The Fiddler’s Companion

© 1996-2007 Andrew Kuntz

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[COMMENT1] [COMMENT2] 

JOHNN - JOHNS

 

 

Notation Note: The tunes below are recorded in what is called “abc notation.” They can easily be converted to standard musical notation via highlighting with your cursor starting at “X:1” through to the end of the abc’s, then “cutting-and-pasting” the highlighted notation into one of the many abc conversion programs available, or at concertina.net’s incredibly handy “ABC Convert-A-Matic” at

http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html 

 

**Please note that the abc’s in the Fiddler’s Companion work fine in most abc conversion programs. For example, I use abc2win and abcNavigator 2 with no problems whatsoever with direct cut-and-pasting. However, due to an anomaly of the html, pasting the abc’s into the concertina.net converter results in double-spacing. For concertina.net’s conversion program to work you must remove the spaces between all the lines of abc notation, so that they are single-spaced, with no intervening blank lines. This being done, the F/C abc’s will convert to standard notation nicely. Or, get a copy of abcNavigator 2 – its well worth it.   [AK]

 

 

 

JOHNNIE... See "Johnny..."

           

JOHNNY ALLEN'S REEL (Cor Seagain Mic Ailin). AKA and see “Sean McGlynn’s Fancy,” “The Tinkerman’s Wife.” AKA – “Bean Tinc’earea.” Irish, Reel. D Mixolydian. Standard tuning. AB. Peter Wood (The Living Note: the Heartbeat of Irish Music, 1996) gives that Johnny Allen was a legendary fiddle player from "beyond Feakle (Co. Clare), and he's still talked about even though nobody can remember directly playing with him." Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin (1999) says the tune was collected by O’Neill during a trip to East Clare in 1906, where, in the Sliabh Aughty area, he had several tunes from fiddler Johnny Allen, a dance musician and contemporary of Pat Canny and a blind fiddler named Paddy MacNamara. The latter taught music in the region in the early part of the 20th century. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 774, pg. 135. Billy McComiskey & Sean McGlynn (et al) – “The Big Squeeze.”

See also listings at:

Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources 

Alan Ng’s Irishtune.info

X:1

T:Johnny Allen's

M:4/4

L:1/8

R:reel

Z:transcribed by Caroline Foty

K:D

|: A3B AGFE|D=ccB cBAG|A3B AGFE|DGGF G2FG|A3B AGFE|Dddc defg|

afge fdec|dBAF G2FG :|

|: Adeg fdec|A~d3 AddB|Adeg fdec|dBAF G2FG|Adeg fdec|Addc defg|

afge fdec|dBAF G2FG :|

X:2
T:Bean Tinc\'eara
T:Johnny Allen's
R:reel
H:Also played as a two-part tune, without the middle part.
D:Liam O'Flynn
Z:id:hn-reel-516

Z:<http://home.swipnet.se/hnorbeck/abc.htm> 
M:C|
K:Dmix
~A3B AGFE|DccB cedc|A2BG AGFE|DG~G2 DG~G2|
AGBG AGFG|Add^c defg|afge fded|dcAF G2FG:|
|:Addc AGFG|Addg fdec|Addc AGFG|DG~G2 DG~G2|
Addc AGFG|Adde ~f3g|afge fded|dcAF G2FG:|
|:~A3g fded|dcAB cedc|~A3g fded|dcAF G2FG|
~A3g fded|dcAB cdeg|afge fded|dcAF G2FG:|
"variations"
~A3B AGFE|DccB cdcB|~A3B AGFA|DGGF G2FG|
~A3B AGFG|Adde ~f3g|afge fde^c|d=cAF G2FG|
~A3B AGFA|DccB cedc|AcBG AGFG|DGGF G2FG|
AcBG AGFG|Adde fefg|afge fde^c|d=cAF G2FG||
|:Addc AGFG|Adde fdec|Addc AGFG|DGGF G2FG|
Addc AGFG|Add^c defg|afge fde^c|d=cAF G2FG:|
~A3g fdec|Ad~d2 AGFG|~A3g fde^c|d=cAF G2FG|
~A3g fdec|Add^c defg|f2e^c d2=cA|dBcA G2FG|
~A3g fdec|Ad~d2 Addc|~A3g fde^c|d=cAF G2FG|
~A3g fde^c|d^cde fefg|(3agf ge fde^c|d=cAF G2FG||

           

JOHNNY ARMSTRONG. AKA and see "Tod(d)lin’ Hame," "Bacach," "Robie Donua Gorach," "The Wagoner's Lad," "Clinch Mountain," "The Cuckoo [5]," "Rye Whiskey [1]," "Jack of Diamonds [1]," "The Drunken Hiccups [1]." English, Waltz. G Major. Standard. One part. The tune has had long and various lives as a song and instrumental tune in the British Isles and Amercica. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 134.

