Sonny Brogan’s jig

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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 :|

Piping version

See https://thesession.org/tunes/1185 - Sonny Brogan’s / Port An Bhrathair.

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 …

Here, courtesy of Kevin Rietmann, is Tommy Reck playing Port An Bhrathair on a low-tuned set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_yhCl2_jgs

play video

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

play video

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.

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.

I’ve add the notes which match the ones from this Stockton’s Wing set @1:05
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdb5t-F__yA&t=1m5s

play video

This showed up on a Youtube clip here
https://thesession.org/tunes/1822#comment877060
It was such good tune I thought I’d write it down (don’t trust my memory too much these days). Anybody know the alternative name for it?

The jig is called Port an Bhrathair (translates from Irish as The Monk’s Jig)
It is listed here as Sonny Brogan’s Jig

Thanks fiddlecase !