Annotation:Bill Harte's Jig (1)

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BILL HARTE'S JIG [1] (Port Liam Uí Airt). AKA and see "Did You See My Man Looking for Me? (2)," "Rookery (2) (The)," "Sonny Brogan's (1)," AKA - "Tom Hearte's." Irish, Double Jig. D Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Breathnach): AABB (Harker/Rafferty, Mallinson). Breathnach (1976) notes the tune was not original with source Harte, and that it was related to "Bímid ag ól (1)," "Jackson's Humours of Panteen" and "Huish the Cat." In fact, the melody was used as an air, and Breathnach notes that Sligo musician John Brennan used to sing "Did you see my man looking for me?" to it. The mother of Tom Barrett, from Knockbrack, Lyreacrompane, near Tralee, would sing to it this soothing song for a child:

Bú dí bú sin, neataí nóinín,
Bú dí bú sin, was every bit of her;
See how she goes on the tip of her toes,
Bú dí bú sin, was every bit of her,
See how she dances, see how she prances,
See how she dances, every bit of her;
See how she goes on the tip of her toes,
Bú dí bú sin, was every bit of her. ... (Breathnach, CRE II, 1976)

Harte was a Dublin accordion player and a member of the Dublin Garda, or police force, and a member of the Lought Gill Quartet with Sonny Brogan, John Hawley and Sarah Gill.

Sources for notated versions: accordion player Bill Harte, 1968 (Dublin, Ireland) [Breathnach]; session at the Regent Hotel, Leeds, England [Bulmer & Sharpley]; New Jersey flute player Mike Rafferty, born in Ballinakill, Co. Galway, in 1926 [Harker].

Printed sources: Breathnach (CRÉ II), 1976; No. 39, p. 22. Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland), 1974, vol. 1, No. 55. Harker (300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty), 2005; No. 208, p. 64. Mallinson (100 Enduring), 1995; No. 39, p. 17.

Recorded sources:

See also listings at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]

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