The Fiddler’s
Companion
© 1996-2008 Andrew Kuntz
_______________________________
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SPA - SPL |
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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 after pasting, 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] |
SPA DANCE, THE. AKA – “The Spa.” Scottish, Country Dance Tune
(2/4 time). C Major (‘A’ part) & F Major (‘B’ part) {McGlashan}: D Major
{Aird}. Standard tuning. AB. Aird (Selection), vol. II, 1782; No. 62, pg.
23 (appears as “The Spa”). McGlashan
(Collection of Scots Measures), c.
1780; pg. 42.
X:1
T:Spa Dance, The
M:2/4
L:1/8
S:McGlashan – Collection of Scots Measures (c. 1780)
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:C
Cc/B/ cc|ec e2|ge g/f/e/d/|c/B/c/d/ cc|Cc/B/ cc|ec e2|ge g/f/e/d/|c2 c2|ffee|ff e2|
Cc/B/ cc|ec e2|ge g/f/e/d/|c2 C2||
K:F
F>GAA|Ac c2|Ac e/d/B/A/|G/F/G/A/ GG|F>GAA|Ac c2|cA
d/c/B/A/|A2 G2||
G>GAB|Acfc|G>ABB|Ac/d/ c/B/A/G/|F>GAA|Acfc|cA c/B/A/G/|F4||
SPACE AND COMPASS. Scottish. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of the tune in
print in Robert Ross's 1780 collection
(pg. 4).
SPACE AVAILABLE MARCH.
SPAGHETTI PANIC. English. Composed by Andy Cutting.
X:1
T:Spaghetti Panic
M:7/8
L:1/8
Q:1/8=180
C:Andy Cutting
P:AB AB CD CE AB
B:Alexandra Browne : Diatonic
Liasons (Dragonfly 2000)
D:Blowzabella : Vanilla
Z:Steve Mansfield July 2000
K:Em
P:A
BeB fB gB | gfe f^d B=d | ~edc
gfe f^d B=d | ~edc
P:B
|:
M:8/8
EFG G2B dB |
M:7/8
ABc BF Ed | ~edc
M:8/8
{G}AGF F2G FD | EFG G2B dB |
M:7/8
ABc BF Ed | ~edc
1AGF[E2e2]-[Ee] :|2AGF[E2e2]z2 |
P:C
: GAd _ed cA | B((3GBG) _FG AF | GAd
_ed cA | B((3GBG) _F([Ac][Ac])F::
P:D
g=fg ^ag f^(f | g)^ag _fd ^Ad | g=fg
^ag f^(f |1g)^ag=f2 ^f2:|
2g^ag =fd ^A=A |
P:E
M:7/8
BeB fB gB |
M:8/8
aBgB fBeB |
M:7/8
cec fc gc |
M:8/8
acgc fcec |
M:7/8
AeA =fA gA |
M:8/8
aAgA =fAeA |
M:7/8
FAF BF cF |
M:8/8
dAeA =fA^fA ||
SPAGNOLETTE REFORMEERT. Dutch, Air (2/2 time). D Major.
Standard tuning. AABB. Barnes (English
Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2), 2005; pg. 52
(appears as “Gold for the Mahieus”, the title of a country dance by
Philippe Callens set to a traditional Dutch tune).
SPAILPÍN A RUN/RÚIN. See "Spailpin Ruin."
SPAILPÍN FÁNAC(H) [1], AN. AKA and see "As Slow Our
Ship," "Brighton Camp,"
"The Girl I Left Behind Me
[1]," "The Rambling
Laborer," “The Wandering Labourer.” Irish, Slow Air (4/4 time). G
Major. Standard tuning. One part. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin discusses the ordeal of
the spailpín, or wandering laborer,
in his book A Pocket History of Irish
Traditional Music (1998). The spailpín
was a landless individual—holding nothing save the cabin he occupied—and by
necessity hired himself out to whomever would employ him. He survived on a
system of conacre in which he had to meet the uncertain prospect of growing
enough crops to pay his rent with enough left to feed his family; when times
were hard, as they often were, the spailpín took himself to a hiring fair in
hopes of temporary migrant employment to stave off eviction and starvation.
According to the Devon Commission of 1843, he belonged to the most ‘wretched of
the many wretched classes in
***
***
Go deo do arís ní raghad go Caiseal
ag díol ná ag reic mo shláinte,
Ar mhargadh na saoire im shuí cois balla
nó im scaoinse ar leataoibh sráide;
Bodairí na tíre ag tíocht ar a gcapaill
á fhiafraí an bhfuilim híreáilte;
‘Téanam chun siúil, tá an cúrsa fada!’