           

JOHNNY ARMSTRONG'S FAREWELL. Scottish. Probably the same as "Johnny Armstrong" printed by Raven, and similar to "Johnny Armstrong's Dance," appearing in Stenhouse's collection (though in a simpler and perhaps earlier form). The melody is a variant of the tune family that includes "The Old Head of Denis," "Rock Island Line," "Kennet's Dream," and numerous other ballads, hymns and airs. It was later used by Robert Burns in Johnson’s Scots Musicial Museum for Child 169 "Johnny Armstrong" the ditty "Todlin Hame" (Cazden, et al, 1982).

           

JOHNNY BLEVIN'S TUNE. American, Two‑Step (6/8 time). USA, Arizona. D Major. Standard. AABB. Kartchner learned the tune from fiddler Johnny Blevins, "who used to spell us at Holbrook dances, 1902‑8." Source for notated version: Kenner C. Kartchner (Arizona) [Shumway]. Shumway (Frontier Fiddler), 1990; pg. 268.

           


JOHNNY BOOGER. AKA ‑ "Boogerman"? Old‑Time. USA, Cumberland Plateau region of Tenn./Ky. County 786, Clyde Davenport (Ky.) ‑ "Gettin Upstairs: Traditional Music From the Cumberland Plateau, vol. 1."

           

JOHNNY BOOKER. Old‑Time. The tune is known as a banjo piece and stems from the minstrel era. Gene Winnans mentions an African-American banjo player named Gus Cannon, who worked medicine shows from 1914 to 1929. Cannon's first two tunes (learned in "strumming style") were "Old John Booker You Call That Gone" and "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More," learned from "Old Man Saul" Russell, who "just played around the house fro his own amusement."  The musical West Virginia Hammons family had members who played this tune, as did Tygart Valley banjo players (Gerald Milnes, 1999). Marimac 9000, Dan Gellert and Shoofly ‑ "Forked Deer" (1986. Learned from the New Lost City Ramblers).

           

JOHNNY BOX. AKA and see “The Hayden Fancy,” “Mary Ann,” “O’Connor’s (Polka).” Irish, Polka. Breathnach (CRÉ IV); No. 90 (appears as untitled polka).

 

JOHNNY BOYLE’S JIG [1]. Irish, Double Jig. Ireland, County Donegal. A popular jig in County Donegal, recorded by the band Altan. Caoimhin Mac Aoidh remarks that Boyle, a talented fiddler, was from the townland of Braade, between Carrick and Glencolmcille, County Donegal, and is still remembered fondly in the locale. His neighbors were the O'Gara's (whose descendants own and manage a pub in Kilcar, Donegal, sketched in the Northern Fiddler) and Boyle himself would have been a contemporary of the late Paddy O'Gara's father who learned his tunes from Paddy Mhosai McGinley (older brother of the famed John Mhosai). VIR 41381, Altan – “Blackwater.”

X:1

T:Johnny Boyle's

R:jig

D:Altan: Blackwater

Z:hn-jig-336

Z:transcribed by henrik.norbeck@mailbox.swipnet.se

M:6/8

L:1/8

K:G

DEG BAG|BdB BAG|c2e dBG|cBc AGE|

DEG BAG|BdB BAB|def gdB|1 cAF GFE:|2 cAF G2g||

|:~b3 ~g3|dgb bag|~a3 ~f3|dfa aga|

~b3 gag|dgb bag|~a3 ~f3|1 dfa g2a:|2 dfa g2f||

~e3 edB|edB gdB|edc BAG|cBc AGE|

DEG BAG|BdB BAB|def gdB|cAF GFE||

 

JOHNNY BOYLE’S JIG [2]. AKA and see “Con Cassidy’s (Jig) [1]." Irish, Jig. G Major. Standard tuning. AA’BB’.

