The Fiddler’s
Companion
© 1996-2008 Andrew Kuntz
_______________________________
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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] |
UA CATASAIG AN FEADAIRE. AKA and see “Casey the Whistler.”
UA CUINN AN SEANDUINE. AKA and see “Old Man Quinn.”
UA DUBTAIG AN RINNCEOIR. AKA and see “Duffy the Dancer.”
UA DUIBIR, AN RINNCEOIR. AKA and see “Dever the Dancer.”
UA SPEALAIN AN BEIDLEADOIR. AKA
and see “Spellan the Fiddler.”
UAIGH A’ BHAIRD. AKA and see “The
Poet’s Grave.”
UAIGNEAS. Irish, Slow Air (3/4 time). G Minor.
Standard. AABB. Composed by
fiddler and pianist Josephine Keegan (b. 1935), of Mullaghbawn, south
UAILL-CHUMHA NA FEINNE. AKA and see “The White Cockade [1].”
UAIR BEG/BHEAG ROIMH A’ LA (A Little Hour Before Day).
Irish, Air (4/4 time). E Minor (O’Sullivan/Bunting): F Minor (Petrie).
Standard. AB (Petrie): ABB (O’Sullivan/Bunting). The tune was originally
published in Neale’s 1787 collection. The words to the tune give advice for
childbirth: O’Sullivan translates, “Doctor dear, give me advice, a little hour before
day, What is the best way to bear a child, A little hour before day?” “Draw
your knees together and clench your fists, And walk nine times round the
hearth, Go hiher and thither through the house—that’s the advice, A little hour
before day.” O’Neill (1910) asserts the tune is “unquestionably a version of ‘Sean O Duibir an Gleanna’/’John O’Dwyer of the Glen’.”
Stanford-Petrie prints two tunes by this title (Nos. 1079 & 1080),
according to O’Sullivan (1983) “more or less related to Bunting’s,” along with
a third (No. 1472) called “A dhochtuir dhilis.” A variant in Roche goes by the
title “Uair roimh breachadh an lea” (Farewell to Ardmore). Source for
notated version: noted from harper Charles Byrne in 1806. O’Sullivan/Bunting,
1983; No. 66, pgs. 101-103. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; Nos. 1079 & 1080, pgs. 273-274.
UAIR ROIMH BREACHADH AN LEA. AKA and see “Farewell to Ardmore.”
UAIR TEID TU A BAILE, AN. AKA and see “When You Go Home.”
UAIREADOIRIDE, AN. AKA and
see “The Watchmaker.”
UARNANA HORNPIPE. English.
UBALLA I GEIMREAD/GEIMRID. AKA and see “Apples in Winter
[1].”
UBALLA MIC GEALAIN. AKA and see “Gillan’s Apples [1].”
UBHAIDH ABHAIDH. AKA – “Oovee Aavee.” Scottish, Air (2/4 time). B Minor.
Standard. AABB. An example of puirt a beul (Gaelic mouth music). Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling), 2002;
pg. 10.
UC! OC ON! APR AN TANNAIPE BUIDE (Och och one, said
the yellow tanner). Irish, Air (6/8 time). F Minor. Standard. One part.
Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection),
1905; No. 1518, pg. 380.
UCH NA n-UCH IS OSNA I
UCH
UCH
UGDARAS GAN EOLAS. Irish, Double Jig. D Major. Standard. AABB. Roche Collection, 1982, vol. 3; No. 99,
pg. 30.
UGLY CUSTOMER, AN (Rocdaire Granda). AKA and see “After the Hare.” Irish, Reel. A Major.
Standard. AB. The tune also appears as an untitled reel in Brendan Breathnach’s
Ceol Rince na hÉireann, vol. 2, No. 151.
O’Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 127. O’Neill (Dance
Music of
X:1
T:Ugly
Customer, An
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
S:O’Neill – Dance Music
of
Z:AK/Fiddler’s
Companion
K:A
EacA
eAcA|Eace dB B2|EacA eAcA|afed cABG|EacA eAcA|Eace dBBg|
{b}agae
age|dB ed cA A||e|{b}agae fefg|afec dBBe|{b}agae age|dBed cAAe|
{b}agae
age|{d}dBcA BF F2|EFED EFAB|ceBd cA A2||
UGLY
THIEF, THE (An Gadaighe Grána) {Englished as “The Goddhee Grawna”}. AKA
and see “Castlehyde.” Irish, Air (3/4
time, “rather slow”). F Major. Standard. AAB. “’The Ugly Thief, i.e.
death...Written from memory, as I learned it at home when a child. There is a
good setting in the Pigot Collection,
where it is called ‘Castle Hyde,’ showing that that celebrated song was
sometimes sung to it. There was an Irish song to this air in which Shauneen
gives an account of his encouter with Death” (Joyce). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909;
No. 16, pg. 11.