—seo ar siúl an spailpín fánach.
***
Im spailpín fánach a fágadh mise
ag seasamh ar mo shláinte,
Ag siúl an drúchta go moch ar maidin
ag bailiú galair ráithe;
Ní fheicfear corrán im láimh chun bainte,
súist ná feac beag rámhainne,
Ach colours na bhFrancach os cionn mo leapa
is pike agam chun sáite.
***
Go Callainn nuair théim ’s mo hook im ghlac is
mé ansúd i dtosach gearrtha,
Is nuair théim go Dúilinn ’s é clú bhíonn acu
‘Seo chúibh an spailpín fánach!’;
Cruinneoidh mé ciall ’s triallfad abhaile
is cloífead seal lem mháithrín,
’s go bráth arís ní ghlaofar m’ainm
sa tír seo ‘an spailpín fánach’.
***
Mo chúig chéad slán chun dúthaigh m’athar
’gus chun an Oileáin ghrámhair,
’s chun buachaillí na Cúlach ós dóibh nár mheasa
in aimsir chasta an gharda ann;
Ach anois ó táimse im thráill bhocht dhealamh
i measc na ndúthaí fáin seo,
Is é mo chumha croí mar fuair mé an ghairm
bheith riamh im spailpín fánach.
***
I gCiarraí an ghrinn do gheofaí an ainnir
go mb’fhonn le fear suí láimh
léi,
’na mbeadh lasadh trí lítis ’na gnaoi mar eala,
is a cúl fionn fada fáinneach;
A cruinne-chíocha riamh nár scaipeadh,
’s a mala chaol mar shnáthaid,
’s mór go mb'fhearr í ná sraoill ó Challainn
’na mbeadh na céadta púnt le fáil léi.
***
’S ró-bhreá is cuimhin liom mo dhaoin’ bheith sealad
thiar ag Droichead Gáile,
Faoi bhuaibh, faoi chaoirigh, faoi laoigh beag’ geala
agus capaill ann le háireamh;
Ach b’é toil Chríost gur cuireadh sin astu
’s go ndeaghamar i leith ár sláinte,
Is gurbh é bhris mo chroí i ngach tír dá rachaim—
‘Call here you, spailpín fánach!’
***
Dá dtigeadh an Francach anall thar caladh
is a champa daingean láidir,
’gus Bóic Ó Gráda chúinn abhaile
is Tadhg bocht fial Ó Dálaigh,
Do bheadh barracks an rí go léir á leagadh
agus yeomen ’gainn á gcarnadh,
Clanna Gall gach am á dtreascairt—
sin cabhair ag an spailpín fánach!
***
The above is taken from Nua-Dhuanaire, Cuid III. A
cited, and the following verse
quoted:
***
Tá na Franncaigh anois istigh i gCill Eala
agus béidhmuid go leathan láidir;
Tá Bonaparte i gCaisleán an Bharraigh
ag iarraidh an dlighe a cheap Sáirséal;
Béidh beairicí an ríogh is gach éan-oidhche thrí lasadh
agus yeomen againn á gcarnadh;
Puiceanna an Bhéarla go síorruidh d’á leagan—
sin cabhair ag an Spailpín Fánach.
***
THE ROVER (George Sigerson)
***
No more, no more in Cashel town
I’ll sell my health a-raking,
Nor on days of fairs rove up and down
Nor join the merry making.
There, mounted farmers come in throngs
To seek and hire me over,
But now I’m hired, and my journey’s long,
The journey of the Rover.
***
I’ve found, what rovers often do,
I trod my health down fairly;
And that wand’ring out on morning dew
Will gather fevers early.
No more shall flail swing o’er my head,
Nor my hand a spade-shaft cover,
But the banner of
And the Pike stand by the Rover!
***
When to Callan once, with hook in hand,
I’d go for early shearing,
Or to
That the "Rover gay" was nearing.
And soon with good gold home I’d go,
And my mother’s field dig over,
But no more—no more this land shall know
My name as the "Merry Rover!"
***
Five hundred farewells to Fatherland!
To my loved and lovely
And to Culach boys—they’d better stand
Her guards by glen and highland.
But now that I am poor and lone,
A wand’rer—not in clover—
My heart it sinks with bitter moan
To have ever lived a Rover.
