The Men Of The West waltz

I know this is here as a jig, but it also has a long history as a waltz too, including a version played by Michael Coleman and following the waltz "Mrs. Kenny’s"…

Here’s the jig in the database ~

Submitted on August 22nd 2007 by Martin_BC.
https://thesession.org/tunes/7639

I would have transcribed the Coleman take on this, but I haven’t it on hand. I believe he played it high, in the key of D Major and stretching to the third octave d’…

I have a tapeofatape of Coleman’s recording and it is in D with a 3rd position shift in the B part.

He stopped after only 24 bars, I think because the 3 part Mrs. Kenny’s used up the clock. It’s played in a lovely less-is-more style, an approach not always associated with Coleman.

X: 2
T: Rosin the Bow
M: 1/4
L: 1/8
R: waltz
K: AMaj
E2 |\
A2 B2 A2 | c3 B A2 | f6 | a4 f2 | e2 c2 A2 | A3 B c2 | F6 | F4 E2 |
A3 G A2 | c2 B2 A2 | f6 | a4 gf | e2 c2 A2 | B2 A2 G2 | A6- | A4 ||
cd |\
e2 c2 e2 | e3 f g2 | a6 | a4 gf | e3 c A2 | A2 B2 c2 | F6- | F4 E2 |
A2 G2 A2 | c3 B A2 | f6 | a4 gf | e2 c2 A2 | B3 A G2 | A6- | A4 |]

ceolachan, you sure meant M:3/4, not 1/4 above.

Ok, this is my take, learned, IIRC, from John McCusker. In the key of Eb it sits beautifully on the fiddle, gentle and mellow. Or perhaps John had his fiddle tuned up half a step and my learning it in Eb instead of D was a lucky accident.

X:3
T:Rosin the Beau (sic, but why not go all the way and make it "Roisín the Beau"?)
M:3/4
L:1/4
K:Eb
B,|E3|G>FE|E>GB|c2e|\
B>GF|E>F G/B/|C3|C2B,|\
E3|G>FE|E<e d/B/|c2e|\
B>GE|G2F|E3|E2::G/A/|\
B>cB|B/c/ d2|de2|e>d c/B/|\
B>GF|E>F G/B/|C3|C2B,|\
B>cB|B/c/ d2|de2|e>d c/B/|\
B>GE|G2F|E3|E2:|

Correction to 2nd part (2nd ending):

B>GE|G2F|E3|E2:|2\
E3|G>FE|E<e d/B/|c2e|\
B>GE|G2F|E3|E2|]

Jürgen, I’m still in a strange head space with this persistent lung hassle, too much lost sleep, more along the lines of 3/4… But I am better, cough, cough… 😉

Thanks for the added transcription… But not to give it the M: 3/4 & L: 1/8 treatment itself ~

X: 3
T: Rosin the Beau
T: "Roisín the Beau"
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
K: EbMaj
B,2 |\
E6 | G3 F E2 | E3 G B2 |c4 e2 | B3 G F2 |E3 F GB | C6 | C4 B,2 |
E6 | G3 F E2 |Ee- e2 dB | c4 e2 | B3 G E2 | G4 F2 | E6 | E4 :|
|:GA |\
B3 c B2 | Bc d4 | d2 e4 |e3 d cB | B3 G F2 | E3 F GB | C6 | C4 B,2 |
[1 B3 c B2 | Bc d4 | d2 e4 | e3 d cB | B3 G E2 | G4 F2 | E6 | E4 :|
[2 E6 | G3 F E2 | Ee- e2 dB | c4 e2 | B3 G E2 | G4 F2 | E6 | E4 |]

But ‘now’~ 😛

ceolachan, that’s exactly what I wrote, only because of the L:1/8 (which is actually redundant, since it’s the default for M:3/4 anyway) every note length has to be doubled individually. Do you find
B,2 | E6 | G3 F E2 |
really easier to read than
B, | E3 | G>F E |?

So there! 😛

Yes! 😀 Also because L: 1/8 helps bring forward the slower nature of the tune, and it allows for more specific notation, such as variations and swing… To me it just seems to fit better the whole family of tunes in 3/4 time. With L: 1/4 it looks and feels more along the lines of 3/8, also by bunching up the notes into a single bar long block ~ for example, your transcription followed by the same thing as L: 1/8 ~

L: 1/4
B, |\
E3 | G>FE | E>GB | c2e | B>GF | E>F G/B/ | C3 | C2B, | ~

L: 1/8
B,2 |\
E6 | G3 F E2 | E3 G B2 | c4 e2 | B3 G F2 | E3 F GB | C6 | C4 B,2 | ~

I find the second take much easier to read…

For my sense of things the first take suggests a reading of one beat to the bar, while the second seems much more clearly 3 beats to the bar… The extreme of that would be ~ | G2- GF E2 | ~ etc…

I’m still hoping someone other than me will add a transcript of Coleman’s take on this… 😉

X:8 from Michael Coleman’s 78, which may be heard here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mjamZ0STOw

play video

Does anyone have Conchúr Mag Uidhir’s version of this air in the form of the song Muintir na Iarthair, a translation of Men of the West (written in 1890 by Liam Ó Maolruanaigh), for which Maguire won the Feis Cheoil in Mayo in 1903?