Annotation:Port Patrick (1)
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PORT PATRICK [1] (Cuain-Padraic). Scottish, Irish; Air, March or Double Jig. G Major (O’Neill): A Mixolydian (Bremner). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Portpatrick [1] is a coastal village in Dumfried and Galloway, southwest Scotland, with a sheltered harbor. It was a ferry port of passengers, postal mail and freight between Ireland and Scotland. At one time it was a destination for couples from Ireland seeking a quick wedding, conducted by the Church of Scotland minister (see note for "annotation:Gretna Green" for more).
John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of this tune in print in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection. The tune appears in a few American musicians' manuscript of the latter 18th century, sometimes as a quickstep, including the copybooks of fifer Thomas Nixon (Danbury, Conn., 1776-78), fiddlers John and William Pitt Turner (Norwich, Conn., 1788), and fiddler George White (Cherry Valley, N.Y., 1790).
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Bremner (Scots Reels), c. 1757; p. 25. Gatherer (Gatherer’s Musical Museum), 1987; p. 23. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 3), c. 1880's; No. 251, p. 28. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 356, p. 73. Oswald (Caledonian Pocket Companion, Book 12), 1760; p. 15.
Recorded sources: Great Meadow Music GMM 2018, Frank Ferrel & Joe Derrane – “Fiddledance” (2004. Learned from concertina player Tim Collins, of the Kilfenora Ceili Band).