not near the burn
I joined a ship & went a sailing, sailed far north & went a whaling
***
Shipped on board of a Dundee whaler, shipped on board as a whaling sailor
Bound away to Iceland cold, found much ice but not much gold
***
Greenland is a cold country, it's not the place for you and me
We caught some whales and boiled their blubber, oil and fat choked every scupper
***
I'll be glad when I get home, I'll give up this whaling game.
***
A later shanty called "Donkey Riding" was derived from the tune:
***
Was you ever in Quebec, moving timber on the deck
Where you nearly break your neck, riding on a donkey
***
Finn thinks the shanty probably goes back at least to the 1820's or earlier when the Scottish whalers out of Dundee, Peterhead, & Aberdeen were in their Greenland Fisheries hay-days, chasing the right whale. Source for notated version: Bowie Manuscript, c. 1789 [Johnson]. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 568. Emmerson (Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String), 1971; No. 29, pg. 129. Gow (Complete Repository, Part Second), 1802; pgs. 2-3. Johnson (Scottish Fiddle Music in the 18th Century), 1984; No. 1, pg. 22. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 5, pg. 21. Miller & Perron (101 Polkas), 1978; No, 95. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 150. Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 265 (appears as "Clashing At Her"). Green Linnet SIF 1076, Relativity - "Gathering Place" (1987). Green Linnet SIF 1121, Tannahill Weavers - "The Mermaid Song."
T:The Original Highland Laddie
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Gow - 2nd Repository
K:A
E|A>Bcc|dB ~c2|cBB A/B/|cBB A/F/|A>B cc|dB ~c>B|AFF E/F/|AFF:|
e|(fa) (ef)|(d/c/)B/A/ {AB}c2|cBB A/B/|cB B>e|fa ea|(d/c/)B/A/ c>B|AFF E/F/|AF~F:|
|:e|a>b c'c'|d'b c'2|c'b~b a/f/|d'b c'>b|af~f e/f/|af~f:|
|:ag|fa ea|(d/c/)B/A/ {AB}c2|cB~B A/B/|cB ~B>e|fa ea|(d/c/)B/A/ c>B|AF~F E/F/|AF~F:|
HILLS OF GLENORCHY [1]. AKA - "Hills of Glenurchie" AKA and see "Braes of Glenorchy," "The Jolly Corkonian," "Pat Burke's." Scottish, Canadian; Jig, Quickstep or Pipe March (6/8 time). Canada, Cape Breton. A Mixolydian (Dunlay & Greenberg, Dunlay & Reich): A Mixolydian (Neil): D Dorian (Gatherer): E Dorian/Minor (Cole, Gow, Hinds, Kerr, Martin). Standard. AABB (Cole, Hinds, Kerr, Martin): AABB' (Dunlay & Reich): AABB'A'A'BB' (Dunlay & Greenberg). One of, or perhaps the, earliest setting of the tune is to be found in Alexander Mackay's collection of c. 1805 under the title "Braes of Glenorchy." Dunlay & Reich (whose Cape Breton version seems slightly altered) identify this as a pipe tune usually appearing in E minor; the variations are easier to play in E minor or in A minor an octave down, and the authors say its a good tune for octave harmonies or 'doubling' the melody. Bayard (1981) remarks that the melody should be categorized as one of the "Hillside" group of tunes (See note for "Hillside"). See also variants "Lark in the Morning," "Trip to Galway" and "Katy is Waiting." Gatherer's (1987) first version is a pipe tune, as is Neil's (1991). See also the cognates "The Old Grey Cat," "Smuggler's Reel," the jig "The Rollicking Boys of Tandaragee," and the Northumbrian air "The Wild Hills of Wannie." Lorrie MacKinnon found a Gaelic verse to "Hills of Glenorch" in The Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness (1917), which goes:
***
Loisg a' chailleach a casan air eibhleig (x3)
'S chuireadh i feum air ola nan ron
(The old lady burned her feet on an ember and she used seal oil on it).
