Annotation:Dogs Among the Bushes (The)
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DOGS AMONG(ST) THE BUSHES, THE ("Na madraide ameasg na tomaib" or "Na madri ameasg na dtom"). AKA and see "Athole Brose," "Brandlings." Irish, Reel. Ireland; County Sligo, Donegal. E Mixolydian (O'Neill/Krassen): G Major/Mixolydian (O'Neill/1850 & 1001): G Major (Flaherty, Mulvihill). Standard tuning. AB (Mulvihill, O'Neill/1850 & 1001): AABB (O'Neill/Krassen): AA'BB' (Flaherty). The tune is a close variant of the Scottish reel "Athole Brose"(and Neil Gow's "Brandlings"), also known as the strathspey "Buckingham House." In County Donegal the tune is played in the key of A Major (as in Scotland), unlike the rest of Ireland which plays it in G Major. An early recording of the melody was by Frank O'Higgins (1891-1975), a fiddler from Glenamona, Kilskeer, County Meath, in Dublin in 1937 (who paired the tune with "Merry Sisters (The)" and "Kitty Gone a Milking," still a widely imitated medley (Donegal fiddler John Doherty, for example, had the medley in his repertory). Paddy Ryan, writing in Treoir, says O'Higgins "was a highly esteemed figure in traditional music circles in and around Dublin. He also taught the fiddler for many years and, among his star pupils was Larry Redican, who was prominent in New York traditional music circles during his lifetime there."
Source for notated version: Chicago police patrolman, piper and flute player John Ennis, originally from County Kildare [O'Neill]; flute player James Murray (b. 1947, Ougham, outside Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo) [Flaherty]; Ann Sheehy (Castleisland, County Kerry) [Mulvihill].
Printed sources: Flaherty (Trip to Sligo), 1990; p. 168. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 124, p. 33. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 109. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1274, p. 239. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 542, p. 101.
Recorded sources: Columbia Legacy CK48693, "The Best of the Chieftains" (1992). Shanachie SH78041, Solas - "The Hour Before Dawn" (2000). Shanachie 79093, Paddy Glackin & Robbie Hannan - "The Whirlwind" (1995).
See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]
Hear Frank O'Higgins' recording at the Comhaltas Archive [2] (2nd tune in set, preceded by "Kitty Gone a Milking" and followed by "Merry Sisters (The)").