Annotation:Rakes of Mallow (The)

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RAKES OF MALLOW, THE (Na Racairide Ua Mag-Ealla). AKA and see "Heights of Alma (1) (The)," “Jolly Sailor,” “Piping Tim of Galway,” “Rakes of London,” "Rigs o' Marlow," “Romping Molly.” AKA – “Rakes of Malta,” “Rakes of Mellow.” Irish (originally), English, American; Air, Polka, Reel or March. England; North-West, Northumberland. USA; Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York State, Massachusetts, Maine. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Bronner, O'Neill): AABB (Aird, Johnson/1983, Kerr, Linscott, Russell, Ruth, Sweet, Seattle/Vickers, Wade): AABBCC (Johnson, Karpeles, Kennedy, Raven). Bayard (1981) identifies the name as apparently stemming from the 18th century when the town of Mallow, County Cork (on the river Blackwater between Limerick and Cork City), was a well-known spa. Russell (1989) calls it a “prosperous little town” today, and one which has attracted industry and population because of the good land nearby. Mallow is located at the western end of the ‘Golden Vale’ which stretches across Ireland into Meath and Dublin. ‘Rakes’ appears to be short for ‘rakehell’, which itself stems from the Old Icelandic word reikall, meaning "wandering” or “unsettled." One of the early printings of the tune is in the collection of Burke Thumoth, 1745 (as “Rakes of Marlow”), and Paul Gifford has found it in a manuscript of Danish hakkebraet (dulcimer) tablature under the title "Rakes of London,” dated 1753. However, the earliest appearance of “Rakes of Mallow” is in Walsh’s London-published Caledonian Country Dances of 1733 (p. 34), and the earliest printings are from England. The melody is still heard in English sessions in modern times, although considered a ‘beginner’s tune’, and it is widely recognized throughout the English-speaking world, and despite its Irish-sounding title, the tune's provenance has not been established.

In America an early version appears in the music manuscript copybook of Henry Livingston, Jr. Livingston purchased the estate of Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1771 at the age of 23. In 1775 he was a Major in the 3rd New York Regiment, which participated in Montgomery’s invasion of Canada in a failed attempt to wrest Montreal from British control. An important land-owner in the Hudson Valley, and a member of the powerful Livingston family, Henry was also a surveyor and real estate speculator, an illustrator and map-maker, and a Justice of the Peace for Dutchess County. He was also a poet and musician, and presumably a dancer, as he was elected a Manager for the New York Assembly’s dancing season of 1774-1775, along with his 3rd cousin, John Jay, later U.S. Chief Justice of Governor of New York. Livingston included the following verse, a drinking song attributed to Edward Lysaght, with the melody:

Beauxing, belling, dancing, drinking,
Breaking windows, damning, sinking,
Ever raking never Thinking
Lives the Rakes of Mallow.
Spending faster than it comes,
Beating Bawds, whores, and duns,
Bacchus’ true begotten sons,
Lives the Rakes of Mallow.

The tune has sometimes been linked in New England with the dance "Morning Star," and mid-20th century called Ralph Page used it as an accompaniment to a dance he called "Ladies' Whirligig." The title appears in a list of the repertoire of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham. The elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's. “Rakes of Mallow” was prominently featured in director John Ford’s film The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne (filmed in the village of Cong, Ireland), as the theme for the fight scene when the town comes alive. "Rakes of Mallow" has also been employed for either a polka or a single step dance in the North-West (England) morris dance tradition. See also the tune under the name “Romping Molly” in Shaw’s Cowboy Dances (1943). Bruce Olson gives a good history of the song at the Digital Tradition Mirror, and writes in part:

Although widely known, the widely known version of this song is usually somewhat expurgated. The song with tune was printed about 1740 as a single sheet issue, copies of which are in the British Library and the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Other copies of the song are in The Charmer, 3rd. ed., p. 277, Edinburgh, 1765, and it is possibly in the two earlier editions, 1749 and 1751, which I have not seen. The song is also in the 4th ed. I, p. 277, 1782, in The Charms of Melody, Dublin, 1776, and in the Encyclopedia of Comic Songs, London, 1819. In the first of the preceding it is given as four double length stanzas. A copy of the 1740's, given as eight four-line verses is in NLS MS 6299. An expurgated copy of the song was given by T. Crofton Crocker in Popular Songs of Ireland, 1839, with the tune cited for it as "Sandy lent the man his mull." That tune direction is circular, since the first verse and chorus of the latter are in David Herd's MS, c 1776, (reprinted by Hecht, Songs from David Herd's Manuscripts, 1904) with the tune direction "The Rakes of Mallow."

Source for notated version: Lewis Jilson (Bernardstown, Mass.) [Linscott]; Les Weir, 1976 (New York State) [Bronner]; seven southwestern Pa. fifers and fiddlers [Bayard]; Bob Fleck (Michigan) [Johnson].

Printed sources: Aird (Selections of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. II), 1785; No. 21, p. 8 (appears as “Rakes of Mall”). Arkie, p. 46. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 190A-G, pp. 145-148. Bronner (Old Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 29, p. 118. Cazden, 1955; p. 39. Cushing, No. 61. DeVille, 1905; No. 67. Smollet Holden (A Collection of Old Established Irish Slow and Quick Tunes), c. 1805; No. 14. Hughes (Gems from the Emerald Isles), London, 1867; No. 31, p. 8. Jarman, 1951; p. 73. S. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician No. 4: Collection of Fine Tunes), 1983 (revised 1991, 2001); p. 13. S. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician's No. 7: Michigan Tunes, vol. 7), 1986-87; p. 10. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; p. 33 (appears as "Rigs O' Marlow" in an strathspey setting). Keller (Giles Gibbs Jr. His Book For the Fife...1777), 1974; p. 11. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book, vol. 1), 1951; No. 54, p. 27. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 3), c. 1880's; No. 371, p. 41. Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; p. 99. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddlers Repertory), 1983; No. p. Moffat (Minstrelsy of Ireland), 1897; p. 21. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 33, p. 125. O'Malley, 1919; p. 39. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1814, p. 341. Ostling, 1939; No. 22. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 169. Robbins, 1933; No. 133. Russell (The Piper’s Chair), 1989; p. 17. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 6, p. 4. Seattle (Great Northern/William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 204. Sweet (Fifer’s Delight), 1965/1981; p. 56. Sym, p. 25. Thumoth (Forty Eight English, Irish and Scotch Airs with Variations), 1745-6, p. 191. Wade (Mally’s North West Morris Book), 1988; p. 14. Wier, p. 455.

Recorded sources: Columbia Acoustic Record, Pipe Major J. Starck (1915). Columbia 33069-F (78 RPM), Michael Coleman & Tom Morrison (1925. Appears as "Heights of Alma"). Columbia 33505-F (78 RPM), O'Leary's Irish Minstrels (paired with "Jack McGrale's Jig"). Crown Records 3402 (78 RPM), William Quinn (1932, accordion). Folkways 8826, Per's Four - "Jigs and Reels." North Star NS0038, "The Village Green: Dance Music of Old Sturbridge Village." TOPIC 12T365, "The Flanagan Brothers: An Irish Delight" (1979. Last tune in "Medley of Irish Polkas"). Bob Smith’s Ideal Band – “Better than an Orchestra” (1977).

See also listings at:
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Alan Ng’s Irishtune.info [2]
Hear Co. Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman and flute player Tom Morrison's 1925 recording at the Internet Archive [3] (Appears under the title "Heights of Alma (1) (The)"). Hear piper J. Starck's 1915 recording on youtube.com [4]

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