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X:1
T:Galway Rambler, The
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
K:G
G2 dG eGdG | (3GAG dB AGED | G3 A BABd | gedB AGED |
G2 dG eGdG | G2 dG AGED | G3A BABd | gedB AGEG2 ||
g3b agab | gabg aged | g3b agab | gedB AGED |
g2 bg agab | gabg a2 ga | bgag egfa | gedB AGEF ||
GALWAY RAMBLER, THE. AKA and see "Lord Wellington (1)," "Manchester Reel (3)," "Paddy Finley's Fancy Reel," "Paddy Finlay's Favourite," "Piper's Wedding (1) (The)," "Rising Sun (5)," "Sean Ryan's Reel (2)," "Sligo Rambler (1)," "Tiarna Wellington," "Wellington's Reel (2)." Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Harker/Rafferty, Mulvihill, Tubridy): AAB (Taylor): AA'B (Beisswenger, Prior). A member of the rather large and varied tune family that includes "Mills are Grinding (1) (The)." "The Galway Rambler" is often paired in a set with "London Lasses (1)," perhaps stemming from the 1937 recording by the Aughrim Slopes Ceili Band in Dublin. It was recorded in 1927 by Galway flute player Tom Morrison (1889-1958) under the title "Manchester Reel (3)" (along with "Dunmore Lasses (The)" and "Castlebar Traveller (The)"), however, the "Manchester Reel" title seems ideosyncratic to the Morrison recording. The same medley was recreated a decade later on 78 RPM by the Aughrim Slopes Ceildhe Band, using the "Galway Rambler" title instead.
Montreal fiddler Joseph Allard's "Reel du gin" has a first strain that resembles the second strain of "Galway Rambler."
Additional notes
Source for notated version : - Frank McCollam (Ballycastle, County Antrim) [Mulvihill]; New Jersey flute player Mike Rafferty, born in Ballinakill, Co. Galway, in 1926 [Harker]; Connie O'Connell (County Cork) [Beisswenger].
Printed sources : - Drew Beisswenger with Connie O'Connell (Irish Fiddle Music from Counties Cork and Kerry), 2012; p. 104. Breathnach (Ceol Rince na hÉireann vol. I), 1963; No. 199. Cotter (Traditional Irish Tin Whistle Tutor), 1989; 68. Flaherty (Trip to Sligo), 1994; 76. Harker (300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty), 2005; No. 28, p. 9. Lyth (Bowing Styles in Irish Fiddle Playing, vol. 1), 1981; 21. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 25, p. 7. Prior (Fionn Seisiún 3), 2007; p. 4. Taylor (Through the Half-door), 1992; No. 28, p. 21. Treoir, vol. 39, No. 4, 2007; p. 30. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, vol. 1), 1999; p. 21.
Recorded sources : - Shaskeen - "Atlantic Breeze" & "Shaskeen Live." Claddagh CD BUACD 9501, "Michael Flatley" (originally recorded 1981). Green Linnet SIF 1069, Joe Burke, Michael Cooney, Terry Corcoran - "Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part." Irish I-3011, Charley Higgins & Jack Dolan (1955. Appears as "Paddy Finley"). Boys of the Lough - "Wish You Were Here."
See also listing at :
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]
Hear a 1959 recording by flute players Charley Higgins and Jack Dolan at the Internet Archive [3]
Hear a recording by flute player Tom Byrne, courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways [4]
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