View source for Annotation:Flee as a Bird

{{TuneAnnotation
|f_annotation='''FLEE LIKE/AS A BIRD'''. Check alternatives under "[[Free Like a Bird]]." American, Scottish, English, Irish; (Lancashire?) Clog. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB' (Williamson): AABBCCDD (Ryan/Cole): AA'BBCCDD (Kerr). "Flee like a Bird" is a clog dance tune of unknown provenance.  Williamson (1976) identifies it as a Lancashire clog dance stating that it is played slower than a hornpipe in solid 4/4 time. "Ever since there have been coal mines in Lancashire, clogs have been the miner's footwear. Thick wooden soles, steelcapped toes, laced leather uppers. Clogs come in women's and children's sizes. You can still buy them in the street markets of Lancaster. There's a well-known Lancashire poem entitled 'Clogs'...Clog dancing is performed by male teams and is still a popular sport in Lancashire... This is a simplified version of a widely known and intricate tune which probably dates from the nineteenth century" (Williamson, 1976). 


New York City researcher, writer and musician Don Meade believes the "Flee like a bird" title is derived "from Psalm 11:1 ("Flee as a Bird to your mountain, thou who art weary of sin...") and a hymn based on it." The tune first was printed as an untitled "Clog Dance" in Boston music publisher Elias Howe's '''Musician's Omnibus Nos. 6 & 7''' (1880-1882), and also appears later in the volume as "Lancashire Clog" (which supports Williamson's categorization). Very soon after that Howe's employee, William Bradbury Ryan, included it when he edited his '''Ryan's Mammoth Collection''' (1883, published by Howe's firm) under the title "Flee as a Bird." 
<br /><br />The melody was recorded in New York by fiddler James Morrison (1893-1947), originally from County Sligo, on August 10th, 1935, accompanied by an unknown fiddle player (whom Mick Conneely identifies as Morrison's "star pupil", Jackie Roche). His version is a distanced one from that appearing in Kerr's. "Flee as a Bird" has similarities to the Irish "[[O'Donnell's Hornpipe]]," a shortened version of the melody printed by O'Neill in Music of Ireland (1903). Mick Conneely says this is a "difficult piece."
|f_printed_sources=Cole ('''1000 Fiddle Tunes'''), 1940; p. 116.  Elias Howe ('''Musician’s Omnibus Nos. 6 & 7'''), Boston, 1880-1882; pp. 629 (appears as "Clog Dance") and 649 (as "Lancashire Clog").  Kerr ('''Merry Melodies, vol. 2'''), c. 1880's; No. 366, p. 40. '''Ryan's Mammoth Collection''', 1883; p. 154. Williamson ('''English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes'''), 1976; p. 27.
|f_recorded_sources=Cló Iar-Chonnachta, CICD 148, Mick Conneely - "Selkie" (2001). <span>Columbia 335042-F (78 RPM), James Morrison (1935).</span> Richard Thompson - "Strict Tempo." Rounder 0713, Joseph Cormier and Friends - "Old Time Wedding Reels" (1992).
|f_see_also_listing=Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [http://www.cbfiddle.com/rx/tune/t3753.html]<br />
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