Annotation:Boys of Portaferry (The)

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BOYS OF PORTAFERRY, THE (Buacailli puirt an calad). AKA and see "Sporting Boys (1) (The)," "Pullet (1) (The)." Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. David Taylor (1992) traces the tune and its relatives to an apparent root melody, a tune called "Pigeon on the Gale" (not to be confused with the similarly titled modern tune "Pigeon on the Gate"). It was published in Glasgow, Scotland, by James S. Kerr in the 1880's, although the provenance of the tune is unknown. The word 'gale' not only means a strong wind but also is the name for a bog-plant, also called 'sweet-gale', and either meaning may have been the one intended. Related tunes include "Red-Haired Lass (The)" and "Shearing the Sheep." The second strain is inter-changeable with the second strain in both "Primrose Lass (The)" and "Brown-Eyed Girl (The)" (although the first strains are quite different).

Source for notated version: New Jersey flute player Mike Rafferty, born in Ballinakill, Co. Galway, in 1926 [Harker].

Printed sources: Flaherty (Trip to Sligo), p. 105a (appears as "Unknown"). Harker (300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty), 2005; No. 106, p. 33. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 105. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1249, p. 235. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 521, p. 98. Taylor (Crossroads Dance), 1992; No. 8, p. 8.

Recorded sources: Green Linnet GLCD 1175, Cherish the Ladies - "New Day Dawning." Green Linnet GLCD 1187, Cherish the Ladies - "One and All: the Best of Cherish the Ladies" (1998).

See also listings at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]