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Sonny Brogan’s jig

Also known as Bill Hart’s, Brother Gildas, Brother Gildas’, The Brother’s, Did You See My Man Looking For Me?, Monk’s, Padraig O’Keefe’s, Port An Bhrathair, Port An Bráthar, Port Padraig Na Cara, Port Padraig Na Carra, Port Sonny Brogan, Rev. Bros, Reverend Brother’s, The Reverend Brother’s, The Reverend’s Daughter, Sonny Brogan’s Fancy, Sonny Broghan’s Fancy, Sword’s Castle.

There are 73 recordings of a tune by this name.

A tune by this name has been recorded together with Behind The Haystack (a few times), Brian O’Lynn (a few times), Charlie Lennon’s (a few times), Dusty Windowsills (a few times) and Eddie Kelly’s (a few times).

Sonny Brogan’s has been added to 26 tune sets.

Sonny Brogan's has been added to 297 tunebooks.

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Eleven settings

X: 1
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
|:ABA c2e|dcd ege|ABA c2e|dcA AGE|
ABA c2e|dcd ege|a3 ged|cAG A3:|
|:eaa aba|gef ged|eaa aba|ged cAA|
eaa aba|gef g3|a3 ged|cAG A3:||
X: 2
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
ABA c2e|dcd ege|ABA c2e|dcA AGE|
EAA c2e|dcd ege|a^ga =ged|cAG A3:|
|:eaa aba|gef ged|eaa aba|ged cAA|
eaa aba|gef g3|a^ga =ged|cAG A3:||
cBA c2e|dcd ege|~A3 cde|dcA AGE|
cBA c2e|dcd ~e3|aba ged|cAG A3|
EGA c2c|dcd ~e3|EGA c2e|dcA AGE|
AGE c2c|dcd ~e3|aba ged|cAG A3||
|:eaa aba|gef ged|eaa aba|ged cAA|
eaa aba|gef ~g3|~a3 ged|cAG A3:||
X: 3
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Emin
B,EF G3 | AGA B3 | B,EF GAB | AFD EDA, |
B,EF GFG | AGA B3 | efe dBA | GED E3 :||
E2e efe | dBc d3 | B2e efe | dBA GBF|
E2e efe | dBc d3 | efe dBA | GED E3:||
X: 4
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
|: E |A^GA cBc | d^cd e^de | A^GA cde | dcA AGE |
A2 A c2 c | d^cd e2 e | aba ged | cA^G A2 :|
|: g |e2 a aba | gef ged | e2 a aba | gef g2 a |
eaa a^ga | gef ge/f/g | aba ged | cA^G A2 :|
X: 5
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
|:cAB c3|dB/c/d e3|A3 cde|dcA GED|
cAB c3|dB/c/d e3|a3 ged|cAG A3:||
|:e2a aba|gef ged|e2a aba|ged cAG|
e2a aba|gef g3|a3 ged|cAG A3:||
# Added by JACKB .
X: 6
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
~A3 cBc|dcd ~e3|~A3 cde|dcA AGE|
AGA cBc|dcd ede|aba ged|BAG A3:|
eaa aba|gef ~g3|eaa aba|ged cAA|
eaa aba|gef ~g3|aba ged|BAG A3:|
X: 7
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
~A3 cBc|dcd ega|~A3 cde|dcA G3|~A3 cBc|dcd ~e3|~a3 age|1 dcA AGE:|2 dcA ~A3|]
|:a3 aba|gef geg|~a3 aba|ged ^cAA|~a3 aba|gef ~g3|aga age|1 dcA ~A3 :|2 dcA AGE|]
X: 8
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
AEA c3| ~d3 e=fe| ~A3 cde| dcA ~G3|
AEA cBc| ~d3 ege| ~a3 ged| cAG A3||
AEA c3| ~d3 ecA| ~A3 cde| dcA GED|
AEA cBc| ~d3 ecA| ~a3 ged| cA^G AB/c/d||
|:eaa aba| gef ~g3| eaa aba| ged cAA|
~a3 aba| gef gfg| ~a3 ged|[1 cAG AB/c/d:|[2 cAG A z/E/F/G/|]
X: 9
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Dmix
|: ~D3 ~A3|BAG ABA|~D3 ~A3|BAG EDC|
~D3 ~A3|BAG ABc|dcB cBA|1 BAG EGE:|2 BAG E2D||
|:deB ~c2A|BAG ABc|deB ~c2A|BAG EDC|
deB ~c2A|BAG ABc|deB c2A|1 BAG EDC:|2 BAG EGE||
X: 10
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
|:cAB ~c3|~d3 ede|ABA cde|dcA AGA|
EAB cBc|dcd ede|~a3 ged|cAG A3:|
|:eaa aba|gef gfg|eaa aba|ged cAA|
eaa eaa|gef gfg|~a3 ged|cAG A3:|
X: 11
T: Sonny Brogan's
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Edor
|:GEF G3|AF/G/A B3|E3 GAB|AGE DBA|
GEF G3|AF/G/A B3|e3 dBA|GED E3:||
|:B2e efe|dBc dBA|B2e efe|dBA GED|
B2e efe|dBc d3|e3 dBA|GED E3:||
# Added by JACKB .

