This week’s 78rpm disc features fiddler Patrick J. Gaffney, recorded in 1923 and released on the O’Keh label (4840). McAllister’s Fling is better known these days as the Glen (or Glin or Green) Cottage Polka.
From the Ted McGraw Collection, McGraw 78 01-202.
Once again, mighty stuff and thanks for sharing! I was about to point out that McAllister’s Fling sounds like The Green Cottage Polka … then I read your accompanying notes and of course you were already all over that, no flies on you. I have to say the rhythmic differences between tunes named as a plain quadrille, fling, and polka (as demonstrated in this old recording) get a bit lost in my thick head.
I rather liked the minor chords the pianist played behind the 2nd part of Brighton Camp [Girl I left Behind Me]
gave the old chestnut an unusual flavour - much more imaginative than the usual 2 chord ivory thumpers of the 20’s.
I love the posts from Ward’s! I noticed that Em chord as well, Christy. It is indeed a welcome change from the usual G chord. And I too Joe, can’t hear the rhythmic differences of the tune types.
I must have played that tune hundreds of times for square dances here in the states and was only somewhat surprised when I first heard it played by the local Mile High Ceili Band as a polka. Then I heard my soon to be father-in-law play it with his US Civil War reenactment brass band. It’s a genre-crossing tune, maybe one of the top forty hits of the past two centuries!
FiddleJohn, it was apparently played on fife and drums as General Custer led his regiment to their fateful encounter at the Little Big Horn - but you probably knew that!
I’m pretty sure the march you are referring to is “Garryowen.” There are several nice versions here - https://thesession.org/tunes/1372
A friend of mine who is a complete ‘Wild West’ nerd [he’s been to the battle site in Dakota] insists that although Garryowen was indeed Custer’s favorite tune it was Girl I left Behind that they marched to on their way to Little Big Horn. It happened about 150 years ago, I wasnt there, so believe it if you will!
I do believe you (and your friend), though it would be nice to hear what a professional music historian or musicologist would say. Does anyone at the Ward archives have any information?
Just the one tune, repeated?
yep, always happy to hear the opinion of a qualified expert. I’m not familiar with the Ward archives?
Just a bit about the Custer discussion, since he was cavalry he would not have marched to fife and drums, he did have a regimental brass band and they did play the tunes mentioned but they were not at the battle. For history buffs, here’s a bit about the band. https://red.library.usd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1042&context=honors-thesis
thanks Boots, I never knew any of that stuff about the bandmaster Felix Vinatieri, very interesting.
There’s a Scottish tune that would have made a better theme song for Mr. Custer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vypI7p8R978
Thanks for posting that, Boots. Most Americans are aware of the large number of Irish immigrant troops in the Civil War, but I had never thought of an Italian enlistee, and a composer as well. Well written paper.
And bigscioto, that is an apt tune for the situation. I might have to learn it just for the name of it!