***
In pleasant Kerry lives a girl,
A girl whom I love dearly;
Her cheek’s a rose, her brow’s a pearl,
And her blue eyes shine so clearly!
Her long fair locks fall curling down
O’er a breast untouched by lover—
More dear than dames with a hundred poun’
Is she unto the Rover!
***
Ah, well I mind, my own men drove
My cattle in no small way;
With cows, with sheep, with calves, they’d move
With steeds, too, west to
Heaven willed I’d lose each horse and cow,
And my health but half recover—
It breaks my heart, for her sake, now
That I’m only a sorry Rover.
***
But when once the French come o’er the main,
With stout camps in each valley,
With Buck O’Grady back again,
And poor brave Tadhg Ó Dálaigh—
Oh, The Royal Barracks in dust shall lie,
The yeomen we’ll chase over;
And the English clan be forced to fly—
’Tis the sole hope of the Rover!
***
Ó Canainn (Traditional Slow Airs of
X:1
T:Spalpeen Fanach, The [1]
T:Spailpín Fánach, An
L:1/8
M:C
R:Set Dance
S:O’Neill – 1001 Gems (972)
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:G
gf|efed B2A2|GABG E2 EF|G2 GF
GABc|dedc B2 gf|
efed B2A2|GABG E2G2|FGAF DEFA|G3
G2:|
|:GA|Bdef g2 fg|agfe d2 Bd|edef
gfed|e2f2g2 fg|efed BcBA|
GABG EDEG|FGAF DEFA|G3G2:|
SPAILPÍN FÁNAC(H) [2],
AN. AKA and see
“West Cork Reel.” Irish, Reel or
Polka. D Major. Standard tuning. AA’B. See note for “West Cork Reel.” Shanachie 79018, De Dannan – “Star Spangled Molly.” Topic
Records, Julia Clifford – “The Humours of Lisheen.”
X:1
T:Spailpin Fanach, The
R:polka
Z:id:hn-polka-109
Z:transcribed
by henrik.norbeck@mailbox.swipnet.se
M:2/4
L:1/8
K:D
D/E/F/G/ AB|=cA AG|Ad d^c|d2
d>e|fd ed|cA AB|cA GE|1 D2 D2:|2 D2 D>e||
fd ed|cA A>e|fd ec|d2 d>e|fd
ed|cA AB|cA GE|D2 D>e|
fd ed|cA A>e|fd ef|g2 a>g|fd
ed|cA AB|cA GE|D2 D2||
% The c in the second bar can also
be sharp
SPAILPÍN RÚIN (Migrant Farmworker, My Love). AKA – “A Spailpín, A Rúin.” AKA and
see "Tumbling Down Teady's
Acre," "The Stranger," "Along the Mourne Shore,"
"The Reading Made Easy."
Irish, Air (3/4 time). D Mixolydian. Standard tuning. AAB. The melody, which
appears in the Stanford-Petrie collection (No. 1379), is a variant (or, as
Cowdery {1990} says, an "outlining correspondent") of "The Blackbird," notwithstanding sean nos singer Joe Heaney's emphatic
assertion that this was the older of the the two tunes. Ó Canainn (Traditional Slow Airs of
SPALPEEN'S
COMPLAINT OF THE CRANBALLY FARMER, THE
(Fagamoid Sud Mar A Ta Se). Irish, Air (6/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning. AB. "I have
endeavoured to give representations of all classes of Irish Folk Songs in this
collection; and the two following ballads (see also 'Ye Sons of Old Ireland')
represent‑‑well and vigorously‑‑the satirical class.
Both have remained in my memory since my boyhood; and I have a copy of 'The
Cranbally Farmer' on a roughly‑printed sheet. This same 'Cranbally
Farmer'‑‑the man himself‑‑was well known in the
district sixty years ago as a great old skinflint; and the song drew down on
him universal ridicule. The air is 'Fagamaoid sud mar ata se,'
which was published by me for the first time in my Ancient Irish Music,
p. 14. Spalpeens were labouring men‑‑reapers, mowers, potato‑diggers,
etc.‑‑who travelled about in the autumn seeking employment fron the
farmers, each with his spade, or his scythe, or his reaping‑hook. They
congregated in the towns on market and fair days, where the farmers of the
surrounding districts came to hire them. Each farmer brought home his own men,
fed them on good potatoes and milk, and put them to sleep in the barn on dry
straw‑‑a bed‑‑as one of them said to me‑‑'a bed fit for a lord, let alone a
spalpeen.'" The word spalpeen is now used in the sense of a
low rascal. Irish spailpin, same
sound and meaning (P.W. Joyce). The
***
Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Song), 1909; No. 406, pgs. 216‑217.
