Blue Ribbon Polka (1)
BLUE RIBBON POLKA [1]. AKA - "Blue Riband Polka." Irish, Polka. D Major ('A' part) & G Major ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. A polka from the Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border. Cranitch keeps the C# note through the 'B' part, which may or may not be a mistake. Two key tunes are rare in Irish music. Philippe Varlet remarks that the tune was fairly popular in the early recording era and was waxed by both Michael Hanafin and Dan Moroney, both originally from County Kerry and members of Dan Sullivan's Shamrock Band in Boston. John and Julia Clifford, respectively an accordion and fiddler player originally from the Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork/Kerry border, recorded the tune in London in 1977. See also a related, untitled, polka collected by Brendan Breathnach (CRÉ V, 1999, No. 85) from a Radio Éireann recording of musician John Ryan.
Source for notated version: Paddy Ryan [Treoir].
Printed sources: Cranitch (Irish Fiddle Book), 1996; No. 44, p. 142. Cranitch (Irish Session Tunes: Red Book), 2000; 44. Treoir, vol. 32, No. 1, 2000; p. 22 (appears as "The Blue Riband").
X:1 T:Blue Ribbon Polka [1] C:Trad. ? S:Julia Clifford M:2/4 R:polka L:1/16 K:D A2FA defg|a2a2 fdfa|g2g2 eceg|f2f2 d2dB| A2FA defg|a2a2 fdfa|g4 f2e2|d2f2 d4:| a2f2 d2cd|e2A2 ABcA|d2c2 A3g|f2d2 defg| a2f2 d2cd|e2A2 ABcA|d2c2 A2F2|G4 G4:||
© 1996-2010 Andrew Kuntz. All Rights Reserved.
Engraver Valerio M. Pelliccioni