Extended CD Track Commentary, Part 3

Extended CD Commentary, Disc Two, Tracks 1 - 8

by Jackie Small

 

Unfortunately due to space limitations within the CD booklet itself, we were not able to print the full versions of Jackie Small's commentary in the liner notes to The Francis O'Neill Cylinders. His full commentary is listed below; simply click on the track title to jump to commentary about that particular tune.

Disc One  Disc Two
1. The Monaghan Jig: Patsy Touhey 1. The Blackbird (Set Dance): Edward Cronin
2. Governor Taylor's March: Patsy Touhey 2. Hawk's Hornpipe: Bernard Delaney
3. The Shaskeen Reel: Patsy Touhey 3. Doctor O'Neill (Jig): John McFadden
4. The Ladies' Pantalettes (reel): Patsy Touhey 4. Miss Monaghan (Reel): Patsy Touhey
5. Brian the Brave & The Gardener's Daughter (Air & Reel): Patsy Touhey
5. The Sailor's Jacket (Reel): Bernard Delaney
6. The Duke of Leinster (Reel): Patsy Touhey 6. Judy Hynes (Jig): Patsy Touhey
7. Taylor's Hornpipe: Patsy Touhey 7. Gusty's Frolics (Slip Jig): Patsy Touhey
8. The Maid on the Green (Jig): Patsy Touhey 8. Rakish Paddy (Reel): Patrick Touhey
9. John O'Dwyer & Scotch Mary (Air & Reel): Patsy Touhey
9. Dan Curley (Air): James Early
10. The Croppies' March: Patsy Touhey
10. Banish Misfortune (Jig): Edward Cronin
11. The Connachtman's Rambles (Jig): Patsy Touhey 11. Bean Dubh an Gleanna (Air): Patsy Touhey
12. Touhey's Favorite Hornpipe: Patsy Touhey 12. Rodney's Glory & The Humors of Bandon (Set Dances): Patsy Touhey
13. Bold Jack Donahue (Air): James Early 13. The Blackbird (Air): Patsy Touhey
14. The Maid behind the Bar (Reel): Patsy Touhey 14. The Swallow's Tail (Reel): John McFadden
15. The Dear Irish Boy (Air): Patsy Touhey 15. The Pigeon on the Gate (Reel): Patsy Touhey 
16. Scotch Mary (Reel): Touhey, Early, & McFadden 16. Saddle the Pony (Jig): James Early

 

Disc Two, Tracks 1 - 8

 1. The Blackbird (Set Dance): Edward Cronin

O’Neill 1903, 1793; O’Neill 1907, 985.

For a performance of this tune as a slow air, see CD 2, track 13.

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2. Hawk's Hornpipe: Bernard Delaney

O’Neill 1903, 1754; O’Neill 1907, 926.

This tune is related to the air "Brian the Brave" (CD 1, track 5) and to the hornpipe "Poll Ha’penny." The version played here was popularized in recent times by Bobby Casey, fiddle, of Clare and London.

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3. Doctor O'Neill (Jig): John McFadden

O’Neill 1903, 701; O’Neill 1907, 6.

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4. Miss Monaghan (Reel): Patsy Touhey

O’Neill 1903, 1312; O’Neill 1907, 575.

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5. The Sailor's Jacket (Reel): Bernard Delaney

O’Neill 1903, 1369; O’Neill 1907, 621; RMC, as "Come to Your Tay—Reel."

The version played here by Delaney is a close variant of the versions in RMC and O’Neill. Recent recordings of this tune have the title "Lilies in the Field / Lilies of the Field;" they derive from a 78rpm commercial recording by Irish-American accordion player P.J. Conlon (whose title for the tune was "Kitty in the Lane").

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6. Judy Hynes (Jig): Patsy Touhey

O’Neill 1903, 903, as "Nancy Hynes;" O’Neill 1907, 150 (with the 1903 title).

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7. Gusty's Frolics (Slip Jig): Patsy Touhey

SP, # 813, as "Gurty’s Frolic;" O’Neill 1903, 1171, as "Gurty’s Frolics;" O’Neill 1907, 444 (with the 1903 title); PPT, # 42.

Touhey’s title, "Gusty’s Frolics," clearly audible on his spoken introduction, is the correct one. O’Neill’s erroneous title echoes that of Petrie (or of his editor) in SP. This tune is a virtuoso piece for the pipes, though it is more popular today in versions for the fiddle. O’Neill reports that the tune was composed by Augustus ‘Gusty’ Nicolls, a member of the landed gentry in Co. Leitrim who was a "gentleman piper" in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Touhey here plays a version of the tune with eight parts. A tune as extensive as this is rare; in fact, the cylinder runs out before Touhey can complete the second playing of the tune. The version that Touhey plays here is more extensive than the one he played on a different cylinder recording (transcribed in PPT).

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8. Rakish Paddy (Reel): Patrick Touhey

O’Neill 1903, # 1533; O’Neill 1907, # 749.

At the time of this recording, evidently the highly accented C natural initial note that has since become the hallmark of this tune had not yet been established. O’Neill’s 1903 version is intriguing in that, although contributed by a piper (Delaney), it includes a note not available on the uilleann pipe chanter; the version is evidently influenced by a fiddle player.

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Abbreviations:


RMC = Ryan's Mammoth Collection, edited by William Bradbury Ryan (Boston, 1883)

SP = The Complete Collection of Irish Music as Noted by George Petrie (1789—1866), edited by Charles Villiers Stanford (1903)

Kerr 4 = Kerr’s Fourth Collection of Merry Melodies for the Violin (Glasgow, date unknown)

ON 1903 = O’Neill’s Music of Ireland, edited by Francis O’Neill (Chicago, 1903)

ON 1907 = 1001 Gems – The Dance Music of Ireland, edited by Francis O’Neill (Chicago, 1907)

ON 1915 = O’Neill’s Irish Music — 400 Choice Selections, edited by Francis O’Neill (Chicago, 1915)

ON 1922 = Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody, 2nd edition, edited by Francis O’Neill (Chicago, 1922)

PPT = The Piping of Patsy Touhey, edited by Pat Mitchell & Jackie Small (Dublin, 1986)

 

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