X:1
T:Ugly
Thief, The
T:An
Gadaighe Grána (The Goddhee Grawna)
M:3/4
L:1/8
R:Air
S:Joyce
– Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909)
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:F
f/e/|dc
A2 c/A/G/A/|FF F>G A f/e/|dc A2 c/A/G/A/|FF F2 :|
F/G/|AA
f2 ef|dd d>c A A/B/|cc c2 Ac|de f3 f/e/|dc A2 c/A/G/A/|
FF
F>G A f/e/|dc A2 c/A/G/A/|FF F3||
UILE-ÍOC, AN. AKA
and see “The Perfect Cure.”
UILIN.
Irish, Air (4/4 time). E Minor. Standard. AB. “So incorrectly barred in MS. As
ato be in some parts unintelligible. This is my attempt to restore it. Mr.
Pigot copied it into his book of course as he found it in the Hardiman MS.”
(Joyce). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and
Songs), 1909; No. 761, pg. 374.
UILLEÁGAN DUB(H) O. Irish, Air (4/4
time). G Mixolydian. Standard. AB. A popular air composed in the early 17th
century, and used for several songs. The title literally translated means “dark
or black (--haired) round head”, but Bunting (1809) gives the title as “The
Song of Sorrow.” It was adapted in 1746 by Donogh MacConmara (Macnamara) to the
well‑known song “The Fair Hills of Dear Eire” (Ban cnuic Eireann Og).
“Uilleágan Dubh O” was printed by Walker in 1786 and was one of the tunes
played in a meeting of Belfast harpers in July 1792 by Denis O’Hampsey
(1695-1807), Hempson or Hampson (Donnchad a Haimpsuigh) of Magilligan, County
Derry, who was then aged 95 years. Bunting collected the tune from Hempson and
gives two settings, one from his MS 29, pg. 44, and one from MS 33, book 3. He
notes in the former that it is “The best set I ever got before of ‘ouly can do
wo’…Dennis a Hampson in 1796 + 1796.” Hempson was blinded at age three, but was
a skilled performer. Bunting (1840) says of him: “The pieces which he delighted
to perform were unmixed with modern refinements, which he seemed studiously to
avoid; confining himself chiefly to the most antiquated of those strains which
have long survived the memory of their composers, and even a knowledge of the
ages that produced them. Hempson was the only one of the harpers at the Belfast
Meeting in 1792, who literally played the harp with long crooked nails, as
described by the old writers. In playing, he caught the sting between the flesh
and the nail; not like the other harpers of his day, who pulled it by the
fleshy part of the finger alone.” Bunting (Ancient Music of
UILLEACHAN ‘N TIG THU CHAOIDH. AKA and see “Willie Will You E’er Return.”
UILLIAM MAC CORMAC. AKA and see “Billy McCormick(‘s
Jig).”
UILLEAM
‘
UILLIAMIN BARLAIG. AKA and see “Billy
Barlow.”
UIR-CHILL A’ CHREAGAIN (The Fair Graveyard of Creggan). AKA
and see “Creggan Churchyard.”
UIS
AN CAT. AKA and see “Whish, Cat from Under the
Table,” “Huish the Cat.”
UISGE AGUS UISGE-BEATA. AKA and see “Whiskey and Water.”
UISGE BEATA IS TU AN DIABAL! AKA and see “Whiskey You’re the Devil!”
UIST LASSES DARLING, THE.
Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard. AAB. The islands of North Uist and South
Uist are in
T:Uist Lasses’
Darling, The
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
B:Stewart-Robertson
– The Athole Collection (1884)
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:D
B|AGFd F/F/F
d2|fdAF E/E/E B2|AGFd F/F/F d2|fdAF E2D :|
g|fdfa bggb|affa
geeg|fdfa bggb|afdf e2 dg|fdfa bggb|afdf bgeg|
fgaf gabg|afdf e2d||
ÚLLAÍ UÍ GHIOLLÁIN. AKA and see “Gillan’s Apples [1].”
ULLMUIG AN PRIM-BEILE GO MOC. AKA and see “Boil the Breakfast Early.”
ULLULU MO MHAILIN. AKA and see “Alas,
my little bag!”
X:1
T:
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:Jig
S:Kerr
– Merry Melodies, vol. 3, No.
219 (c. 1880’s)
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:A
A2c
ecA|B2A GFE|A2c ecA|dBG A3:|
cAc
efg|agf efd|cAc efg|agf e3|cAc efg|agf edc|
ded
cBA|BcA GFE||
ULSTER HORNPIPE (Crannciuil Ulaid). Irish, Hornpipe. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB’. Source for notated version: Chicago
Police Sergeant James O’Neill, a fiddler originally from County Down and
Francis O’Neill’s collaborator [O’Neill]. O’Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 174.