X:1

T:Johnny Boyle’s Jig [2]

T:Con Cassidy’s [1]

M:6/8

L:1/8

K:G

g2 f efg|d2 B BAB|c2 A ABc|B2 G GBd|

g2 f efg|d2 B BdB|Aag fef|1g2 g def:|2 g3 g2 a|:

b2 g gfg|b2 g gfg|a2 f fef|a2 f dga|

b2 g gfg|b2 g gfg|eag fef|1 g3 g2 a:|2 g2 g def|

           

JOHNNY, BRING THE JUG AROUND THE HILL. AKA and see “Jimmy Johnson Pass that Jug Around the Hill.” Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; Missouri, Nebraska, West Virginia. A Major. Standard. ABCC. A member of the widespread “John Brown’s Dream”/”Little Rabbit” family of tunes that apparently originated in the Blue Ridge region of Appalachia and became widespread. The tune was one of  ‘100 essential Missouri tunes’ listed by Missouri fiddler Charlie Walden. Also in repertoire of Missouri fiddler Cryil Stinnett. It was recorded in 1929 by West Virginia fiddler Clark Kessinger. See note for “Jimmy Johnson Pass that Jug Around the Hill.” Source for notated version: Bob Walters (Burt County, Nebraska) [Christeson]. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddler’s Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 13. Document DOCD-8010, Clark Kessinger.

X:1

T:Johnny Bring the Jug (Around the Hill)

M:2/4

L:1/16

Q:122

S:Cyril Stinnett

R:Reel

A:Missouri

B:transcribed in OTFR as tune #16

N:Taken from the playing of Cyril Stinnett and Dwight Lamb

H:Cyril mentioned this tune as having been played by Casey Jones, a

H:Missouri and Iowa fiddler of great renown, under the then common title

H:of 'Far from Home."  Cyril said that people later got to calling it

H:"Johnny Bring the Jug (Around the Hill).

Z:B. Shull, trans.; R.P. LaVaque, ABCs

K:A

Ac|(ef)ec (BA)cf|e(cB)A B-[c2e2][ce]|(ef)ec (BA)cf|e(cB)G A2Ac|!

(ef)ec (BA)cf|e(cB)A B-[c2e2][ce]|(ef)ec (BA)cf|e(cB)G A2:|!

|:([EA][FA]| [A2A2])A(c BA)c(B|Ac)B(A cB)AF|(EF)Ac (BA)c(B|Ac)BA [F2A2][E2A2]|!

[(FA][A2A2)](c  BA)cB|(Ac)BA [c2e2][ce][ce]|(ef)ec (BA)cf|1e(cBG) A2:|2e(cBG)

A3|!

|:(e|f2)a2 a3(a|b2)a2 (ab)a(e|f2)a2 (ab)(af)|e2[c2e2] [c3e3]e-|!

f2a2 a3(a|b2)a2 (ab)a(e|f2)g2 (ab)(af)|1e2[c2e2] [c3e3]:|2e2[c2e2] [c2e2]|!

           

JOHNNIE BROOD DA PRISON DOOR. AKA and see "Jack Brood (Down) da Prison."

           

JOHNNY BROSNAN’S. See “John Brosnan’s.”

           

JOHNNY BY GOLLY! Irish, Hornpipe. D Major. Standard. AABB. Composed by Falmouth, Massachusetts, musician and writer Bill Black in memory of the late Johnny McGreevey of Chicago. Black (Music’s the Very Best Thing), 1996; No. 30, pg. 14.

X:1

T: Johnny by Golly!

C: © B.Black

Q: 300

R: hornpipe

M: 4/4

L: 1/8

K: D

E | DB,DE FEFG | AF (3ABc defd | egfe dBAB | dF (3FEF ECA,C |

DB,DE FEFG | AF (3ABc de f2 | egfe dBFB | AGEC D3 :|

A | BABd cAce | dBcA Bcde | fabf aece | dAFA B2 FA |

BF (3FFF cA (3AAA | dcde fbaf | ecAc dBFB | AGEC D3 :|

           

JOHNNY CAN'T DANCE (Petit Jean Peut Pas Danser). Cajun, Two-Step (4/4 time). USA, southwestern Louisiana. A Major. Standard. AABB. The tune devolved into Cajun repertoire, maintains Leopold Francois (referenced by Raymond Francois, 1990), via "folk processing" from an elementary school song book piece called "The Rabbit Stole a Pumpkin." Source for notated version: Aldus Roger (La.) [Francois]. Francois (Yé Yaille Chčre!), 1990; pg. 389. La Louisiane Records LL-LP107, Aldus Roger.

