Annotation:Flee as a Bird
X:1 T:Flee as a Bird B:Ryan's Mammoth Collection N:Lancashire clog dance tune R:hornpipe Z:Transcribed by Paul de Grae M:4/4 L:1/8 K:G (3Bc^c|(3dba (3gfe d>^ce>d|B>GD>B, G,>B,D>G|E>cA>F D>cA>F|G>Bd>e d2 (3Bc^c| (3dba (3gfe d>^ce>d|B>GD>B, G,B,D>G|E>cA>F D>cA>F|G2 B2 G2:| |:(3B^AB|g>ba>g f>ag>f|e>gf>e f>^d B2|g>ba>g f>ag>f|e>gf>e f>^d B2| (3cde A>c (3Bcd G>B|(3ABc F>A (3GAB D>F|(3GAB (3DEF (3GBA (3GFE|(3DED (3CB,A, G,2:| |:e>f|g2 {a}g2 f2 {g}f2|e>Be>g b2 z2|b>^ab>c' b>af z|b>^ab>c' b>af z| g2 {a}g2 f2 {g}f2|e>Be>g b2 z2|(3bbb (3c'c'c' (3bbb (3c'c'c'|f>ba>f e2:| |:D>C|B,>DG>D B>D{F}E>D|B,>DG>D B>D{F}E>D|(3D^CD F>E D>=CB,>A,|G,>GF>A G2 D>C| B,>DG>D B>D{F}E>D|B,>DG>D B>D{F}E>D|(3D^CD F>E D>=CB,>A,|G,>GF>A G2:||
FLEE LIKE/AS A BIRD. Check alternatives under "Free Like a Bird." American, Scottish, English, Irish; (Lancashire?) Clog. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB' (Williamson): AABBCCDD (Ryan/Cole): AA'BBCCDD (Kerr). "Flee like a Bird" is a clog dance tune of unknown provenance. Williamson (1976) identifies it as a Lancashire clog dance stating that it is played slower than a hornpipe in solid 4/4 time. "Ever since there have been coal mines in Lancashire, clogs have been the miner's footwear. Thick wooden soles, steelcapped toes, laced leather uppers. Clogs come in women's and children's sizes. You can still buy them in the street markets of Lancaster. There's a well-known Lancashire poem entitled 'Clogs'...Clog dancing is performed by male teams and is still a popular sport in Lancashire... This is a simplified version of a widely known and intricate tune which probably dates from the nineteenth century" (Williamson, 1976).
New York City researcher, writer and musician Don Meade believes the "Flee like a bird" title is derived "from Psalm 11:1 ("Flee as a Bird to your mountain, thou who art weary of sin...") and a hymn based on it." The tune first was printed as an untitled "Clog Dance" in Boston music publisher Elias Howe's Musician's Omnibus Nos. 6 & 7 (1880-1882), and also appears later in the volume as "Lancashire Clog" (which supports Williamson's categorization). Very soon after that Howe's employee, William Bradbury Ryan, included it when he edited his Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883, published by Howe's firm) under the title "Flee as a Bird."
The melody was recorded in New York by fiddler James Morrison (1893-1947), originally from County Sligo, on August 10th, 1935, accompanied by an unknown fiddle player (whom Mick Conneely identifies as Morrison's "star pupil", Jackie Roche). His version is a distanced one from that appearing in Kerr's. "Flee as a Bird" has similarities to the Irish "O'Donnell's Hornpipe," a shortened version of the melody printed by O'Neill in Music of Ireland (1903). Mick Conneely says this is a "difficult piece."
