Annotation:Stack Ryan's Polka
X: 1 R:Polka C:CD 1, track19 B:Scan Tester,"I Never Played To Many Posh Dances" Z:Chris Partington, 2011 <www.cpartington.plus.com> T:Stack Ryan's Polka,aka T:Dandy of the Town,The,aka M:4/4 L:1/8 Q:1/2=96 W:Beware the extra minim in bar 8. He plays it consistently so I've left it in. W:Not good to dance to though! F:http://www.cpartington.plus.com/Links/Scan%20Tester/ScanTester.abc K:G d2g2 e2ge|d2g2 e2ge|d2B2 B2A2|d2A2 A2G2| d2g2 e2ge|d2g2 e2ge|d2B2 B2A2|e2f2 g4"NB"g4:| |:D2G2 G2ED|E2A2 A2FE|D2G2 G2A2|B4-B4| B2d2 c2B2|B2A2 e4|D2G2 A2F2|G4-G4:|
STACK RYAN'S POLKA. AKA and see "Dandy of the Town (The)." G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Stack Ryan's" is also the name of set of County Clare polkas, named for their source, the eponymous Stack Ryan. For the set, see individual tunes under the titles “Babes in the Woods (2),” “Cooraclare Polka,” and “Clare's Dragoons.”
Mick "Stack" Ryan was a concertina player, originally from Cree, County Leitrim, whose hey-day was the mid-20th century. He was regionally influential as a musician, but seldom recorded (there is a slow air from a c. 1950's RTE broadcast). He was a neighbor and mentor of West Clare concertina player Bernard O'Sullivan, who wrote of him:
"When they would be set dancing at a house, or a party being held, Stack would be sent for and he'd play during the night for them. I was still at school when I first met him and wouldn't be allowed out at night time, so it wasn't until I left school that I would walk from our house to his. I'd spend the night then learning a few tunes from him[1].
According to O'Sullivan, Stack learned his music from traveling musicians such as George Whelan from County Clare, and from 78 RPM recordings. See also another tune associated with him, "Stack Ryan's Favourite" AKA "Clare Jig (1) (The)" and "Mug of Brown Ale (1)", among other titles.
- ↑ Quoted in liner notes to O'Sullivan's 1976 LP "Bernard O’Sullivan, Tommy McMahon Play Irish Traditional Music of County Clare."