Annotation:Paddy Whack (1)
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PADDY WHACK [1] (Paidin an Bualadoir). AKA – “Paddy Wack,” “Paddy O’Whack.” AKA and see “Little Peggy's (2),” “Tommy Reck’s,” "When history's muse," "Whoop(e)! do(e) me ne(e) harm good man," "Green Joke (The)," "Harp that in Darkness." Irish, Scottish, English, American; Double Jig and Quick March. USA; New York, southwestern Pa. England, Shropshire. G Major (Ashman, Ford, Kerr, O'Neill, Peacock, Phillips, Raven): D Major (Bayard): A Major (Cole, Miller & Perron, White). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Bayard, Peacock, Raven): AABB (Ashman, Cole, Ford, Kerr, Levey, Miller & Perron, O'Neill, Phillips, White): AABB' (O'Neill/1001). The tune has been often published from the later 18th century on in both fiddle and fife collections; some later publications have called it "Paddy O'Whack." The title is from a song by the same name, the chorus of which goes:
Di du mack whack,
And where are ye from?
The town of Ballyhack
Where seven praties weight a ton.
Several other songs have been set to the air, including “Villikins and His Dinah” and the American “Sweet Betsy from Pike.”
John Glen (1891) finds the earliest Scottish printing of it in Robert Ross's 1780 collection (p. 7). It appears in English collections before that date, however: Rutherford's Compleat Collection of 200 of the Most Celebrated Country Dances (c. 1756), Longman, Lukey and Broderip’s Bride’s Favourite Collection of 200 Select Country Dances, Cotillions (London, 1776), Straight and Skillern’s Two Hundred and Four Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1 (London, 1775), and Charles and Samuel Thompson’s Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3 (London, 1773). After appearing in these country dance volumes, “Paddy Whack” was often printed in instrumental tutors such as Longman and Broderip’s Entire New and Compleat Instructions for the Fife (London, c. 1780), Thomas Skillern’s Compleat Instructions for the Fife (London, c. 1780), Charles and Samuel Thompson’s Compleat Tutor for the Fife (London, c. 1770 and1786), Thompson’s Compleat Tutor for the Hautboy (London, 1790), Wilson’s Pocket Preceptor for the Fife (London, 1805), Northumbrian piper Peacock’s Favorite Collection of Tunes with Variations (Newcastle, 1805), and Clementi’s Entire New and Compleat Instructions for the Fife (London, c 1815), and, in America, Joshua Cushing’s Fifer’s Companion No. 1 (Salem, Mass., 1805), David Hazeltine’s Instructor in Martial Music (Exeter, N.H., c. 1810), and Gilford’s Gentleman’s Pocket Companion for the Flute or Violin (New York, c. 1802).
It is similarly well-represented in musicians’ manuscript collections of the period. In England, “Paddy Whack” appears in numerous musicians' manuscripts, particularly from the north of the country, including the John Rook collection (Waverly, Cumbria, 1840), Joseph Kershaw copybook (Saddleworth, c. 1820's-30's), John Moore collection (Tyneside, 1841), Rev. R. Harrison collection (Temple Sowerby, Cumbria, c. 1815), and others.
American musicians’ commonplace books containing the jig include that of the Bellamy band (Hamden, Conn., 1799), flute player Micah Hawkins (1794), fluter William Williams (Pautuxit, R.I., 1775), fluter George Willis (1795), fluter R.B. Washburn (1816), flute player Ralph Pomeroy (New Haven and Hartford, Conn., 1790), clarinet player J. Williams (Salem, N.Y., 1799), Abel Shattuck (Colrain, Mass., begun 1801), woodwind player Silas Dickinson (Amherst, Mass., 1800), fluter Joseph Cabot (Cambridge & Salem, Mass., 1784), flutist Elias Boynton (Pepperell, Mass., 1799), fifer Ebenezer Bevens (Middletown, Conn., 1825), flute player Henry Beck (1786), John Beach (Gloucester, Mass., 1801), and Sarah Brown Hereshoff (1790). It retained its popularity in traditional music circles and was cited as having commonly been played at Orange County, New York, country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly).
Perhaps the earliest recording is from 1905 by violinist Charles D’Alamaine, born in 1871 in England, who died in 1943. D’Alamaine immigrated to the United States in 1888, and by 1890 had established himself as “instructor on violin” in Evanston, Illinois; by 1910 he had removed to Yonkers, and in 1920 was a chiropractor in New York City (info. from Paul Gifford).
Sources for notated versions: Walter Neal (Armstrong County, Pa., 1952) and Hiram Horner (fifer from Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pa., 1963) [Bayard]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]; contained in the 19th century Joseph Kershaw Manuscript—Kershaw was a fiddle player who lived in the remote area of Slackcote, Saddleworth, North West England, who compiled his manuscript from 1820 onwards, according to Jamie Knowles [Kershaw]; Jehile Kirkhuff (Pa.) [Phillips/1995].
Printed sources: Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 116b, p. 48. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 543A-B, p. 484. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 59. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; p. 32. P.M. Haverty (One Hundred Irish Airs vol. 1), 1858; No. 37, p. 15. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1880’s; No. 45, p. 40. Johnson (A Further Collection of Dances, Marches, Minuetts and Duetts of the Latter 18th Century), 1998; p. 9. Knowles (The Joseph Kershaw Manuscript), 1993; No. 59. Levey (Dance Music of Ireland, 2nd Collection), 1873; No. 38, p. 16. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler’s Repertoire), 1983; No. 25. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 21. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 759, p. 141. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 43, p. 24. Peacock (Peacock’s Tunes), 1805; No. 22, p. 7. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook: British Isles), 1989; pp. 38-39. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2), 1995; p. 375. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 118. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883. Samuel, Anne & Peter Thompson (The Hibernian Muse), London, 1787; No. 46, p. 28. White’s Unique Collection, 1896; No. 29, p. 5.
Recorded sources:
See also listings at:
Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [3]