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Tune properties and standard notation
FLEE LIKE/AS A BIRD. Check alternatives under "Free Like a Bird." Scottish, English; (Lancashire) Clog. England, Lancashire. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB' (Williamson): AABBCCDD (Ryan/Cole): AA'BBCCDD (Kerr). A Lancashire clog dance tune, which Williamson (1976) states 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 title is "from Psalm 11:1 ("Flee as a Bird to your mountain, thou who art weary of sin...") and a hymn based on it." 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."
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 116. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 2; No. 366, p. 40. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 154. Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; p. 27.
Recorded sources: Cló Iar-Chonnachta, CICD 148, Mick Conneely - "Selkie" (2001). Richard Thompson - "Strict Tempo." Rounder 0713, Joseph Cormier and Friends - "Old Time Wedding Reels" (1992)
See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]