Annotation:Paddy Clancy's

Back to Paddy Clancy's

---

PADDY CLANCY’S. AKA – “Clancy’s Jig.” AKA and see "Ah Surely (2)," “Buttermilk Mary (3),” “Coleman’s Favourite,” “Fond of the Ladies,” “Frolicksome Dame (The),” “Health to the Ladies (A),” “Irishman's Heart to the Ladies,” “Irishman's Love (1) (An),” “Móinín Jig,” “Mountain Road (2) (The),” “Mountainy Boy (The),” “Night of the Wedding (The),” “O’Mahony’s Jig,” “Over the Callows,” "Peadar Clancy's," “Pat Beirne’s Favourite,” “Queenstown Jig (The),” “Saddle the Pony (2),” “Sweet Biddy Daly,” "Thrush in the Meadow," “To the Ladies.” Irish, Jig. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune was recorded in 1936 in New York by County Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman (1891-1945) as "Paddy Clancy's," and by flute player John McKenna (1880-1947) in 1928 as “Clancy's Dream.” There is speculation, but no proof, that 'Clancy' titles honor County Tipperary fiddler Patrick Clancy, who in 1919 recorded four medleys for the Victor Talking Machine Company, becoming the first Irish fiddler to record for a consumer audience (c.f. Victor 18639, "Dublin Jig Medley", July, 1919). Francis O'Neill briefly mentions him in his Irish Minstrels and Musicians (1913, p. 392), noting that Patrick was the son of a regionally renowned fiddler, piper and flute player Martin Clancy, who was, at the time of O'Neill's writing, "generally regarded in Clare and Limerick as without an equal, especially as an exponent of the traditional style.":

Great as is the reputation of Martin Clancy as a traditional fiddler on the banks of the broad-bosomed Shannon, it is no disparagement to his fame to say that, as an all-around performer on the violin, he is equaled by his son, Patrick Clancy of New York City. The only child of his parents, the latter was born in the sixties at the Limerick side of Thomond Bridge, near the barracks. Inheriting his father's musical talent, he profited also by his training, as the sequel proved. Clancy's orchestra, of which he is the leader, is in much demand at Irish balls and entertainments, and comptetent authorities assert that as an Irish performer on the violin his is unequaled in that city. The son, too, has his peculiarities. He fills his engagements scrupulously and to the minute--but no more. That is simply business without sentiment. Yet, when the ball is over he will visit some bartender friend and roll out jigs and reels for him until morning.

The jig is a member of a large family of tunes more or less closely related, sharing very similar melodic contours. One sub-family is centered around 'D' as the tonal center (as in "Paddy Clancy's"), and the other around 'A' (mixolydian) as the tonal center, but they share many of the same variants and alternate titles.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland, vol. 2), 1974; No. 38. Mallinson (100 Essential), 1995; No. 85, p. 37. Peoples (Fifty Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1986; No. 43.

Recorded sources: Decca 12076 (78 RPM), Michael Coleman (1936. Paired with "Trip to the Cottage").

See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]
Hear John McKenna's 1928 recording on youtube.com [2]
Hear Michael Coleman's 1936 recording at the Internet Archive [3] [4]

---