O’Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies),
1979; No. 1599, pg. 297. Tolman (Nelson
Music Collection), 1969; pg. 14.
X:1
T:Ulster
Hornpipe
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Hornpipe
S:O’Neill
– Music of Ireland (1903), No. 1599
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:G
dc|BGFG
DGBd|cBAG FAGF|Ggfe dBAG|B2A2A2 dc|
BGFG
DGBd|cBAG FAGF|Ggfe dcAc|B2G2G2 :|
||dc|BGBd
gabg|abc’a gfed|egfa gbac’|bgfg e^def|gbdg egBd|
cBAG
FAGF|Ggfe dcAc|B2 G2G2 dc|BGBd gabg|abc’a gfed|
(3efg
(3fga (3gab (3abc’|bgfg e^def|gbdg egBd|cBAG FAGF|
Ggfe
dcAc|B2G2G2|
ULSTER OUTCRY (Gair Ultac). Irish, Air or March (4/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning. One part. O’Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1979; No. 1846, pg. 347.
X:1
T:Ulster
Outcry
M:C
L:1/8
R:Air
or March
S:O’Neill
– Music of Ireland (1903), No. 1846
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:G
DEFG
A/B/|cd cd cd cd|c8| c8|(3BAG E2 EFGA|B2 Bd Ad Bd|
Ad B3
c (3BAG|E2 GE AG (3BAG|AG (3BAG A2 (3BAG|
E3
E/F/ G/A/B/d/ c2|cd cd c2 BA|B2 BdBdBd|Bd B2 AG A2|
B2 Ad
B2 Ad|B3 c (3BAG E2|EG AG (3BAG AG|A2 cB AG E2|
GE
A>G (3BAG AG|G3 A (3BAG E2|GE AG (3BAG AG|A2 cB AG E2|
GE
A>G (3BAG AG|G3 A (3BAG E2|Bz (3BAG zA (AGE|
ZB
(3BAG zA (3AGE|G4 zA (3BAG|E2 GE AG (3BAG|
AG
B/A/G/E/ (3DEG AG|G4||
ULSTER
RONDO. Irish, Air (2/4 time). D Major. Standard
tuning. AABB. O’Farrell (National
Irish Music for the Union Pipes), 1804; pg. 37.
X:1
T:Ulster Rondo
M:2/4
L:1/8
R:Air
S:O’Farrell – National
Irish Music for the Union Pipes (1804)
Z:AK/Fiddler’s
Companion
c/d/e/d/ c/B/A/G/
| FD DD | DF Ad | cA AA | A/B/c/d/ e/f/g/a/ | fd f/e/d/c/ |
Bg gf | e/f/g/e/
dc | d2d2 :: f>g ff | ff a/f/e/d/ | e>f ee | ee a/e/d/c/ | ff/e/ d/c/B/A/
|
^G/A/B/c/ Be/c/
| d/e/c/e/ B/e/A/e/ | A/e/A/e/ B/e/c/e/ | d/e/c/e/ B/e/A/e/ |
A/e/A/e/ B/e/c/e/
| d/c/d/e/ f/e/f/g/ | b/a/g/f/ f/e/d/c/ | d/c/d/e/ f/e/f/g/ |
a/^g/a/b/ a/f/e/d/ | c/d/e/f/ e/d/c/B/ |
A/d/c/B/ A/G/F/E/ K
ULUACHAN DUBH O’. Irish, Air (4/4
time). G Mixolydian. Standard tuning. One part. Roche Collection, 1982, vol. 3; No. 70,
pg. 21.
ULVERSTON VOLUNTEERS. English, Jig. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Knowles (A Northern Lass), 1995; pg. 42.
UMPUIG AN CLUMAC. AKA and see “Toss the Feathers [1].”
UNA.
Irish, Air (4/4 time). A Minor. Standard tuning. AB.
Joyce remarks the song was still current among the folk of Cork and Limerick at
the time of his writing. He makes a distinction between this tune and Moore’s
“Oonagh,” a different tune. Source for notated version: Learned by Joyce from
his father, presumably when a boy in Limerick in the 1840’s. Joyce (Ancient Irish Music), 1873/1890; No. 97,
pg. 99.
X:1
T:Una
M:C
L:1/8
R:Air
S:P.W.
Joyce – Ancient Irish Music (1873),
No. 97
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:A
Minor
DE|G2
G>A G>EDE|G2 GA G>EDE|A2 A>B c2 E>F|
G3E D2
EG|A2 AB c2A2|d2 de f2 ed|cAGE D2 EG|A4A2||cd|
e2 ef e>dcA|d2 de f2 e>d|d>cAG E2 DE|G3E D2 EG|
A2 AB c2
cA|d2 d>e f2ed|cAGE D2 EG|A4 A2||
UNA
A RUIN. AKA and see “Winnie
Dear [1].”