***
Source for notated version: Buddy MacMaster (Cape Breton) [Dunlay & Greenberg, Dunlay & Reich]. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 62. Dunlay & Greenberg (Traditional Celtic Violin Music of Cape Breton), 1996; pg. 106. Dunlay & Reich (Traditional Celtic Fiddle Music of Cape Breton), 1986; pg. 72. Gatherer (Gatherer's Musical Museum), 1987; pg. 19 (two versions). Gow Collection of Strathspey Reels, Part 6, 1822. Hinds/Hebert (Grumbling Old Woman), 1981; pg. 24 (appears as "Hills of Glenurchie"). Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 6, pg. 47. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle), Vol. 1, 1991; pg. 19. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 124, pg. 163. Scots Guards - Standard Settings. A & M 79602 2001-2, Ashley MacIsaac. Atlantica Music 02 77657 50222 26, SA93130, Donny LeBlanc - "Atlantic Fiddles" (1994). BM-91, Buddy MacMaster - "Glencoe Hall." Rodeo (Banff) RBS 1255, Barabara MacDonald- "Scottish Piano Selections" (appears in "Medley of Jigs"). Celtic CX049 CX 1, (various artists) Donald & Theresa MacLellan/The MacLellan Trio- "Cape Breton Violins" (appears after "There Came a Young Man"). LC9501, Lee Cremo. Rounder C-7013, Joe Cormier.
T:Hills of Glenorchy [1]
L:1/8
M:6/8
K:E Minor
d|B2E EFE|BAB d2B|A2D DED|AFD FAd|B2E EFE|BAB d2e|dBd AFD|EFE E2:|
|:B|efe edB |efg gfe|ded dAF|d^cd fed|efe edB|efg fef|dBd AFD|EFE E2:|
JOHN ANDERSON'S ELDEST/AULDEST DAUGHTER. Scottish, Strathspey or Quickstep. A Minor. Standard. AABB. Published by Neil Gow in the 1790's. Williamson seems to credit him with composorship, although his name does not appear with the tune in Carlin's collection. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 570 (listed as a quickstep). Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; pg. 60 (listed as a strathspey).
JOCKEY WAS THE BLYTHEST/BRAVEST LAD IN A' OUR TOWN. Scottish, Slow Quickstep. A Minor (Gow): C Minor (Mackintosh). Standard. AABB. Appears in David Young's McFarlane MS. (1740) in air-minuet-jig form, in a 1772 sheet by Mackintosh, and in the McLean Collection published by James Johnson in Edinburgh in 1772 (where it is ascribed to Robern McIntosh). Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 569. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 3, 1806; pg. 13.
T:Jockey was the Blythest Lad in a' our Town
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Gow - 3rd Repository
K:A Minor
A>B|(c<A) (ce)|(d<B) A^G|~A3 (B/c/)|E3A|(G<E) DC|D2 EF|(EA) A>^G|A2:|
|:c>d|(ec) c>e|g3e|d>edB| G3g|ab/c'/ (a/g/)(f/e/)|~f3 g/a/|(g<e) d>c|c2 A>B|
(c<A) (ce)|(d<B) A^G|(A2 ~A)B/c/|E3A|(G<E) DC|D2EF|(EA) A^G|A2:|
KEMPSHOTT HUNT. Scottish, Quickstep. A Mixolydian. Standard. AABBCC. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 571.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL MAXWELL'S FANCY. Scottish, Quickstep. F Major. Standard. AABB. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 572.
LONG LIFE TO STEPMOTHERS. Scottish, Slow Quickstep. D Major. Standard. AAB. Composed by Nathaniel Gow, the title suggested by his own family. Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 573.
LORD TORPHICHEN'S FAVORITE. Scottish, Slow Quickstep (March). E Major. Standard. AAB. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 574.
MISS OSWALD OF AUCHINCRUIVE. Scottish, Slow Quickstep (March). A Minor. Standard. AAB. Composed by Nathaniel Gow. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 575.
