Annotation:Bush on the Hill (2) (The)
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BUSH ON THE HILL [2], THE/A. AKA and see "Humors of Miltown (3)," "Lowdown Jig (The)," "McGlinchey's Jig," "Milltown Maid," "Old West Clare Jig (The)," "Sean Ryan's Jig (3)." Irish, Jig. A Major (Cranford/Stubbert, Taylor/Tweed): G Major (Mulvihill). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Cranford/Stubbert, Mulvihill): AA'BB' (Taylor/Tweed). "The Lowdown Jig" is a local Kerry name for the tune. Fiddler Brendan McGlinchey has been credited with composing the tune, although apparently McGlinchey himself has said he did not. He thinks, rather, that it may be one of several tunes collected in America by Ciarán Mac Mathúna in the early 1960's (Paul de Grae). Philippe Varlet, however, finds that it predates McGlinchey, and that Paddy Killoran recorded it on a 78 RPM after WWII and in a concert at the GPO in Dublin in 1949. Indeed, the notes to the Ennis Ceili Band CD maintain that it is a Killoran composition originally titled "Humors of Miltown (3)," honoring his wife's native home of Coore, a townland of Miltown Malbay, Clare (Paul de Grae mentions that she was a Hayes, sister-in-law to Kitty Hayes). Derry fiddler Eugene O'Donnell (who lived in Philadelphia, Pa., for many years before returning to Ireland) also believed the tune was from West Clare (Miller & Perron, 2nd ed.). The "Lowdown Jig (The)" title (by which it is known nowadays in County Kerry, according to Paul) is descriptive of the distinctive first part of the tune, which begins with a roll on the open 'G' string. Cape Breton versions are sometimes set in the key of A major.
Sources for notated versions: fiddler Jimmy McHugh [Bulmer & Sharpley]; fiddler Brenda Stubbert (b. 1959, Point Aconi, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia) [Cranford]; Brendan Mulvihill (Baltimore, Md.) [Mulvihill]; fiddler Brian Conway (Westchester, NY) [Taylor/Tweed]; fiddler Eugene O'Donnell (of Derry and Philadelphia) [Miller & Perron].
Printed sources: Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland), 1974, vol. 2, No. 43 (as "McGlinchey's Jig"). Cranford (Brenda Stubbert's), 1994; No. 85, p. 32. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 1977; vol. 2, 49 (appears as "Jig from West Clare"). Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music, 2nd Edition), 2006; p. 16. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 27, p. 70. Taylor (Traditional Irish Music: Karen Tweed's Irish Choice), 1994; p. 8.
Recorded sources: Green Linnet SIF 1027, Mick Maloney - "Strings Attached" (as "McGlinchey's Jig"). Green Linnett SIF1035, Brian Conway & Tony De Marco - "The Apple in Winter" (1981). Shanachie 79054, Kevin and Liz Carroll - "Fathers and Daughters."
See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]