           

JOHNNY COAKLEY. The elderly Maine fiddler Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the 1920's.

***

Mellie Dunham. Photograph courtesy of David Sanderson, Maine

**

Victor 20537 (78 RPM), Mellie Dunham, 1926 (appears as one of tune in "Medley of Reels").

 

JOHNNY, COCK THY BEAVER. AKA and see "Cock Up Thy Beaver."

 

JOHNNY COME ALONG. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Kentucky. G Major. Standard tuning. ABB (Titon): AABB (Phillips). “Johnny Come Along” is a tune whose only source is Clyde Davenport. The tune is mistakenly printed in the Phillips Collection of American Fiddle Tunes, Vol. 1 (1994, pg. 87) under the title “Five Miles Out of Town.” Source for notated versions: Clyde Davenport (Monticello, Wayne County, Ky.), who learned the tune from his father, Will Davenport [Phillips, Titon]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 126. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 78, pg. 106.

 

JOHNNY COPE [1] (Seanin Ua Copa). AKA and see "Fye to the Coals in the Morning," "General Coope." Scottish (originally), Canadian; Reel, Hornpipe or March: American, March (2/4) or Polka. Canada, Prince Edward Island. G Mixolydian/Minor (Aird, Gatherer, Johnson, O'Neill/1915): A Dorian (Cranford, Plain Brown): A Minor (Johnson/2003, O’Farrell): B Minor (Miller & Perron). Standard tuning. AB (Bayard): AABB (Johnson/2003, Miller & Perron, O'Neill/1850, Perlman, Plain Brown, Roche, Winstock): AABBCCDD (Aird, Gatherer, O’Farrell): AABB'CCDDEEFFAABB' (Johnson). The tune is still played by Scottish regiments as their reveille. It is a satirical melody which commemorates the 1745 Jacobite rebellion when Sir John Cope (d. 1760) and the English were defeated by the Scots under Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Battle of Prestonpans, on the 22nd of September, 1745. In 1745, when Prince Charles landed in the highlands, Sir John was commander in chief in Scotland and he bravely resolved to march into the Highlands to oppose him. Cope was ill-prepared and outnumbered however, and soon retreated in the face of opposition in order to regroup. The rebels meanwhile secured Edinburgh and when they learned that Cope was marching to the city’s relief they marched to meet him. Both armies neared each other at Prestonpans late in the day, separated by marshy ground, and it was resolved to wait until the next day to begin hostilities. During the night however, Prince Charlie was appraised by one of his troops that a passage or ford was to be had through the marshy ground and the rebels resolved to filter through at night and take the English forces by surprise in the morning.  This was effected and the surprise was complete. Half awake and utterly bewildered, Cope’s troops could make no effective resistance, and in a few minutes were in headlong flight. Only one round of ammunition was fired, and not one bayonet was stained with blood. Few except the cavalry made good their escape, the whole of the infantry being either killed or take prisoners. A later court of inquiry was convened to look into the debacle, though the result was that the common troops were blamed for the rout and Cope and all his officers were exonerated. Recently, some historians have concluded that Cope was in fact not to blame for the defeat, and is undeserved of the scorn accorded him by the famous song.

