Coleraine (1)

COLERAINE. Irish, Double Jig. A Minor (Brody, Kerr, Miller & Perron, Reiner, Spadaro, Sweet, Tolman): B Minor (Sullivan). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Coleraine is a town in northern Ireland. The tune has long been a staple of New England contra dances, popularized by hammered dulcimer player Bill Spence and his band Fennig's All Stars. The earliest printing appears to be in Kerr's Merry Melodies (c. 1886), where it is included in a section of Irish jigs, but this seems to be the only identification of an Irish provenance for the melody. In fact, the tune does not appear in Irish printed repertoire prior to Tony Sullivan's (c. 1970's?) volume, printed in England. North American sources (Tolman, Sweet) predate this, and it seems likely the melody was picked up in that region from Kerr's, popularized there, and returned to Britain (Sullivan). It is said that "Coleraine" bears some resemblance to a theme from a Mozart horn concerto, although I have not been able to corroborate nor find more information. The pairing may have stemmed from one of the Chieftains pairings of a small orchestra playing Mozart with Irish trad. Selections ("Planxty Mozart").

Source for notated version: Fennig's All Stars (upstate New York) [Brody].

Printed sources: Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pp. 70–71. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes), No. or p. 19. S. Johnson (Kitchen Musician No. 6: Jigs), 1982 (revised 1989, 2001); pg. 9. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 4), c. 1880's; No. 234, p. 26. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler's Repertoire), 1983; No. 15. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1979; p. 48. Sanella (Balance and Swing), 1982. Spadaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; p. 45. Sullivan (Session Tunes), vol. 2; No. 25, p. 10. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; p. 29. Tolman (Nelson Music Collection), 1969; p. 5.

Recorded sources: F&W Records 3, "Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra." Front Hall 01, Fennigs All Stars – "The Hammered Dulcimer." Revonah RS-924, "The West Orrtanna String Band" (1976. Learned from Fennig's All Stars' recording). Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40126, Rodney Miller – "Choose Your Partners!: Contra Dance & Square Dance Music of New Hampshire" (1999).

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

X:1
T:Coleraine
M:6/8
L:1/8
Z:transcribed by Jürgen Gier
R:jig
K:Ador
E|EAA ABc|Bee e2d|cBA ABc|B^GE E2D|
EAA ABc|Bee e2d|cBA B^GE|ABA A2:|
|:B|~c3 cdc|Bdg g2^g|aed cBA|^GBG EFG|
~A3 BAB|cde =fed|cBA B^GE|ABA A2:|