Boys of Bluehill (The)

BOYS OF BLUEHILL, THE (Buacailli Ua Cnoc-Gorm). AKA - "Beaux of Oak Hill (1)," "Boys of North Tyne," "Cape Giradeau," "Lads of North Tyne," "Silver Lake (4)" (Pa.), "Jenny Baker," "Lonesome Katy," "Two Sisters (1)," "Twin Sisters (3)." Irish, Reel or Hornpipe. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (most versions): AA'B (Moylan). O'Neill (who said the melody was unknown to Chicago Irish musicians beforehand) had the tune from a seventeen year old fiddler named George West, who, though gifted musically, was somewhat indigent and did not own a fiddle. He had formed a symbiotic musical relationship of sorts with one O'Malley, who did own a fiddle and who eked out a meagre living playing house parties despite the loss of a finger from his left hand. O'Malley, however, invariably could only make it to midnight before he became too inebriated to bow, at which time West took over his fiddle and finished the night's engagement. "Thus lived the careless, improvident but talented Georgie, until an incident in his life rendered a trip to the far West advisable." Early American recorded versions on 78 RPM's give the title as "Boys from the Hill" and "Slieve Gorm." Fiddler Tommy Dandurand (Chicago/Kankakee, Illinois) recorded the melody as "Beau of Oak Hill (1)" in 1927, and it is this title that is familiar to many American fiddlers not influenced directly by Irish repertoire (of which "Boys of Bluehill" is a staple hornpipe). Earlier recordings of the melody were by Charles D'Almaine (c. 1913), paired with other tunes in his "Fisher's Hornpipe Medley," and by William B. Houchens (1922) in his "Turkey in the Straw" recording.

There are 'Blue Hills' in many regions of the world, including Massachusetts (near Milton and Canton) and Scotland, and a 'Blue Hill' in Maine. The tune is perhaps older in American tradition than in Irish, although its provenance is unknown, although in American tradition it is almost always played as a reel rather than a hornpipe. In the 19th century it appears in publications such as Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) as "The Boys of Oak Hill" (by which title it also appears in one of the Scottish Kerr collections). The earliest American printing seems to be as "The Two Sisters" in Knauff's Virginia Reels (1839). More that a century and a half later a version of "The Two Sisters" could be heard in the playing of Appalachian fiddler Sherman Wimmer as the similarly-titled "Twin Sisters" (also played by Ernie Carpenter). Other American variants are the southwestern Virginia/north Georgia "The Old Ark's A-Movin" (see Taylor Kimble's version, for an example of that variant), the Pennsylvania-collected "Silver Lake" (which Paul Tyler has also found in an 1842 notebook from Ohio), Ira Ford's "Lonesome Katy" (probably from the Mid-West) and the Kentucky variant "Jenny Baker" (from the Jimmy Johnson String Band). See as well Ozark fiddler Vesta Johnson's "She Oughta Been a Lady," Mel Durham's "Pussy and the Baby," Ozark musicians Lee and Fred Stoneking's "Birdie in the Snowbank," and one of the many "Hell on the Wabash" titles, particularly one played by Clay Smith of Star City, Indiana.

Interestingly, there's some evidence of the melody travelling back to Ireland from American (i.e. non-O'Neill's) sources. A reel called "Keep the Old Ark Rolling" appears on Pádraic Mac Mathúna's album "Blas na Meala," a variant of "The Boys of Bluehill." The liner notes to the album, by Séan Potts, state that it's "one of the many tunes brought to the US by Irish immigrants. The titles and rhythms were often changed to suit the American country style. The melody is almost identical to the Irish hornpipe, The Boys of Bluehill. Pádraic got the tune from two musical friends in Cork, Matt Cranitch and Noel Shine." In fact, Matt Cranitch played in an old-time string band in Cork for a time, and may have picked up the tune from an American player.

Sources for notated versions: George West, who had learned it from a strolling fiddler named O'Brien [O'Neill]; accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border) [Moylan].

Print Sources: Allan's Irish Fiddler, No. 74, p. 19. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; p. 54. Cranitch (Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1996; pp. 73 & 75. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), vol. 1, 1951; No. 14, p. 7 (appears as "Beaux of Oakhill"). Lerwick (Kilted Fiddler), 1985; p. 56. Moylan (Johnny O'Leary), 1994; No. 120, p. 70. O'Malley (Luke O'Malley's Collection of Irish Music), 1976; No. 112, p. 56. O'Neill (O'Neill's Irish Music), 1915; No. 355, p. 173. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 197. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 898. Roche (Collection of Traditional Irish Music, vol. 3, 1927; p. 64, #183. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; p. 11. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964; p. 69. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, vol. 1), 1999; p. 13.

Recorded Sources: Copley DWL-9-617, Jack Wade- "Ceili Music of Ireland." Folkways FG 3575, Barry, Gorman, Ennis, and Heaney- "Irish Music in London Pubs." Gael-Linn CEF132, Johnny O'Leary "An Calmfhear/The Trooper" (1989). REX 5001 (78 RPM), Leo Rowesome & Frank Higgins (1933). Topic TSCD 602, Pat Roche's Harp & Shamrock Orchestra - "Irish Dance Music" (1995. A reissue of the original 1934 recording).

See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1],br> Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [3]
Hear Leo Rowsome and Frank Higgins' 1933 recording at the Internet Archive [4] [5]

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X:1
T:Boys of Bluehill, The - Variations
M:4/4
L:1/8
S:Philippe Varlet
N:"These are just a few possible variations derived on the spur of the moment."
R:hornpipe
Z:Philippe Varlet
K:D
FA |{d}BAFA D2 FA | {d}BA (3Bcd e2 de | fa{b}af egfe | dfed B2 dB |
{d}BAFA DA FA | {d}BA (3Bcd e2 de | fa{b}af ef{a}fe | d2 {e}dc dDFA |
{d}BAFA DAFA | {d}BA (3Bcd eAde | fdaf {a}gfef | defd B2 GB |
{d}BAFE DEFA | {d}BAfd e2 de |~f3 a ea{fa}fe | df (3edc defg ||
afdf a2 af | {a}gfga b2 ag | fa{b}af (3efg fe | dfed B2 dB |
{d}BAFD A,DFA | Bcdf e2 de | (3fga fa {ga}gece | dd{e}dc defg |
~a3 f dfaf | gfef gbag | {e}f2 af efde | fded BcdB |
{d}BAFA D3 B | {d}BA (3Bcd ea{b}ag | (3faf df eAce |df (3edc d4 ||

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