Hughie Travers’ reel

Many thanks to Peter Laban who added the following information regarding Kitty on the concertinanet website.
"Kitty learned this tune and the reelversion of it from her son Joe. After Kitty’s husband Josie died, she played a bit on Jaqueline McCarthy’s concertina one night, Joe persuaded her to buy a concertina and get back into playing at 70 and after being out of it for 45 years.
Joe was diagnosed with leakemia soon afterward but he kept at Kitty to keep her going. The two Travers‘ tunes re in fact the last tunes she played with him while visiting him in London during his treatment, he died very soon after. For this reason the tunes are very dear to her. In her kitchen recently, we played them they brought it all back to her, she was saddened but cherished the memory. Being back in the music pulled her through, in fact she said ’Peter, that concertina has been my salvation’. She’s great and I love her to bits."

Geoff, I assume you must be talking about Clare concertina player, Kitty Hayes. Kitty has made a great come-back to traditional music here in Clare and great credit is due to Eoin O’Neill who recently produced a great CD of Kitty’s music enabling us all to enjoy the talent of this remarkable lady.

At our sessions we always follow this one with “the Bucks of Oranmore”. It was played by Stockton’s Wing many years ago in Clare and their name has sometimes been used as the title for the tune.

Matt Molloy has a *fantastic* version of this tune on his solo black album. One of my all time favorite tunes!

I seem to recall that “Stockton’s Wing” also played this as a jig - and it worked.

and I think “Travers” first name was Hughie.

This is already in the tune list.

Key signature: G Major
Submitted on March 14th 2003 by geoffwright.
https://thesession.org/tunes/1514

Find another transcription here: https://thesession.org/tunes/3111.

https://thesession.org/tunes/1518

K: G Major
|: ge |
dB ~B2 ~B2 GB | d2 BG AGED | G2 B/c/d gaba | gedB A2 a/g/e |
dBBA B3 c | dG B/A/G AGED | GABd gaba | gedB G2 :|
|: GA |
Bd d/d/d ed d/d/d | gdBd edBA | B/c/d- dB edef | gedB A/B/A GA |
Bd d/d/d ed B/c/d | gd d/d/d edBA | B/c/d ef g2 ba | gedB G2 :|

According to the comments in “Fiddler´s Companion” on this tune, “Hughie Travers was a flute player from County Leitrim who played in the Dublin Metropolitan Garda Ceili Band, with whom he recorded a few 78 RPM records in the 1930’s [Philippe Varlet]. The tune was popularized by the band Stockton’s Wing, who also played a jig version of the tune.”

http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/HUCK_HUMM.htm

X: 1
T: Hughie Travers’
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
|:dBBA B2GB|dBGB AGED|G2 (3Bcd g3a|gedB A2 d2|
dBBA B2GB|dBGB AGED|G2 (3Bcd g3a|gedB G2:|
|:Bdd2 edd2|edgd edBA|Bdef g3a|gedB A2GA|
Bdd2 edd2|edgd edBA|Bdef g3a|gedB G2 GA|
bg g2 ag g2|edgd edBA|Bdef g3a|gedB A2 d2|
dBBA B2GB|dBGB AGED|GABd g3a|gedB G2|]