Annotation:Primrose Glen (The)
X:1 T:Blooming Meadows [3], The T:Lark on the Strand [2], The T:Primrose Glen, The R:jig D:Colm Murphy: An Bodhr\'an Z:id:hn-jig-111 Z:transcribed by henrik.norbeck@mailbox.swipnet.se M:6/8 K:G BA|:GEF ~G2A|BAG ABd|edd gdd|edB dBA| GEF G2A|BAG AB/c/d|edd gdB|1 AGF GBA:|2 AGF GBd|| |:~g3 efg|afd edB|Add fdd|ed^c def| ~g3 ~a3|bag fgf|edc BcA|1 BGF GBd:|2 BGF G|| P:Variations: BA|:GEF G2A|BAG AB/c/d|edd gdd|~e3 dBA| GEF ~G2A|BAG ABd|edg edB|1 AGF GBA:|2 AGF GBd|| |:~g3 efg|afd edB|Add fdd|ed^c def| ~g3 abc'|bag fgf|edc BcA|1 BGF GB/c/d:|2 BGF G||
PRIMROSE GLEN, THE (Gleanntán na Samhaircíní). AKA and see "Blooming Meadows (3)," "Lark on the Strand (2)," “Primrose Vale,” “Wicky Sears." Irish, Double Jig. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Sligo fiddle great Michael Coleman recorded a 78 rpm side that included two jigs but only one title - "The Lark on the Strand." The other tune in the medley on that cut was this one, later recorded by Paddy Killoran and his Pride of Erin Orchestra as "The Primrose Vale." Coleman's side sufficiently confused the titles so that when Tipperary button accordionist Paddy O'Brien recorded "The Primrose Vale" on an influential 1949 solo disc, the title appeared as "The Lark on the Strand." Breathnach published the tune in Ceol Rince na Éireann vol. 1 (1963) as "Gleanntán na Samhaircíní," a translation of Killoran's title, but noted that it was sometimes incorrectly called “Lark on the Strand (2)." The name "The Primrose Glen" may well have originated as a back-translation of Breathnach's Irish title into English.
The alternate title “Lark on the Strand" (sometimes "Lark in the Morning”) is also the name of several other jigs. Boston button-accordion player Jerry O’Brien published the melody as “Wicky Sears” in the mid-20th century in his Irish Folk Dance Music (Roxbury, Mass.).
