Annotation:Master Crowley's (2)
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MASTER CROWLEY('S REEL) [2]. AKA - "Crowley's Reel." AKA and see "Roscommon Reel (The)." Irish, Reel. E Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'B. This reel was the second of a medley of two reels recorded in New York in 1937 by County Donegal fiddler master Hugh Gillespie [1] (1906-1986), issued as "Master Crowley's." The first tune is better-known as "Miss Patterson's Slipper", while the second is "Roscommon Reel (The)." According to musician, researcher and producer Reg Hall [liner notes to Topic 12T364/TSCD605], Crowley was the name of two brothers who lived and worked in New York as uilleann pipe makers. While they were originally from County Cork, there is no known connection with the more famous Cork uilleann pipe maker Thadhg Crowley. The Crowleys are pictured among the Irish musicians in a 1916 photograph on the cover of the reissue album "The Wheels of the World, vol. 1" (Yazoo 7008). Gillespie named several of his tunes for Irish music-loving hosts whose houses were always open to musicians to gather and play; hosts such as Con Crowley, Paddy Finley and Dick Cosgrove (according to Tony Engle and Tony Russell's liner notes of Tppic 12T364).
Michael Coleman, Hugh Gillespie's mentor and teacher, is said to have either composed his "Crowley's (1)" and "Crowley's (2)" for one of the bothers, or else composed it for a Master Crowley who was his [Coleman's] fiddle and dancing teacher. Firm evidence for either assertion is quite elusive, however. It may be that Gillespie's "Master Crowley's" has to do with one or the other of these associations.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources:
Recorded sources: Decca 12105 (78 RPM), Hugh Gillespie (1937). Green Linnet GLCD 3066, Hugh Gillespie - "Classic Recordings of Irish Traditional Fiddle Music" (1992. Reissue of 1978 Topic 12T364). Topic TSCD605, Hugh Gillespie - "Past Masters of Irish Fiddle Music" (2000).
See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]
Hear Hugh Gillespie's 1937 recording at Juneberry 78's [3]