The Boys Of Portaferry reel

I first learned this tune off a Cherish the Ladies compilation cd, "One and All: The Best of Cherish the Ladies." I’ve since heard it knocked around by a few other players, but not often. And somehow it’s even dropped out of favor at our local session. I’m hoping to bring it back.

I like the way it keeps trying to resolve to the notes that normally leave you suspended in G major—c’s in the A part and e’s and c’s in the B part. The 4th measure of the A part is just pregnant. Of course it never completely works out, so you get carried along waiting for the final resolve. For me, that comes by going from Boys of Portaferry straight into Kerryman’s Daughter in C maj:

|gedB c2 cA| into Kerryman’s |G~E3 GAcd|egdB cAAc| and so on.

It’s a bit of a finger twister on fiddle, especially uptempo, but it’s great practice for clamping onto a G doublestop and working on clean string crossings. And it works fine (as does Kerryman’s Daughter) at a moderate tempo.

You can simplify the B part by omitting all those triplets and playing |Bdgd edgd|, but it loses some of its momentum this way.

Anyobody have a different setting for Boys of Portaferry? The only other printed version I’ve seen is in the Krassen edition of O’Neill’s, and it’s almost identical.

As soon as I saw this I knew it would have been you who posted it. Will, this was one of the tunes listed in your "common session tunes" thread from ages ago, and I was surprised to see that it hadn’t been posted here. I have played this for a long while and keep trying to play it in sessions but no-one *ever* knows it or bothers trying to learn it. Perhaps if I played something loud and noticeable (like a fiddle maybe Will?) people would listen 🙂

I play this in a set that goes Bunker Hill/Boys Of Portaferry/Jenny Picking Cockles (Dmix version). I think they merge nicely into each other. For me, Bunker Hill wants to go into G…

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I was interested to find this tune - I haven’t heard of it before - since I was born in one of the villages around Portaferry and lived there for seven years. I return to the town every year (as I now live in Derbyshire).

I posted the following question in the recordings section as well to increase its chances of being seen: Does anyone have a different name for the tune rendered by the Tap Room Trio and listed on the sleeve as "the Pullet"?

Another way of playing it:

X:164
T:Boys of Portaferry, The
T:The Pullet
S:Session, Green Tree, Edinburgh
Z:Nigel Gatherer
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:G
BA | G3 B AGAB | G2 BG AGED | G3 B AB c2 | dBGB c2 :|
BA | Bdgd Bdgd | Bdgd (3cdc BA | Bdgd e2 ef | gedB c2 :|]

From Planxty’s live album:

T: The Pullet
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Emin
|:G2 BG Ac BA | G2AG GE DE | G2 BG AB cd | dB GB Ac BA |
G2 BG Ac BA | G2AG GE DE | G2 BG AB cd | dB AB G3 A |
(3Bcd gd ed gd | Bd gd eg dc | Bd gd ed ef | ge dB cA BA |
(3Bcd gd ed gd | Bd gd eg dc | Bd gd ed ef | ge dB cA BA :|

X:1
T: The boys of Portaferry
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
D: John McSherry "Six days in Down"
K: Emin
||G2 BG AG BG | GGBG GE DE | GGGB AB (3cBA | dBGB (3cBA FA |
|GA BG AG BG | GGBG GE DE | GGGB AB (3cBA | dB (3cBA G3 ||
||(3Bcd gd ed gd | (3Bcd gd e2 dc | Bd ef gg fa | ge dB (3cBA FA |
||(3Bcd gd ed gd | (3Bcd gd e2 dc | Bd ef gz b2 | zgge dB (3cBA ||

X:1
T:The Boys of Portaferry
S:"Bad Turns & Horse-Shoe Bends" by Harry Bradley
M:4/4
L:1
K:G clef=treble 4
G3B AGAB|GBAG GEDE|G2GB AGAB|dBGB c2BA|
G3B AGAB|GBAG GEDE|G2GB AGAB|dBAF GGG2|
Bdgd edgd|Bdgd edcA|Bdgd (3efg fa|gedB c2cA|
Bdgd edgd|Bdgd edcA|Bded gbaf|gbdB c2BA|

X:8 is a setting adapted for pipes by the Glasgow group Calasaig, from their 2003 album ‘Merchant’s City". They call it "The Pullet".

I was looking to hear and learn The Maids of Feakle and came across that great box player Donie Nolan playing it and followed with this tune so I learned his version, or as near to it as I could and which I have posted here. He does a few little funny things at the end of 2nd part each time so that’s up to each to interpret as they wish . You can find him on youtube —Maids of Feakle.

To me the iconic recording of the tune is from Planxty’s 1980 LP, "The Woman I loved So Well," and the setting closest to the one played by Liam O’Flynn and Co. is the one Wicked Saint so kindly posted here.