***

The song lyrics and perhaps the music (the song is sung to the first two parts of the instrumental version) were written by Adam Skirving, an extremely literate East Lothian cultivator whose fields were tramped by the passage of the armies on the day of the battle. [There is a story that one of Cope’s English officers took offense to Skirving’s verses and desired to challenge him to a duel; Skiriving’s comment on hearing the threat was "Let him come up here. If I can fecht him, I will. If not, I'll rin awa' just like he did."] Johnson (1983) notes the tune was unknown prior to 1750, but Bayard (1981) identifies "Johnny Cope" as a version of the older tune "Fye to the Coals in the Morning." The tune appears with variations by an anonymous but skilled local composer in the Gillespie Manuscript of Perth in 1768, and also in the McLean and Trotter manuscripts. A song by the title “Johnny Cope” is found in James Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion, published in London in 1760 with the alternate title “John Cope Trode the North Riding” (the North Riding is a section of Yorkshire). It appears in O’Farrell’s, Vol. III (1810-20), pg. 51. O'Neill reports that a footnote in Wood's Songs of Scotland states that this old air originally consisted of one strain which was subsequently elaborated by the addition of a chorus or burden of a silly song; adapted to it was the first strain repeated an octave higher. Bayard (1981) agrees with Graham, and notes (similarly with Wood) that the first part was the original strain added to in the second strain in instrumental versions by one melody, and in vocal versions usually by a strain resembling the Scots tune "Balquhidder Lasses." O'Neill snidely suggests that although it was "claimed as Scotch, is in the Irish style and known all over Ireland;" the veracity of this is highly questionable for the tune closely follows "passamezzo antico" form, which was a particular style of stock chord progression imported from 16th century Italy and popular in England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries. Bayard (1981) sees some resemblance between the first part of "Johnny Cope" and the second of the American tunes "Tennessee Wagoner," "Keep Off the Grass," and "Mississippi Sawyer;" he wonders if they are derivations. Similarly he sees resemblance between the second strain and the American collections of "Paddy on the Handcar." He also sees some resemblance between a "simple, fundamental strain" of Cope and some elaborated Irish hornpipe tunes, notably "The Groves" and "The Drunken Sailor" (they use the "Balquhidder" strain version plus some added parts). There is a legend that has been collected among Protestant Irish and fifers in Pennsylvania (Bayard, 1981) that has (falsely) the person of Johnny Cope as a drummer boy in the Orange Irish forces who falls asleep on his watch on the very night of a surprise attack by the Catholic army. He was awakened just in time to sound the alarm by some birds pecking at some crumbs scattered on his drumhead--Bayard astutely points out that this story parallels the legend of the Capitoline geese, whose cackling awakened the Roman sentries in time to repel an ancient attack. As late as the mid‑twentieth century these lyrics, based on the Scots words, were to be heard in American folk tradition sung to the tune:

***

Hey Johnnie Cope, are ye wakin' yet,

And are ye're drums a‑beatin' yet? (Bayard)

The Scots chorus goes:

Hey Johnie Cope are ye wauking yet,
Or are ye sleeping I would wit;

O haste ye get up for the drums do beat,
Of fye Cope rise in the morning.     (Robert Burns)

***

Paul Stewart Cranford wrote about Cape Breton versions of “Johnnie Cope” for Cape Breton’s Magazine in the 1980’s—there are three common settings played by musicians on the island. He identified a pipe setting in the key of B Minor and a six-part G Minor setting first recorded on a 78 RPM by Margaree fiddler Angus Allan Gillis that proved influential among older Cape Breton fiddlers and is still the most often heard. A third version, in A Dorian, is from the playing of Mary MacDonald. MacDonald’s daughter, Mary Jessie MacDonald, a piano player now living in Boston, contributed two extra turns to the tune, and this ‘enhanced’ version is proving popular with younger Cape Breton fiddlers. MacDonald’s setting is somewhat similar to the Scottish ten-part setting in Keith Norman MacDonald’s Gesto Collection (1895).

***

Beethoven arranged the melody for string quartet to accompany a vocal version of the tune around 1800. The tune is still used as a reville by Highland regimental pipers today. Aird’s and O’Farrell’s versions are identical, save for the key change. Sources for notated versions: McLean Collection (1772, pg. 23) [Johnson]; The Repository of Scots and Irish Airs (1799) [O'Neill]; Hiram Horner (fifer from Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pa., 1960) [Bayard]; Mary MacDonald (Cape Breton) [Cranford]; a c. 1847 music manuscript by Ellis Knowles, a musician from Radcliffe, Lancashire, England [Plain Brown]; Dr. John Turner, director of the Jink and Diddle School of Scottish Fiddling, held yearly in Valle Crucis, North Carolina [Johnson/2003]. Aird (Selection), vol. II, 1782; No. 52, pg. 19. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 396, pg. 378. Buchan (101 Scottish Songs). Cranford (Cape Breton’s Magazine), c. 1980’s. Gatherer (Gatherer’s Musical Museum), 1987; pg. 14. Johnson (Scottish Fiddle Music in the 18th Century), 1984; No. 38, pg. 97. Johnson (A Twenty Year Anniversary Collection), 2003; pg. 2. Kohler's Violin Repository (1881‑1885). MacDonald (The Gesto Collection). Miller & Perron (101 Polkas), 1978; No. 42. O’Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. III), c. 1808; pg. 51. Oxford Song Book, volume 2. Plain Brown Tune Book, 1997; pg. 43. Winstock (Songs and Music of the Redcoats), 1970. Rounder CD 11661-7033-2, Natalie MacMaster – “My Roots Are Showing” (2000).