SPALPEEN FANACH, THE. See "Spailpin
Fanac(h), An."
SPALPEEN’S LAMENT, THE. AKA and see “Caoinead an Spailpín.”
SPANIARD, THE. English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). G
Major. Standard tuning. AABB.The melody was published by Playford, The English Dancing Master (1651),
though Barnes dates it to 1777 for some reason. The title refers perhaps to the
Spaniards, a fashionable garden resort in 18th century
***
The establishment’s greatest hour
came during the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in
***
The melody was known in the
X:1
T:Spaniard, The
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:G
G3D3 | B3 G3 | BAB c2A | B3G3 | d3c3
| B3 A3 | GGG A2F | G3 G3 :|
|: b3 bag | a2f g2e | d3 dcB | c2A B2G | b3 bag | a2f
g2e | d3 dcB | c2A G3 :|
SPANISH CLOAK, THE. A jig version of the Irish waltz “Munster Cloak.”
SPANISH DANCE. AKA and see "Spanish Waltz [1]."
SPANISH FANDANGO. AKA and see "Dango," "
SPANISH GIPSY, THE. AKA and see "Fairy Queen," "Come Follow (Follow Me)."
English, Country Dance Air (6/4 time). D Major (Raven): C Major (Chappell).
Standard tuning. One part. The air appears in Playford's Dancing Master (1650),
Musick's Delight on the Cithren (1666), The
Musical Miscellany (1729), Walsh's Dancing
Master (as "Fairy Queen"), and several ballad operas, such as The Bay's Opera (1727), and "The
Fashionable Lady" (1730) {where is appears as "Come, follow, follow
me"}. Chappell (1859) states the title is from a ballad appearing in a
play by Middleton and Rowley, called "The Spanish Gipsie," sung by
the gipsies before giving an exhibition of the various arts. It became better
known as "Fairy Queen" and "Come, follow, follow me" from
other ballads written to the air. Chappell (Popular
Music of the Olden Time), vol. 1, 1859; pg. 186. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg.
16.
X:1
T:Spanish Gipsy, The
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:D
A|d>ef d>ef|(d3 d2)A|d>ef
d>ef|(d3 d2)d|e>fe e2d|
c3 B3|A>BA A2G|(F3 F2)D|F>GA
F>GA|(d3 d2)A|
F>GA F>GA|(E3 E2)A|f>ga
f>ga|(d3 d2)e|f>ga gaf|e3d2||
SPANISH JIG. English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). C Major. Standard tuning. AABB.
The tune dates to 1721. Barnes (English
Country Dance Tunes), 1986.
SPANISH
LADIES LOVE (FOR AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN),
THE. AKA ‑
"The Spanish Lady." English, Air (3/4 time). C Major (Merryweather):
A Major (Chappell, Kines). Standard tuning. One part (Chappell, Kines): AA'BB'
(Merryweather). The tune dates from the late 16th century, state Chappell
(1859) and Merryweather (1989), apparently on the strength that it metrically
matches the first line of a ballad of that time published by "the
prolific" Thomas Deloney, which goes: "Will you heare a Spanish Lady,
how she wooed an Englishman?" They
also cites the 18th century Bishop Thomas Percy who alleged the the ballad
"took its rise from one of those descants made on the Spanish coast in the
time of Queen Elizabeth and, in all likelihood, from the taking of
X:1
T:Spanish Lady, The
L:1/8
M:3/4
S:Chappell – Popular Music of the Olden Times
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:A
EA|G3 A BB|c/B/ A3 AG|F3E FG|A4
EA|G3A BB|c/B/ A3 AG|
F3E FG|A3 A/B/ ce|Dc BA cd|e3 A/B/
ce|dc BA cB|A4||
SPANISH LADY, THE. See "The Spanish Ladies Love (for an
English Gentleman)."
