The Moving Bog reel

By Paddy Sweeney

Also known as Miss Wallace, The Moving Bogs Of Powellsborough, The Moving Bogs Of Powelsboro, The Moving Bogs, The Wallace Twins.

There are 39 recordings of this tune.

This tune has been recorded together with

The Moving Bog appears in 6 other tune collections.

The Moving Bog has been added to 13 tune sets.

The Moving Bog has been added to 85 tunebooks.

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Six settings

1
X: 1
T: The Moving Bog
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
{c}BG{A}GF {A}G{c}B.A.F|D2 (3{G}FED {B}AD{G}FE|DG{A}GF {A}G.A{c}.B.c|1 .d2 .e^c .d2 =cA:|2 .d2.e^c .d2 B=c||
dg{a}gf {a}g2 {b}ag|~f2de {g}fdcA|dg{a}gf {a}g{c'}bag|fg{b}af {a}g3f|
.d.e.f.g a3g|~f2e .d.e.f.g|a2ge (3fed e^c|.d2.e.^c .d2 .=c.A:|
2
X: 2
T: The Moving Bog
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
GBAF G2AF|D2 (3FED ADFD|DGGF GABc|d2de fdcA|
GBAF GBAF|D2 (3FED ADFD|DGGF GABc|dfe^c d2B=c||
dggf g2ag|fdde fdcA|dggf g2fg|agbg agfe|
dggf gbag|f2fe defg|afge fde^c|d2de fdcA||
3
X: 3
T: The Moving Bog
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
BGGF GBAF|D2=CD =FDCE|DGG^F G2Bc|1 d=fec dBcA:|2 d=fec d2Bc||
dggf g2ag|fdde fdcA|dggf g2ag|fgaf ~g3f|
defg ~a3g|fde^c defg|afge fde^c|d2eg fd=cA||
4
X: 4
T: The Moving Bog
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
A|BG (3AGF GBAF|D2 CD =FDCE|DG (3AGF GABc|d^cde fd=cA|
BG (3AGF GBAF|D2 (3FED ADFD|DG (3AGF GABc|dfe^c d2 B=c|
dggf gbag|fd (3ddd fdcA|dggf gbag|fgaf g3 f|
defg a2 ag|fd (3ed^c defg|af (3gfe fde^c|dfe^c d3||
5
X: 5
T: The Moving Bog
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
BGGF GBAF|D2=CD =FDCE|DGGF GABc|1 dge^c d2=cA:|2 dge^c d2B=c||
dggf gbag|fdde fdcA|dggf gbag|fgaf ~g3f|
defg ~a3g|fde^c defg|gffe fde^c|dfe^c d2=cA||
6
X: 6
T: The Moving Bog
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
BGAF G2 AF|DEFG AGGF|DGGF GABc|d2 eg fdcA|
BGAF G2 AF|DEFG AGGF|DGGF GABg|fdcA BG G2||
g2 ag fgag|fdde fdcA|Gggf g2 fg|agfg agga|
bgaf gbag|fdde f2 fg|afge (3fga ge|dcde fdcA||
# Added by Moxhe .

Twenty comments

Who know the name of this tune?

S:Joanie Madden

“this is the tune, as played and taught by Joanie taught by Joanie Madden in the whistle workshop at the 1999 CCE Convention in Parsippany, New Jersey, USA on April 10, 1999”

Tom Madden from his notes on notation handed out by Joanie Madden

Gan Ainm/The Moving Bog

This tune is in Brendan Breathnach’ s “Ceol Rince” Vol 1 as “The Moving Bog” - reel #130.

Posted by .

Michael Cranitch

Ah, I don’t know how I couldn’t find this tune before. I heard it played by Matt Cranitch’s father, Senate Michael Cranitch on Siar an Bothar ages ago. Nicolas Carolan called it “The Moving Bogs of Powelsboro”. I really like this tune and I got a recording of it on i Gcnoc na Grai by Tony MacMahon and Noel Hill.

