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 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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