SPANISH LADY POLKA. Irish, Polka. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The title comes from a
song set to the tune. Source for notated version: Mary O’Hara [Miller &
Perron]. Black (Music’s the Very Best
Thing), 1996; No. 233, pg. 125. Mallinson (100 Polkas), 1997; No. 97, pg. 38. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 1977;
vol.3, No. 62. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 2nd
Edition, 2006; pg. 135. Tubridy (Irish
Traditional Music, vol. 1), 1999; pg. 9. Tradition
TLP 1024, Mary O'Hara – “Songs of
X:1
T:Spanish Lady
L:1/8
M:2/4
K:D
FA AB/c/ | dd de/f/ | ~ge ~fd | ~BA
A/B/A/G/ | FA AB/c/ |
dd de/f/ |~ge ~fd |1 ~BA A>G :|2
BA A2 ||
|:fa a/b/a/f/|ed d>e|fa
a/b/a/f/|be ed/e/|fa a/b/a/f/|ed de/f/|~ge ~fd|~BA A2||
X:2
T: Spanish Lady
Q: 300
R: polka
Z:Transcribed by Bill Black
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: D
FA AB/c/ | dd ef | gf/e/ fd | BA A2 |
FA AB/c/ | dd ef | gf/e/ fd | BA A2 :|
fa af | ed de | fa af | ed e2 |
fa
af | ed de/f/ | ge fd | BA A2 :|
SPANISH LEATHER. Old‑Time. The title appears in a list of traditional
SPANISH PATRIOTS, THE. English, Hornpipe.
SPANISH PAVAN, THE. English, Country Dance Tune (4/4 time). G Dorian.
Standard tuning. AB. The air, which Chappell (1859) states was very popular in
the reigns of Elizabeth and James, appears in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, Willaim
Ballet's Lute Book (1590), Dorothy
Welde's Lute Book, a lute MS in the Cambridge University Library, and Sir
John Hawkins' transcripts of virginal music. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), vol. 1, 1859; pg. 251.
X:1
T:Spanish
Pavan, The
M:C
L:1/8
S:Chappell
– Popular Music of the Olden Times (1859)
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:G Dorian
D2 | G2B2A2G2 | ^F2D2D2E2 | ^F2G2A2^F2 | G3A B2A2 |
G2E2F2G2 | A2F2F2c2 | c3d c2B2 | A3G F2 || c2 | d2c2B2A2 |
B3c d2 cB | c2B2A2G2 | ^F2D2D2E2 | ^F2G2A2^F2 |
G2A2B2c2
| d2 cB AG A2 | G8 ||
SPANISH POLKA. AKA and see “Black Jack [2],” “Cherokee Polka,” “Texas Galop,” “Texas Quickstep [1].”
SPANISH TWO-STEP. Old‑Time, Two‑Step. USA; Texas, Arkansas. A Major ('A' and
'B' parts) & D Major ('C' part). Standard tuning. AA'BB'CC. Written by
Texas fiddler Bob Wills, who developed the melody while playing in a New
Mexican band that included some Mexican‑American musicians. Wills'
version become the fourth best-selling country music record for the year 1936.
The title appears in a list of traditional
SPANISH WALTZ [1]. AKA and see "Cinderella
Waltz," "Spanish Dance."
American, Waltz. G Major. Standard tuning. ABCD. The tune dates to the 1820's
as "Spanish Waltz" or "Spanish Dance," though there have
been other tunes and dances by the same name. The 'B' and 'C' parts in
Matthiesen’s version are also known as "Cinderella Waltz." Boston
publisher Elias Howe (Drawing Room Dances,
1858) printed a waltz circle mixer called “Spanish Dance” which still has currency
at New England dances today (the same two parts as the first two parts of the
four part tune appearing in Lovett’s publication, referenced below). The ‘C’
and ‘D’ parts of the “Spanish Waltz [1]” form the melody “Green Hills of
T:Spanish Waltz
L:1/8
M:3/4
N:AABBCAABB.
S:Elias Howe –
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:G
B/c/|dedcBA|G2 GFGB|A2 d2d2|B2 GABc|dedcBA|G2 GFGB|A2d2d2|G2 z2:|
|:G2|F2d2d2|B2d2d2|f2d2d2|B2 cBAG|F2d2d2|B2d2d2|dedcBA|G3 z:|
K:C
c2|e4
d2|c4 Bc|d2g2g2|e2c2G2|e4 d2|c4 Bc|d2g2g2|c3z||
SPANISH WALTZ [2]. English, Waltz.
SPANKING JACK. English, Air (whole time). G
Major. Standard tuning. AB. The title is from a song by Charles Dibdin
(1745-1814), one of
***
Spanking Jack was so comely, so pleasant, so jolly,
Though winds blew great guns, still he’d whistle and sing,
For Jack loved his friend, and was true to his Molly,