To Jeremy,

Please would you be able to sort out the dots for this one? At the moment it links to a gan ainm posted by zina. Thanks in advance.

Miss Wallace (reel)

From the fiddle and flute duet playing of Kevin Moloney and Sean Moloney. Kevin was one of the original members of Ballinakill Traditional Players together with his father Stephen Moloney and Tommy Whelan. Sean is Kevin’s nephew and a son of legendary E. Galway flute player, Eddie Moloney.

On their recording, this tune is played with Miss Johnson and Miss Thornton.

This version is slightly different from the one in O’Neill’s. There are several similar tunes, notably Micho Russell’s (aka Sean Reid’s Fancy): https://thesession.org/tunes/2509

Moving Bogs

I have no doubt this is already on the site under what is the more usual name these days, “The Moving Bogs.”

Wrong

You’re quite wrong there, “blarneystar”. “The tunes titled ”The Moving Bog[s]" posted here are nothing like this, unless I missed something.
Good man for posting this , “slainte”. I was taught this tune at a Willie Clancy flute class in the mid 80s by P.J.Crotty RIP]. He recorded it on the CD with the Cullinanes a few years ago. It does bear similarities to quite a few other reels in “G”. A fine flute tune, which I must start playing again.

Posted by .

Hmm…..

Maybe an apology due to “blarneystar” - it is very like the “Moving Bogs” I know, - but nothing like the “Moving Bogs” posted here by Gian Marco. Like “blarneystar”, I would have thought that tune to have been posted here already, but maybe not, and that would be surprising, unless it’s lurking under a different name.
I think PJ’s version was more like the version in “O‘Neill’s” than the Moloney’s version as posted here by “slainte”. I’ll hunt out PJ’ s playing of it in the Miltown class, and post it as an alternative, because there are some differences. Sorry, “blarneystar”.

Posted by .

Moving Titles

No problem Kenny. Tune titles move around a lot, probably because musicians remember both titles and tunes but often can’t recall which goes with which.

Composed by Paddy Sweeney

According to the liner notes of Danish band Moving Cloud’s CD “Sweet Nyaa” this tune was composed by fiddle player Paddy Sweeney, who was a native of Powelsboro, a little place between Tubbercurry and Ballymote. The title of the tune refers to a natural phenomenon which occasionally occurs when water pressure causes part of a bog to move or slide.
That’s the first tune, the one in G, that was composed by him.

Moving Cloud’s setting

I’ve also added Moving Cloud’s version of this tune, see version 3 above.

Frank Quinn recording 1924

Frank Quinn (1893-1964) of Greagh, Drumlish, Co. Longford recorded this tune on the fiddle in May 1924. It was the first tune in a set entitled “Miss Wallace’s Reel” (The second tune was a version of “Rakish Paddy”). He probably learned it from O‘Neill’s book where it appears under that title. I transcribed his version and it follows O’Neill’s version closely.

The Moving Bog, X:4

Taken from ‘A Fine Selection of Over 200 Irish Traditional Tunes for Sessions’, compiled by David Speers with a Forward by Matt Cranitch. Lovely tune, those accidentals give it a haunting feel.

Re: The Moving Bog

As so very often, H. Norbeck’s version is the most accurate one. It’s exactly as I’ve heard it being played in Clare and beyond.

The Moving Bog, X:5

from Philip Duffy’s version on the Mountain Road CD of South Sligo players. Note how he avoids the high f’s (sharp or natural??) by going up to g in the first part. I love how the c#’s and c-nat’s trade off in this tune. He follows it with a lovely version of Michael Reilly’s Reel.

The Moving Bog, X:6 / The Wallace Twins

Here is The Wallace Twins, very close to The Moving Bog, in the setting published in O’Neill’s Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922), no. 281.
Enjoy !

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Re: The Moving Bog

A moving bog is sinister, hoping never to fall in one… Pleasant tune, though.