MISS FLORA McDONALD'S REEL. Scottish, Reel. G Major (Athole): E Dorian (Bremner, Huntington). Standard. AABB. Indexer Charles Gore points out that the melody has appeared under numerous variants of the title, sometimes with the appelations 'Lady', 'Miss', sometimes beginning with 'Flora', and identified variously as a reel, rant, quickstep or strathspey. John Glen finds the earliest appearance of this Jacobite-era tune in print in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection (pg. 21). It also appears in the Gow's Complete Repository, vol. 1. See note for "Flora MacDonald's Lament" and "Flora MacDonald's Adieu..." for more information on the person of the title. Bremner, A Collection of Scots Reels, 1757; Section 3, pg. 21. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 16. Huntington (William Litten's), 1977; pg. 11. McGlashan, A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels..., pg. 29 (appears as "Miss McDonald's Reel"). Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), pg. 247 (appears as "Flora McDonald").
T:Miss Flora McDonald's Reel
L:1/8
M:C
S:Gow - 1st Repository
K:E Dorian
F|E2 (E>F) BEEF|E2 E>F dFDF|E2 (E>F) EFGA|(B/c/d) A>d FDD:|
F|E(ee)^d eEEF|E(ee)c dDDF|E(ee)d Bcde|(f/g/a) (ef) dDAF|E(ee)^d eEEF|
E(ee)c dDAF|E(ee)d Bcde|faef dDAF||
MRS. BLAIR OF AVONTOWN'S FAVORITE. Scottish, Slow Quickstep. D Major. Standard. AABB. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 576.
MRS. COUTS TROTTER'S FAVORITE. Scottish, "Very Slow" Quickstep. B Flat Major. Standard. AABB. Composed by William Logan. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 577.
QUICKSTEP. Scottish, Quickstep (2/4 time). C Major. Standard. AABB'. Composed by Niel Gow. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 356 (variations by James Hunter).
ST. PATRICK'S DAY (IN THE MORNING) {"La Feile Naoim Patraic," "La Feile Padraig" or "La Gheile Paidric"}. AKA and see "Barbary Bell," "The Kerry Dance" (Roche), "Patrick's Day," "Sheelah's Wedding," "Though Dark Be Our Sorrow," "The Old Woman Tossed Up" (Sharp). Irish, English, Scottish, American; Air, Set Dance (6/8 time) and Jig. USA; Maine, New York, Pennsylvania. England, Shropshire. G Major (most versions): D Major (Ashman). Standard. AAB (Kerr, O'Neill/1850 & 1001, Sweet): AABB (most versions): AA'BB' (Miller & Perron). The first mention of the tune is that it was one of two tunes (with "The White Cockade") played by the pipers of the Irish Brigade attached to the French forces which helped turn the tide of battle against the English troops at the battle of Fontenoy on May 11, 1745. Flood (1906) and O'Neill (1913) believe was probably the last appearance in battle of the Irish Piob mor (war pipes or great pipes, which survived only in Scotland) of which there is any mention. Rutherford's 200 Country Dances, volume 1, 1756, contains the first country dance printing of the tune, which also appears in English collections as a jig by the name "Barbary Bell." Typically for popular melodies of the time, it also became the vehicle for many songs, including air 35, "A plague of these wenches," in the opera Love in a Village by T.A. Arne and I. Bickerstaffe (London, 1762). As song, country dance or quickstep it remained popular for many years. In later military tradition it was played on December 31, 1811 by the 87th Regiment band as a French attack became a rout at Tarifa, and Winstock (1970) remarks it was a favourite quickstep of the Napoleonic era Peninsular War in the British army. Queen Victoria requested the melody from piper Thomas Mahon when she and the Prince Consort visited Ireland for the first time in 1849. Mahon was surprised to learn that she and the Prince were familiar "with the best gems in Irish music," and he also played "The Royal Irish Quadrilles" and "Garryowen" at their behest. The Queen must have been impressed with his playing, for she directed that henceforth Mahon have the title "Professor of the Irish Union Bagpipers to Her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria" (O'Neill, 1913).
