Irish-American uilleann piper Patsy Touhey was recorded on a cylinder machine by Capt. Francis O'Neill in Chicago playing the tune in 1904. It may be that O'Neill obtained the setting of the tune that appears in his Dance Music of Ireland (1907) from the piper.Rakish Paddy
Played by: Francis O'Neill - Ward Irish Music Archive Source: Soundcloud Image: The Francis O'Neill Cylinders - Thirty-two Recordings of Irish Traditional Music in America, circa 1904.
Brendan Breathnach (1963, 1971), Robin Williamson (1976) and other knowledgeable musicians generally think the tune, a perennial favorite of performers, originated in Scotland. O'Neill finds that Bremner published it under the title "Caper Fey" (an English corruption of the Gaelic "Caber Féigh/Cabar Féidh," 'the deer's horns') in 1768 in his Second Collection of Scots Reels or Country Dances. "Rakish Paddy" is cited by Cowdery (1990) as the title tune of a dance tune family (including one march version) which includes the alternate titles given above.
There are three distinct versions of the tune, says Cowdery, the first and most common of the three has its two strains corresponding to the Scots "Caber Féigh/Cabar Féidh." The second was recorded by fiddler John Doherty and appears to be particular to his home County Donegal (see O'Halloran's), and the third (recorded by County Clare fiddler Bobby Casey and played by many) is a four-strain variation of Caber Féigh/Cabar Féidh, though the last two strains appear to be variations of the second. Caoimhin Mac Aoidh also states that the County Donegal version is different than the "Rakish Paddy" played in the south of Ireland.
In fact, he traces an unusual version of "Rakish Paddy" from Charlie Doherty, a member of the famous fiddling Doherty family of Donegal, who brought the tune back to Ireland with him from his years in America. Although Charlie’s death from a fall out a second-story window was untimely, the tune was ultimately popularized by the playing of his younger brother John and now is known throughout Donegal.
Flute player Roger Sherlock remembers "Rakish Paddy" was a favorite of uilleann piper Willie Clancy's (Miltown Malbay, County Clare) in the 1950's and 1960's when Clancy joined Sherlock and other Irish émigré musicians for a time in London. Breathnach (1963) states that O'Neill's identification of "Sporting Pat (1)" as a variant of "Rakish Paddy" is erroneous. See also the related Donegal reel O'Halloran's, New Copperplate (The) as well as Coveny's Reel
Although we are not trained musicologists and make no pretense to the profession, we have tried to apply such professional rigors to this Semantic Abc Web as we have internalized through our own formal and informal education.
This demands the gathering of as much information as possible about folk pieces to attempt to trace tune families, determine origins, influences and patterns of aural/oral transmittal, and to study individual and regional styles of performance.
Many musicians, like ourselves, are simply curious about titles, origins, sources and anecdotes regarding the music they play. Who, for example, can resist the urge to know where the title Blowzabella came from or what it means, or speculating on the motivations for naming a perfectly respectable tune Bloody Oul' Hag, is it Tay Ye Want?
Knowing the history of the melody we play, or at least to have a sense of its historical and social context, makes the tune 'present' in the here and now, and enhances our rendering of it.
Andrew Kuntz & Valerio Pelliccioni
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Some of items in the Traditional Tune Archive may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes.
Such materials should be seen in the context of the time period and as a reflection of the attitudes of the time.
