Annotation:Down the Broom
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DOWN THE BROOM. AKA – "Down the Broom to Joe," "Down Through the Broom." AKA and see "Crosses of Annagh (1) (The)," "Paddy Cronin's Reel (1)," Irish, Reel (cut time). A Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (most versions): AA'BB (Mitchell). "Crosses of Annagh" is a closely related tune, although the second strain differs somewhat. The reel (as "Down the Broom to Joe") is contained in vol. 2 (p. 155) of the large mid-19th century music manuscript collection of County Cork cleric and uilleann piper biography:James Goodman, obtained from the music manuscripts of Dublin bookseller John O'Daly. See also Joyce's "Down Through the Broom" and the related "Corner House (1) (The)." There are some melodic similarities with the reel "Sligo Maid" (and, in Cape Breton, "Old Peter's Reel"), however, whether the tunes are cognate is debatable. Paddy O'Brien composed a variant of the tune that he called "Larry's Favourite," with a third part added.
Paddy Killoran (1904–1965), originally from Ballymote, County Sligo, recorded the tune in November, 1937, in New York for Decca Records, famously pairing it with "Gatehouse Maid (1) (The)." The pairing is still sometimes heard at Irish music sessions today. A note at the Internet Archive [1] gives that "Paddy's wife was from Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare, and the well-known fiddler Junior Crehan remembered Paddy playing these reels on visits to his wife's hometown, they being great favorites of his. These tunes were popularized by this record as well. Sean Maguire's father had a different and very nice reel he called the Gatehouse Maid as well."
"Down the Broom" has been called part of the core South Sligo repertoire. An early recording of "Down the Broom" was by Ballybay, County Monaghan, piper Robert William "Willie" Clarke (1889–1934) for Columbia Records of London in 1928, for a series of records entitled "The Pipes of Three Nations" (which included a Highland piper and a Northumbrian small-piper). See also Francis O'Neill's variant "Jim Moore's Fancy."
Sources for notated versions: piper Willie Clancy (1918–1973, Miltown Malbay, west Clare) [Mitchell]; Paddy Killoran [Bulmer & Sharpley]; set dance music recorded at Na Píobairí Uilleann, late 1980's [Taylor]; a c. 1960 recording of Seán Ryan & P.J. Moloney [Miller & Perron]; New Jersey flute player Mike Rafferty, born in Ballinakill, Co. Galway, in 1926 [Harker].
Printed sources: Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; p. 90. Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland, vol. 1), 1974; No. 1. Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; p. 73, No. 113. Cotter (Traditional Irish Tin Whistle Tutor), 1986; 64. Donnellan, Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society, vol. 2, no. 2, 1909; No. 12. Harker (300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty), 2005; No. 144, p. 44. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 1977; vol. 1, No. 28. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 2nd Edition, 2006; p. 65. Mitchell (Dance Music of Willie Clancy), 1993; No. 77, p. 73. Moylan (Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra), 1994; 340. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Blue Book), 1995; p. 17.
Recorded sources:
Coleman Center CD CC004, Seamus Quinn & James McDonagh – "The Mountain Road" (1999. Various artists. "A Compilation of tunes popular in South Sligo").
Decca 12145 (78 RPM), Paddy Killoran (1937) [2].
Green Linnet 1016, The Irish Tradition – "The Corner House."
Green Linnet GLCD 1128, Brendan Mulvihill & Donna Long – "The Morning Dew" (1993).
Philo 1051, Boys of the Lough – "Good Friends, Good Music" (1977).
Rounder 7006, Theresa and Marie MacLellan (Cape Breton) – "A Trip to Mabou Ridge."
See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [3]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [4]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [5]