***
The melody has been danced to in the United States for some two hundred years, and appears earliest in this country in Giles Gibbs' 1777 Connecticut fife MS. Clement Weeks, of Greenland, New Hampshire, copied dance directions to the melody in his MS copybook of 1783. In relatively modern times it has been cited as having commonly been played for country dances in Orange County, New York, in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly), and it was in the repertoire of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham (The elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's).
***
Samuel Bayard (1981) observes there are two main sets of the tune which have coexisted; a standard form and an extension form (having extra measures). He notes references under the given title above date back to 1748 and 1762 (see Moffat, pg. 272). Another form also has also existed for over 150 years to which Thomas Moore wrote his song "When in death I shall calm recline;" this form often appears in older collections under the title "The Legacy." Bayard collected both the standard and extension forms of the tune in southwestern Pennsylvania (he also collected a 2/4 version {No. 225, pg. 183} the source called by the floating title "The Drunken Sailor").
***
Sources for notated versions: six southwestern Pa. fiddlers and fifers [Bayard]; the Irish collector Edward Bunting noted the tune from Patrick Quinn the harper in 1792; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]. Aird (Selections), 1778, Vol. 1, No. 50. Allan's Irish Fiddler, No. 117, pg. 30. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 79, pg. 32. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 633, pgs. 555-557. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 391. Bunting, 1840; pg. 67. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 76. Cranitch (Irish Fiddle Book), 1996; No. 95, pg. 164. Crosby's Irish Music Repository, pg. 41 (appears as "Sheelaghs Wedding"). Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 63. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 3, 1806; pg. 18. Harding's All-Round Collection, 1905; No. 185, pg. 59. Harding Collection (1915) and Harding's Original Collection (1928), No. 41. Howe (Diamond School for the Violin), 1861; pg. 44. Howe (School for the Violin), 1851; pg. 32. JWFSS, Vol. 4, pg. 64. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 80, pg. 39 (appears as "Barbary Bell"). Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1, No. 35, pg. 39. MacFadyen's Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs(??), Vol. II, No. 18. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler's Repertoire), 1983; No. 48. O'Malley, 1919; pg. 8. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 298, pg. 52. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 975. O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 91, pgs. 135-136. Oswald (Caledonian Pocket Companion), 1780?, Vol. 2, pg. 132. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 106 (appears as "Barbary Bell"). Robbins, 1933; No. 43. Roche Collection, 1982, Vol. 3, No. 191, pg. 67 (appears as the set dance "Patrick's Day") and Vol. 2, No. 293 (appears as "The Kerry Dance"). Rutherford (200 Country Dances), Vol. I, 1756; No. 1, pg. 1. Saar, 1932; No. 7. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 44. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 26. Sym, 1930; pg. 15. Thompson (Hibernian Muse), 1786; pg. 32. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music), 1999; pg. 16. Walker's Irish Bards, pg. 33. White's Excelsior Collection, 1907; pg. 80. Wier, pg. 413. Edison 51381 (78 RPM), Jasper Bisbee, 1923 (appears as 2nd tune of "Girl I Left Behind Me" medley). Folkways FA 2381, "The Hammered Dulcimer as played by Chet Parker" (Michigan, 1966). John Edwards Memorial Foundation JEMF-105, L.O. Weeks - "New England Traditional Fiddling" (1978).
X:1
T:St. Patrick's Day in the Morning
L:1/8
M:6/8
K:G
GAG GBc|ded dBG|AGA BGD|EFE E2D|GAG GBc|ded dBG|AGA BGD|E2F G2D:|
|:def g2g|fed edB|def gag|fed e3|def g2g|fed edB|def gag|fed efg:|
X:2
T:St. Patrick's Day in the Morning
M:6/8
K:G Major
D|GAG GAB|ded dBG|AGA BGD|EFE E2D|
GAG GAB|ded dBG|AGA BGD|E2F G2:|
B|def gag|fed edB|def gag|fed e2d|
def gag|fed efg|dBG GAB|ded dBG|
AGA BGD|EFE E2D|GAG GBd|gfe dBG|
AGA BGD|E2F G2:|