Annotation:Dowd's No. 9
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DOWD'S NO. 9. AKA and see "Cow with the Crooked Horn," "Hugh Gillespie's," "Jackson's No. 9," "O'Dowd's No. 9," "Summer in Ireland." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB'. The Dowd of the title was John Dowd (or O'Dowd), a Sligo fiddler who emigrated to New York and was an influence on Michael Coleman and other better known Sligo and New York fiddlers. His newphew Joe O'Dowd (1913-1986) and Joe's son Séamie O'Dowd continued the family fiddling tradition. No one knows if there were eight other tunes but the "No. 9" name was attached to this one when it was recorded in New York in the 1939 by Donegal-born fiddler Hugh Gillespie (1906-1986). It was one of the relatively few tunes Gillespie recorded that had not previously been recorded by his mentor Michael Coleman. It was first recorded in New York, in 1927, by Sligo fiddler Joe Tansey, who titled it "Summer in Ireland." Piper Séamus Ennis also gave it that name when he contributed it to Breandan Breathnach's collection.
Dan Healy and Ciarán O'Reilly, on the liner notes of their CD, maintain that the famous chieftains of the O'Dowds from Roslea Castle, who were bards and musicians, are responsible for this tune, despite the fact that the reel form arrived in Ireland long after the demise of the old chieftains and the extinction of the bards!
New York musician, writer and researcher Don Meade finds a 'primitive version' of the tune in Ryan's Mammoth Collection under the title "Maid of Athens." Fiddler James Kelly associates the tune with the playing of renowned accordion player Joe Cooley, from Peterswell, County Galway, and it was included on Cooley's posthumously released Gael Linn LP.
Source for notated version: fiddler Jimmy McHugh [Bulmer & Sharpley].
Printed sources: Breathnach (CRÉ II), 1976; No. 165 (as "Summer in Ireland," from Séamus Ennis). Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland), 1976, vol. 4, No. 16. Peoples (Fifty Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1986; 23. Taylor (Through the Half-Door), 1992; No. 23, p. 18.
Recorded sources: Victor 79201 (78 rpm), Joseph Tansey as "Summer in Ireland" (1926).
Decca 12229 (78 rpm), Hugh Gillespie (1939), reissued on Topic LP 12T364.
Capelhouse Records, James Kelly - "Traditional Irish Music" (1996). CEF 115, Frankie Gavin & Paul Brock - "Tribute to Joe Cooley" (1988). Green Linnet SIF 1058, Matt Molloy & Sean Keane - "Contentment is Wealth" (1985). Outlet 3002, Paddy Cronin- "Kerry's Own Paddy Cronin" (1977). Topic 12T364 - Hugh Gillespie - "Classic Recordings of Irish Traditional Fiddle Music." Shaskeen - "Atlantic Breeze." Chieftains - "Water from the Well." Gael-Linn CEF 044, Joe Cooley - "Cooley" (1975).
See also listings at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]