Annotation:Kitty's Rambles

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X:1 T:Kitty’s Rambles M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig B:R.M. Levey – First Collection of the Dance Music of Ireland (1858, No. 31, p. 13) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D A/G/|FED {d}=cBc|def {a}gfg|afd =cAF|GFG AFD| FED {d}=cBc|def {a}gfg|afd =cAG|Adc d2:| |:f/g/|afd {e}dcd|dfa agf|ge=c {d}cBc|e=ce gfe| fdf geg|agf efg|fed cAG|Adc d2||

KITTY'S RAMBLE{S} (Triallta Caitilin). AKA and see "Katie's Rambles," "Katy's Rambles," "Kitty's Rambles to Youghal," "Hag with Her Keg on Her Shoulder," "Heart of My Kitty Still Warms to Me," "Heart of My Kitty for Me," "Dan the Cobbler," "Ladies Triumph (3)," "Rambles of Kitty," "Murray's Maggot," "I'm a Man in Myself Like Oliver's Bull," "Strop the Razor (1)," "Young Ettie Lee," "Linehan's Rambles," "Chailleach is a Ceag ar a Gualainn (An)." Irish, Double Jig (6/8 time). D Major (Allan, Levy): D Major/Mixolydian (Breathnach, Kerr, O'Neill {all versions}, Taylor): F Major/D Minor (Haverty, O'Farrell). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Kerr): AABB (Allan's, Breathnach, O'Farrell, O'Neill/Krassen & 1915): AABBCC (Taylor): AABBCCDD (O'Neill/1850 & 1001). Piper O'Farrell's "Kitty's Rambles to Youghal" is a precursor version, perhaps ancestral to the modern "Kitty's Rambles" tune, although as Paul de Grae notes, "the relationship is more apparent on the page than to the ear. The notes are similar but the key signatures are different"^[1]. The O'Farrell/Haverty version is in F Major and D minor, while O'Neill's is in D Major (with some occasional strays into the mixolydian mode). A simpler, two-part version of the tune is known as "Dan the Cobbler" and "Ladies Triumph (The)." Set as an air, it is called "Heart of My Kitty for Me" in O'Neill's Waifs and Strays (1922, No. 65). Joyce's two-strain "I'm a Man in Myself Like Oliver's Bull" is also a version and can be found in his 1909 publication Old Irish Folk Music and Songs. See also the second part of "Cobbler (2) (The)" in McDermott's Allen's Irish Fiddler (c. 1920's). "Fanning's" is a related jig.

A version, a bit distanced from the original, appears in the large 1840 music manuscript collection of multi-instrumentalist John Rook, of Waverton, near the market town of Wigton, Cumbria. Compare also with "Lady's Triumph (3)/Katy's Rambles."

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - flute and whistle player Micko Russell (Doolin, Co. Clare, Ireland) [Breathnach].

Printed sources : - Breathnach (Ceol Rince na hÉireann vol. II), 1976; No. 36, p. 21. Feldman & O'Doherty (The Northern Fiddler), 1976; No. 100c (appears as untitled jig). P.M. Haverty (One Hundred Irish Airs vol. 2), 1858; No. 116, p. 53. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1880; No. 40, p. 39. Levey (First Collection of the Dance Music of Ireland), 1858; No. 31, p. 13. McDermott (Allan's Irish Fiddler), No. 28, p. 7. O'Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. 1), c. 1805; p. 33 (appears as "Kitty's Rambles to Youghall"). O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 60. O'Neill (O'Neill's Irish Music), 1915; No. 155, p. 88. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1043, p. 195. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907 No. 5, p. 17. Taylor (Where's the Crack?), 1989; p. 22.

Recorded sources : - Topic TSCD 602, Frank Lee's Tara Ceilidh Band - "Irish Dance Music" (1995. A reissue of the original 1932 recording).

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↑ Paul de Grae, "The Rambles of the Pitchfork: evidence for "creative misreading " of traditional tunes", July, 2015.

[1] Paul de Grae, "The Rambles of the Pitchfork: evidence for "creative misreading " of traditional tunes", July, 2015.

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