Annotation:Little Heathy Hill (The)
X:2 T:An cnuicín fraoigh T:Heathy Little Hill, The M:C L:1/8 R:Air S:Joyce - Ancient Irish Music (1873) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Gmin B/c/|d2 d>c B2 AB|GBAG F2 DF|G>AGF DCDF|G2 G>A [D3B3]c| d>edc B2 AB|G>BAG F2DF|G>AGF DCDF|G2 G>A G3|| D|GABc d2 d=e|f2 =ed c>AF>c|d>edc B2 AB|GFD=E F2 B/c/| d>edc B2A2|G>BAG F2 DF|GAGF DCDF|G2 G>A G3||
LITTLE HEATHY HILL, THE (An Cnoicín Fraoich). AKA - "Cnockeen Fraol," "Knuckeen Free," "What Joyful Times." Irish, Air and Hornpipe. A Dorian (Deloughery, Mulvihill): A Minor (O'Neill): G Minor (Joyce); B Minor (Roche). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Howe, O'Neill, Joyce): AABB (Deloughery, Roche): AABB' (O'Neill). O'Niell (1922) remarks: "In the days of our fathers, 'An Chnoicin Fraoich', or 'Little Heathy Hill', both as song and air enjoyed no little popularity in the province of Munster, particularly in the counties of Cork and Kerry. As an air several settings of the melody have been printed, but never as a hornpipe until now, and under its colloquial name among the peasantry. It will be remembered that many notable dance tunes, especially hornpipes and long dances, have been derived from song airs, such as 'The Blackbird', 'The Job of Journeywork', 'The Garden of Daisies', 'Rodney's Glory', and many others." Joyce (1873) says "A setting of this air has been given in Mr. John O'Daly's Poets and Poetry of Munster (2nd ed., p. 70) with one strain of an Irish song." The title has been Englished as "Knocken Free" or "Knucken Free." O'Neill's version is note-for-note that printed earlier various publications of 19th century Boston publisher Elias Howe under the title "Cnoicín Fraoigh." Paul de Grae points out the cleric James Goodman's mid-19th century-collected melody "An Garbh Chnoicín Fraoich" (Rough heathery little hill (The)) may be a version of the tune in major mode (D major), suggesting it may be an instance of a "creative mistake" in transcription of the version later printed by O'Neill (or vice versa).