UNA
ARUIN. AKA and see “Dear
Oona [2]” or “Dear Winnie [2].”
UNA BHAIN NI CHUINNEAGAIN (Una Bhain’s Wedding Reel). AKA
and see “The Donegal Reel,” “Miss Brown’s Reel.” Irish, Reel.
This reel is known in County Donegal by its Gaelic title. An Ceol, vol. 3.
UNA
BHAN. Irish, Air (3/4 time). G Major. Standard. One part. Ó
Canainn (Traditional Slow Airs of Ireland),
1995; No. 70, pg. 62.
ÚNADH. Irish, Air (cut time).
G Major. Standard. One part. Únadh, or Una, is a woman’s name. Source for
notated version: the 1861 manuscript collection of James Goodman, an Anglican
cleric who collected primarily in County Cork [Shields]. Shields (Tunes of
the Munster Pipers), 1998; No. 17, pg. 10.
UNANIMITY. Scottish,
Scotch Measure. D Major. Standard. AAB. Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs), vol. II,
1782; No. 196, pg. 73.
X:1
T:Unanimity
M:2/4
L:1/8
S:Aird, Vol. II (1782)
Z:AK/Fiddler’s
Companion
K:D
gd gd/c/ |
c/B/A/G/ d2 | G/A/B/c/ dd | e/d/c/B/ AG | gd gd/c/ | c/B/A/G/ dg/f/ |
ea/g/ g/f/e/d/ |
(f/d/)(d/^c/) d2 :: dc/d/ ed | cBcA | cB/c/ dc | BABG | gg/a/ gD |
G/A/B/c/ {B}A2 | dd d/e/d/c/ | BA G2 K
UNA’S
LOCK. AKA and see “The
Cumberland,” “Miss Gibson [2],”
“Miss Nancy Gibson,” “The New Brig of Glasgow,” “Oonagh’s
Waterfall.” Scottish. Johnson (The Scots
Musical Museum), No. 447.
X:1
T:The
Cumberland Reel or Una’s Lock
S:Longman
and Broderip’s Second Selection of the Most Favorite
Country
Dances, Reels, &c. [c 1790/91?]
Q:1/4=80
L=1/4
M:C|
Z:Transcribed
by Bruce Olson
K:Bb
F/|Bb/g/
f/d/c/B/|A/F/c/A/ d/F/c/F/|Bb/g/ f/d/c/B/|\
F/B/A/c/
d/B/B/::d/|B/G/F3/4E/4 D/E/F/D/| E/C/C/B/ B/G/F/A/|\
B3/4G/4F3/4E/4
D/E/F/D/|B,/B/A/B/ d/B/B/K]
UNA’S NEW GOWN. Irish, Jig and Air. D Mixolydian?. Standard. AAB.
Source for notated version: “Copied from a Munster MS. Lent me by the late John
O’Daly, the Irish publisher of Anglesea St., Dublin” (Joyce). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909;
No. 192, pg. 95.
X:1
T:Una’s
New Gown
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:Jig
and Air
S:Joyce
– Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909)
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:D
Mix
D|EFA
BAF|dFF AFD|EFA BAF|FEE E2F|EFA BAF|dFF EFA|dfe dAF|FEE E2K
|:d|dAF
Ade|fed e2 d/e/|fed edB|AdG FED|EFA BAF|dFF Ade|f/e/d/f/e/c/ dAF|FEE E2||
UNCLE ADAM’S BANANA. AKA and see “La Banane a None’ Adam.”
UNCLE BERNARD’S. English, Polka (4/4 time). G Major. Standard. AABB.
The tune is used for a polka step in the North‑West (England) morris
dance tradition. A popular melody in English sessions, although considered
somewhat of a ‘beginner’s tune’. Wade, 1988; No. 29.
UNCLE
BUD. Old‑Time. The title appears in a list of Ozark
Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph,
published in 1954.
UNCLE
HENRY. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Arkansas. D Major. From the
playing of Violet Hensley, from northern Arkansas, learned in the 1920’s from her
father. Mark Wilson says it is a ‘drastic revamping’ of the minstrel era song “Goodbye My Honey, I’m Gone.”
Rounder CD 0435, Violet Hensley (et al) – “Traditional
Fiddle Music of the Ozarks, vol. 1.” Rounder Heritage Series 1166-11592-2,
Violet Hensley (et al) – “The Art of Traditional Fiddle” (2001).
UNCLE HENRY’S JIG. Canadian, Jig. D Major. Standard. AABB. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes),
1980; No. 153, pg. 102. Miller (Fiddler’s
Throne), 2004; No. 110, pg. 74.
UNCLE HENRY’S REEL. Canadian, Reel. A Major. Standard. AABB. Sources for notated versions: Jack O’Connor [Hinds]; Jerry Robichaud (Cape Breton) [Phillips]. Hinds/Hebert (<