X:1

T:Johnny Cope [1]

Z:transcribed by Henrik Norbeck

M:2/4

L:1/8

K:Am

E | A>A cd | eA AA | G>G GB | dd BG |

cc dd | eg BB/B/ | Ae/e/ dB/B/ | A2 A:|

|: z | cc/c/ cc/c/ | ce g>c | Bc d>d | Bc d>d |

cc dd | eg B>B | Ae/e/ dB/B/ | A2 A:|

X:2

T:Johnny Cope [1]

M:C

L:1/8

S:Aird, vol. II (1782)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A Minor

E2 | A4 ABcd | e2 A2 A2 GE | G4 GABc | d2G2 BAGE | A4 ABcd |

E2A2 BAGE | G2 g2 edcB | A4 A2 :: AB | c3d c2G2 | (cd)(ef) g4 |

B2G2d2G2 | Bcde {e}d2 cB | cBcd efga | gedc B2 AB | G2 g2 edcB |

A4 A2 :: eg | a4 a2 (ga) | b2a2 a2 ge | dega g3a | b2ab g2eg | a4 a2ga |

b2a4 ge | g2d2 edcB | A4 A2 :: E2 | AGAB cBcd | e2A2 BAGE |

GFGA B2 ge | dedc B2 AG | cBcd efga | gedc B2 AB | G2g2 edcB | A4 A2 :|

X:3

T:Johnny Cope [1]

M:4/4

L:1/8

S:Doug MacPhee, piano

R:march

N:play slowly

B:Cape Breton's Magazine no. 43 (1980s)

