The Bloom Of Youth reel

I like the title. This tune can be played with a nice swing.

Planxty did a version of this but in the liner notes it is explained as “an unusual version of Lucky In Love”. However, “Lucky In Love” is a completely different reel in G. I think the tune they play is close enough to “The Bloom Of Youth” to be transcribed here. I like their version because it goes below the octave at the end of the 2nd part:

G2{B}AG EGDE|G2BG AE~E2|G2{B}AG EGAB|cedc BGAF|
G2{B}AG EGDE|G2BG AEEF|G2{B}AG EGAB|cedc BG~G2||
gedg edBA|(3BcB {c}BG AE~E2|~g3d edBA|(3Bcd gd BG~G2|
eg~g2 eB~B2|dBAF GE~E2|DzDE GABc|dedc BGAF||

Another name for that Planxty setting is “Tansey’s”, apparently.

Anyone have a recording of Seamus Tansey playing it?

I know this tune in an other version:

X:2
T:The Bloom of Youth
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:150
B:110 Irish Fiddle Tunes vol. 2
R:Reel
N:Collected by: Sinéad Madden
N:Published by: Waltons
K:G
G2 DG EGDF | G2 BG AGEF | G2 DG EGBc | dBcA BGAF |
G2 DG EGDF | G2 BG AGEF | G2 DG EGBc | dBAc BG G2 :|
|:gd (3ddd edcA | BdAc BE (3EEE | gd (3ddd edcA | dcAc BG G2 |
gd (3ddd edcA | BdAc BE E2 | cBcd efge | dBAc BG G2:|

Lucky in Love is a completely different tune but it is also the tune John McKenna plays before the Bloom of Youth on his 78 rpm. It’s easy to confuse names in these cases.

Great playing here:

http://irishflute.podbean.com/2007/09/02/tanseys-favourite/

This tune is in the Gunn Book (Fermanagh 1865) as ‘The Downshire Reel’

Version 4 is fairly close to John McKenna’s playing of it (I just transcribed it anyway), although he’s doing a lot of little things that I didn’t bother to try to capture.

From German Piper Johannes Schieffner who learned it form the Planxty recording

This is named Geogahan’s on the Microphone Rambles link attributed to Bernie Stocks (Belfast) learned from Tom McGonogle.

I found this tune from “The Flute Players of Roscommon” by John P Carty and think it has some interesting twists that are worth adding to the page. It is on the album as Tansey’s Favorite/Hare’s Paw.

I think the name “Tansey’s Favourite” dates back at least to the time of Paddy Killoran, who recorded a 78 with this reel followed by “The Heather Breeze”, taken at a very fast speed. I don’t think Séamus is the “Tansey” mentioned, but I could be wrong.

The title doesn’t refer to Seamus Tansey, but I seem to remember from his book that the “Tansey” in question was a relative of his. I’ll try to find where it’s mentioned in the book [ whichever of the 2 it is ] and get back to you.

Didn’t realize he wrote two books. It wouldn’t surprise me that the “Tansey” here would be Séamus’s relative, nor that Killoran would use this title (that of a Sligo musician for a Sligo reel).

Hi Daniel - for your general edification 🙂 - from “The Bardic Apostles Of Inisfree” [ the first ], Pg 24 - entry on Joe Tansey :

“Joe Tansey, born at Calteraun, Gurteen, Co. Sligo, has many tunes named after him mistaken as being tunes composed by his later down far out friend and blood relation, Seamus Tansey, the author of this book.
Joe Tansey learned his early schooling in fiddling with his brother Bernie from attending the Jamesie Coleman music hall in Killavil in the early 1900s.
Joe Tansey emigrated to New York in the early 1900s and became caught up in the world of Michael Coleman, Ladd [sic ] O’Beirne, Morrison , and all the rest. He made many records and gave to Irish traditional music many beautiful jigs and reels, the best-known tunes being “Apples In Winter”*, “The Bride’s Favourite”, “Tansey’s Favourite”*, and many more”.

* - “Apples In Winter” - if it’s the same tune - appears in “O’Neill’s 1001”, published in 1907, so this claim seems unlikely. So does “The Bloom Of Youth”, so although this may have been known as “Tansey’s Favourite”, and recorded by Paddy Killoran under that title, I wouldn’t think - according to Seamus’ timeline above [ which is a bit vague ], - that he could have composed it, given the publication date of “O’Neill’s”.
Caveat - as always, I could be wrong.

Version from “At first light” of Michael McGoldrick & John McSherry