The Aherlow (jig) on The Session

Also known as Connie Connell’s, Connie O’Connell’s, The Halfcrown Girl, Michael Dwyer’s, Two And Sixpenny Girl, The Two-and-Sixpenny Girl.

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Five settings

X: 1
T: The Aherlow
R: jig

M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
BGG Add|~B3 BAG|BGG ADD|GBG AFD|
BGG Add|BAG ABc|dge f2d|1 cAF G3:|2 cAF G2D||
|:GBd ~g3|fed cAF|GBd ~g3|faf g2e|
[1faf gfe|fed cAG|~B3 BAG|BdB cAF:|
[2faf gfe|fed e^cA|faf ge^c|ded d2D||
|:GBB B2d|cA^G ~A3|GBB BAG|BdB cAF|
GBB B2d|cA^G ABc|dge f2d|cAF G2D:|

X: 2
T: The Aherlow
R: jig

X: 3
T: The Aherlow
R: jig

X: 4
T: The Aherlow
R: jig

M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
|:BGG Add|BdB BAG|BGG ADD|GAG GED|
BGG Add|BAG ABc|dge fed|1 cAF G3:|2 cAF G2D||
|:GBd ~g3|fed cAF|GBd ~g3|faf g2e|
[1faf gfe|fed cAG|~B3 BAG|BdB cAF:|
[2faf gfe|fed ^cde|faf gfe|ded dcA||
|:GBB B2d|cAA ~A3|GBB BAG|BdB cAF|
GBB B2d|cAA ABc|dge fed|cAF G2D:|

X: 5
T: The Aherlow
R: jig

M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
|:BGG AFD|BdB BAG|BGG AFD|GAG GED|
BGG AFD|BAG ABc|dge f2d|1 cAF G2A:|2 cAF G2D||
|:GBd g2g|fed cAF|GBd g2e|f/g/af g2e|
f/g/af g2e|fed cAF|GBB BAG|B/c/dB cAF:|
|:GBB B2d|cAA dcA|GBB BAG|B/c/dB cAF|
GBB B2d|cAA ABc|dge f2d|1 cAF G2D:|2 cAF G2A||

Thirteen comments

There’s another stting of this tune, posted as Michael Dwyers/Connie O’Connell’s:

This was supposed to be included in the above comment:

There’s something strange going on. I’m trying to post the URL for the tune, and it doesn’t show up in the posting. One more try:

https://thesession.org/tunes/931

Sorry about this. That should be 931 at the end.

Two and Sixpenny Girl

The name was attached by Breandan Breathnach, who thought it similar to a tune by this name in Ryan’s Mammoth Collection.

It is credited to the late Micheal Dwyer of west Cork on the posthumous CD recently issued.

I think Breandan Breathnach was wrong to attach the name. Two and Sixpenny Girl is a very different tune in its own right.

The Halfcrown Girl

Title given to it by Christy Dunne.

Attempting to come to a conclusion

It’s difficult for me to sort out the history of this tune. The "Two and Sixpenny Girl" is a tune in Ryan’s Mammoth Collection with one similar part and another part which seems like a variant. However, I believe this to be a different tune even though the title has been attached to this tune by such players as Christy Dunne, James Keane and Joe Ryan.

None of the recordings of "The Two and Sixpenny Girl" that I’ve heard are infact that tune from Ryan’s collection. Instead, they are this tune, supposedly composed by Michael Dwyer. I’ve put that down to an easy mistake made by the musicians.

So, yes, it is different enough to be a newly composed tune and, on Michael Dwyer’s posthumous CD with his sister, it is attributed to Michael himself. This is a solid source I believe.

According to the notes on the back of the LP by Joe Ryan and Eddie Clark (Crossroads is the title), other titles for this tune are "The Spirit of Whiskey" (which is a Shetland reel actually), "The Money I want" (have found no info regarding that title) and "The Aherlow" (Liam O’Flynn recorded it under this title).

Ok, from that, I believe that Michael Dwyer did not name this tune but did compose it and it may have been a coincidence that it resembles the Two and Sixpenny Girl in one part. Paddy O’Brien (Offaly) has a tune collection (book w/CD) and he has a jig there called "The Aherlow". I didn’t listen to that CD yet so I don’t know if he is playing this tune but, in the book, he attributes that tune to Sean Ryan (tipperary fiddler). I just hope that it’s not this tune he’s playing!!

I think the safest bet is to call this one Michael Dwyer’s. If anyone can pitch anything into this little query, fire away, because I’m trying to find out this kind of information for our album to be released in the coming months, hopefully.

Have a look at this link - it might help you https://thesession.org/tunes/270/comments. It’s an archived irtrad discussion showing a list of Michael Dwyer’s tunes from his book of compositions, where this one is entitled "Michael Dwyer’s".

Thanks Dow. The fact that Michael Dwyer’s jig is listed as "an elaboartion of The Two and Sixpenny Girl" helps a lot. I feel comfortable in saying it is a Michael Dwyer composition and tune distinct from the Two and Sixpenny Girl but the question remains as to whether this was through coincidence or a deliberate elaboration. But that’s not so important. With Michael now deceased the answer to that lies in his grave. I did however witness a discussion between two musicians (a quite well known ones at that) at a session sometime last year about the Vincent Broderick tune The Tinker’s Daughter. One believed the second part was a deliberate copy of The Green Mountain while the other insisted that it was just a coincidence. Of course, without Vincent around at the time, we didn’t resolve it but it does let me know that these things can happen and have happened so, yes, its a Michael Dwyer tune with no name so I’ll just call it Michael Dwyer’s then, as it appears in his collections.

Second Setting

Close to what Joe Ryan plays on ‘Crossroads’ with Eddie Clarke. I’ve shown some bowings that Ryan does and some of my own interpretation as well. Been a fav of mine for a while now.