Annotation:Bush on the Hill (2) (The)

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X:2 T:Bush on the Hill [2], The T:Lowdown Jig, The R:jig Z:id:hn-jig-210 Z:transcribed by henrik.norbeck@mailbox.swipnet.se M:6/8 L:1/8 K:G ~G,3 DB,D|GFG Bdg|edc BcA|BGE EDB,| ~G,3 DB,D|GFG Bdg|edc BcA|1 BGF GDB,:|2 BGF GdB|| |:GBd gfg|ece dBA|cBc dBG|BAA ABA| GBd gfg|ece dBA|cBc dcA|1 AGF GdB:|2 AGF GDB,||

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)," "Paddy Killoran's Jig (1)," "Seán Ryan's Jig (3)." Irish, Jig (6/8 time). A Major (Cranford/Stubbert, Taylor/Tweed): G Major (Mulvihill). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Cranford/Stubbert, Mulvihill): AA'BB' (Taylor/Tweed). According to New York button accordionist Luke O'Malley, it was composed by Jack McKenna (a guitar accompanist to Hughie Gillespie and Paddy Killoran) and touched up a bit by Killoran himself, who then recorded it. Philippe Varlet identified the original recording (with McKenna on guitar) as a c. 1951 78 rpm side on the Standard label, on which it appeared (paired with "Knights of Saint Patrick (The)") as one of "Patrick's Jigs." Varlet relates that Killoran also played it at a 1949 concert at the Dublin GPO. 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). 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. Killoran himself recorded the tune in A, the key still preferred by older New York and Cape Breton fiddlers.

Additional notes

Sources for notated versions: - fiddler Jimmy McHugh [Bulmer & Sharpley]; fiddler Andrew Davey (b. 1928, Cloonagh, Mullaghroe, Keash) [Flaherty]; 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 vol. 2), 1974; No. 43 (as "McGlinchey's Jig"). Cranford (Brenda Stubbert's), 1994; No. 85, p. 32. Flaherty (Trip to Sligo), 1990; p. 116. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music vol. 2), 1977; No. 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: -Standard 78 rpm disc, Paddy Killoran with Jack McKenna (as the second of "Patrick's Jigs"), reissued on Colonial 169 LP, "Memories of Ireland" (1959); Green Linnet SIF 1027, Mick Moloney - "Strings Attached"; Green Linnet 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]

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