Z:Paul S. Cranford

K:Ador

A4 A2 Bd|e2 eg B2 AB|G4 G2 Bc|d2 g2 B2 AG|

c2 cc d2 dd|e2 (3efg B2 AG|1AB g2 e2 dB|A4 A2 GE:|2 A2 eg e2 dB|A4 A2||

eg|a4 a2 ga|b2 a2 a2 ge|g2 d2 g2 dg|b2 a2 a2 ge|

a4 a2 ga|b2 gb a2 ge|d2 Bd e2 gB|A4 A2:||

G2|E<AAB ABcd|edcB A2 Ac|B2 AB GABc|

dcBA G2 (3GAB|c2 cc d2 (3ddd|e2 g2 B2 AG|

1A<Be<g e2 dB|A4 A2:|2 AAA<g e2 dB|A4 A2||

eg|aga<b agab|c'bag a2 ef|gdg<b gdg<b|dgbg a2 eg|

aga<b agab|c'bag a2 ge|d2 Bd e2 gB|A4 A2:||

AB|cGE<G c>Bc<d|e<cgc B2 AB|GEG>E GABc|

dcBA G2 AB|cGE<G cBcd|e<cgc B2 AG|AB g2 e2 dB|A4 A2:||

F2|EA,>CA, EA,A>A,|E<A,CA EA,A>A,|D<G,B,G, DG,GG,|

D<G,B,A, G,B,AG|E<A,CA, EA,AF|E<A,CA, EA,A>E|FDFe d<BgB|A4 A2:||

AB|cBcd edc<e|gfg<a gedc|B<GdG B<GdG|cdef gfed|

c<Gcd edce|gfga gedc|1B<Gd>G edBG|A4 A2:|2 Bdgd edBG|A4 A2||

X:4
T:Johnny Cope
M:C
L:1/8
Q:288
S:San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers Newsletter June 1997
N:From the playing of Buddy MacMaster
A:Cape Breton
Z:Steve Wyrick 10-22-01
K:Ador
AG|:"Am"{E}A4AB cd|e2A2{A}BA GE|"G"{E}G4GA Bc|{c}d2G2BA GE|!
"Am"{E}A4AB cd|{d}e2A2{A}B2AB|"G"G2gf ed cB|1"Am"A4A3G:|2"Am"A4A2B2||!
P:Var. I
|:"C"c3dc2C2|cd efg4|"G"B2AGG2d2|Bc dcB2AG|"Am"A2c2"G"B2d2|!
"Am"c2e2"G"B2AG|"Em"E2gf ed cB|1"Am"A2-A3A AB:|2"Am"A4Ad^cB||!
P:Var. II
"Am"A2E2AB cd|"C"ed cB "G"dc BA|G2D2GA Bc|dB gd cB AG|"A"A2GF "E"ED^CB,|"A"A,B, ^CDE2DC|!
"D"D2F2"E"ED ^CB,|"A"A,4A,d ^cB|"Am"A2E2AB cd|ed cB "G"dc BA|"G"G2D2GA Bc|!
"G"dB gd cB AG|"A"{G}A2GF "E"ED ^CB,|"A"A,B, ^CDE2DC|"D"D2F2"E"ED^CB,|"A"{B,}A,4A2z2||!
P:Var. III
|:"Am"a4a2ga|{a}b2a2{a}ba ge|"G"{e}g4g2ga|{a}b2agg2b2|"Am"a4a2ga|!
"G"{a}b2g2"A"a2e2|1"D"f2df "E"ed ^cB|"A"{D}A4A4:|2"D"F2DF "E"ED^CB,|"A"A,4A,d ^cB||!
P:Var. IV
|:"Am"AE AB A Bcd|"C"ef ed cB Ac|"G"BG dG eG dG|"G"Bd gd cB AG|"Am"cd cB AGAB|!
"Am"AB cd ed eB|df ga "Em"ge dB|1"Am"A4Ae^cB:|2"Am"A4A2e2||
P: Var. V
"A"a3/2e/2 a/2^c'3/2 a3/2e/2 a/2c'3/2|"A"E3/2A/2 ^c3/2a/2 ^c'3/2a/2
e3/2f/2|"G"g3/2d/2 g/2b3/2 g3/2d/2g/2b3/2|"G"D3/2G/2 B3/2g/2 b3/2d/2 g3/2B/2|!
"C"e3/2c/2 e/2g3/2 "G"d3/2B/2 d/2g3/2|"Am"c3/2A/2 c/2g3/2 "G"d3/2B/2
d/2g3/2|"C"e3/2c/2 "G"d3/2B/2 "Am"c3/2A/2 "Em"B3/2G/2|"Am"{G}A4A2e2:||

 

JOHNNY COPE [2]. Irish, Hornpipe. A Dorian (Bayard, Breathnach, Moylan, Perlman, Roche): A Mixolydian (O'Neill/1850). Standard tuning. ABBCC'CC'DD'EE' (Moylan): AABBCCDD'EEFF (O'Neill/1915): AABB'CC'DEEFF (Breathnach): AA'BBCC'DDEE'FF (Taylor). Breathnach (1985) remarks this hornpipe was borrowed from Scotland, and is sometimes called "General Coope" in Ireland. A set of variations printed in Kohler's Violin Repository (Edinburgh, late 19th century) has been suggested as the source for Padraig O'Keeffe's version of the tune, as well as the G Minor hornpipe "Drunken Sailor." O'Keeffe, a famous fiddler from the Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork/Kerry border in the early-mid 20th century, is often credited with devising the variations, however. Interestingly, Caoimhin Mac Aoidh, who has edited over 1,000 tunes in manuscript form written by O'Keeffe, says that the Kerry master's written version was only a two-part tune. Rather than finding variations in Kohler's or other books, it is thought by Sliabh Luachra fiddlers that O'Keeffe either wrote the variations or attached bits of other tunes to round out his version. Paul de Grae writes: "Seamus Ennis learned the six-part 'Johnny Cope from Padraig, and I believe it was from Seamus that Liam O'Flynn got it.  Julia Clifford also learned it from Padraig." Alan Ward writes:

***

Of those we visited [in Sliabh Luachra in 1976] the only other local

musician with a version was Joe Conway who played the standard

march as a 'quadrille polka' and also the last two parts of Padraig's

version as a barn dance which he named 'The Doon Roses'.  Several

of Padraig's pupils had not heard of it when we asked them, and in

fact Julia may be the only one still playing it regularly.

***