Nineteen comments

A tune I was taught in a workshop last year. It’s a tune I do not think should be taken too fast, it has a somewhat gentle sadness about it. The version posted is the straightforward unornamented one that I learned, but here are two ornamented variations:

"variation1"
ABA c2e|dcd ege|ABA c2e|dcA AGE|
EAA c2e|dcd ege|a^ga =ged|cAG A3:|
|:eaa aba|gef ged|eaa aba|ged cAA|
eaa aba|gef g3|a^ga =ged|cAG A3:||
"variation2"
cBA c2e|dcd ege|~A3 cde|dcA AGE|
cBA c2e|dcd ~e3|aba ged|cAG A3|
EGA c2c|dcd ~e3|EGA c2e|dcA AGE|
AGE c2c|dcd ~e3|aba ged|cAG A3||
|:eaa aba|gef ged|eaa aba|ged cAA|
eaa aba|gef ~g3|~a3 ged|cAG A3:||

Personally, I prefer the unornamented version with the plain long high A near the end of each part, followed by a quiet descent to the final A.

Having recently learnt "Whiskey Before Breakfast" (on this database) it would be nice to follow it with The Monk’s Jig (!), but musically speaking I don’t think that’s really an option.

trevor

The Monk’s

Trevor, This is a nice little jig, thanks for posting it.

I agree with Brad. I know this as the Reverend Brother’s Jig, and learned it from the playing of Kevin Burke on Promenade. But Trevor’s setting is slightly different and well worth knowing in its plaintive style. Thanks, Trevor.

Posted .

I just tried following this with Cliff’s of Moher. It flows nicely.

Posted by .

Thanks, Trevor. I prefer them written straight out. I’m going to follow this with the version of Yellow Wattle in Tony Sullivan’s Dublin Banjos.

Just a few years late on this thread( but that’s me) I have this tune from Brendan Breathnach’s "Ceol Rince"Vol 1, No 21. "Did you see my man looking for me".
I started to learn this as I recognised it from a recording of the Shaskeen Ceili Band many years ago.Which Album?

I just heard this tune on a the Johnny B. Connolly recording, Bridgetown, which he plays with Kevin Burke. Great setting. The enitre CD is great in my opinion. If you don’t have, I recommend it.

1st tune

I’m just learning irish guitar and this was the first tune I was given. Maybe this is true of manty tunes but I am facinated by how beautifully bluesy this song sounds when you slow it down. There’s a lot in this piece

Two of the recordings listed are not of this tune

The tune on The Story So Far is a different Padraig O’Keefe’s and the tune on The Coleman Archive is a different Sonny’s. It’s a mazurka.

This is a pretty much a minor version of

Bímid ag Ól here: https://thesession.org/tunes/3456

We play an E minor version something like this:

M: 6/8
K: Em
B,EF G3 | AGA B3 | B,EF GAB | AFD EDA, |
B,EF GFG | AGA B3 | efe dBA | GED E3 :||
E2e efe | dBc d3 | B2e efe | dBA GBF|
E2e efe | dBc d3 | efe dBA | GED E3:||

and Sean Reid’s/Gilbert Clancy’s is the reel version.

David

“The Reverend Brother’s Jig” ~ another take on it

X: 5
T: Reverend Brother’s Jig, The
T: Monk’s Jig, The
T: Padraig O’Keeffe’s
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K:Ador
|: E |\
A^GA cBc | d^cd e^de | A^GA cde | dcA AGE |
A2 A c2 c | d^cd e2 e | aba ged | cA^G A2 :|
|: g |\
e2 a aba | gef ged | e2 a aba | gef g2 a |
eaa a^ga | gef ge/f/g | aba ged | cA^G A2 :|

The Monk’s, X:5

Piping version

Posted by .

Sonny Brogan’s, X:6

This is how we played it in the ‘90’s at the Knoxville, TN session, introduced and standardized there as "Reverend Brother’s" by the young but mighty piper and whistle player Matt McNeely. Sure, it’s not much different than other settings here, but for posterity and all that …

Sonny Brogan’s, X:7

I transcribed this version off an old recording of Kevin Burke and Michael O’Domhnaill. Kevin’s introduces the tune saying: "The first one is called The Reverend Brother’s Jig… But I have personal doubts about that title." I like how he differentiates the two A sections by modifying the second and sixth measures. And I think the "reverse waterfalls" between the sections give it a great lift going into each section.

https://youtu.be/6prQkj_rElk?t=52

Sonny Brogan’s, X:8

This tune is also listed as Bill Hart’s or Bill Harte’s in the Session. The version I originally learned years ago was the one here in Dmix and we called it Sonny Brogan’s. The key and second part are the main differences in the two settings.

Re: Sonny Brogan’s X:8

Hi Steve,
The tune you’ve posted is actually a setting of this one : https://thesession.org/tunes/2788 , as you mentioned - Bill Hartes’s. - I see that your setting is already there too. I can’t see the relationship to this tune, other than as an alternative title.