Gillan’s Apples jig

Probably the most widely known tune of this name - the 4-part tune in D posted by Will is obviously related.

We like Banish Misfortune then this Gillans’ Apples as a complementary pair of tunes.

Great tune - definitely my favourite jig with this title; the other 4 part one sounds like something else but I can’t recall the name.

I really like that tune in a set with The trip to Sligo and The Cliffs of Moher as the group Tuatha plays it.

not all Murphys are the same either:

Key signature: D Major
Submitted on December 4th 2001 by Josh Kane.
https://thesession.org/tunes/413

Key signature: D Major & “the 4-parts”
Submitted on July 29th 2003 by Will Harmon.
https://thesession.org/tunes/1854

The tune as submitted (which is very close to what I play) could be regarded as a G Lydian tune. As I play the 10-hole diatonic harmonica (blues harp), I can play it as written on a low D harp and follow it with a D major tune such as “Tripping Upstairs” for a nice key change. Morrison’s goes well as the third jig in this set! There are very few “G major” tunes that can be played without bending for accidentals on a D harp. Cronin’s Hornpipe and The Turnip Jig are two others that spring to mind.

Apparently it’s not Gillian, as a lot of people think, but Gillan, named after John Gillan, tune collector and source for O’Neill.

It’s the third jig in this set:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=p0mV6fcvkv8&feature=channel_page

play video

I’m a little confused about a tune title.

In Ceol Rince vol. 2, tune 7 is called Gillians Apples, Jackson’s Growling Cat, and various other things. This tune is a different tune to the one listed on the session under the same name. Is Ceol Rince wrong?

The one here is wrong as I’d say it was Humours of Drinagh. I don’t know about Ceol Rince but the one I know is the g3 B2A|GBA GBd|efe edB| etc.

An audio version of Gillian’s Apples can be heard at http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/gillians_apples/. The Chieftains recorded a great version of this jig on their second album back in the 1960s.

The correct Gillian’s Apples is in fact here at https://thesession.org/tunes/1855. I only got it by posting a segment of the tune; it’s incorrectly titled as Gillan’s Apples which is why it didn’t come up on my original search.

From The Fiddler’s Companion - http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/FCfiles.html.

‘The tune was renamed by O’Neill in honor of his source, John Gillan, “to avoid confusion” as the title on the original manuscript was “Apples in Winter” and O’Neill already had a tune by that name (Irish Folk Music, pg. 93). O’Farrell prints a version as “The Apples in Winter.” The tune is often called “Gillian’s Apples,” a miss-hearing of the name Gillan. See also the related “Humors of Dingle [1].” Sources for notated versions: from the manuscript collection of retired businessman and Irish music enthusiast John Gillan, collected from musicians in his home county of Longford and the adjoining Leitrim [O’Neill]; …’

John Gillan is cited as a source also in ‘The Dance Music of Ireland’ - http://bit.ly/150xKT.

The version of Gillian’s Apples I learnt in the 50/60s was in key D and is a great uplifting four part jig. It was in the 70s that I first came across the version in Key G which was just two parts and was part of set of jigs Hinchy’s - Gillian’s Apples and The Humours of Drinagh.

It appears to me to be in G Lydian as it’s often played, with its raised fourth tone. I play it on a standard low D harmonica, no note-bending, which means it’s in12th (or first-flat) position in harmonica parlance. I long since worked out that “Gillian” was, in fact, one-eyed.

ITs interesting this should come up. We discussed it at a session I was at last Friday evening. Particularly interesting was whether it was a four part jig. Someone kept calling it Gilligans Apples.

Last tune in the first set of jigs here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ee_k8zyfU4A#at=78

play video

A friend plays this tune as the first in a set of 3 with Morrisons and Tobins. I wrote the name as “Skillens Apples” …. hmmm …

This is the 3rd jig in a set of three played by Owenmore ceili band in a collection by Various Artists.

Gillan’s Apples: https://thesession.org/tunes/1855

Ovaldo. If you are not sure about certain tunes, you can ask for identification in the discussion section. 😉

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B58qkZIrGVE

play video

I heard the tune played an octave lower than usual recently in a session.

As recommended above by geoffwright; https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9RlxoR7Kwgs&lc=UgyHMuvYmfxUerGyn6t4AaABAg.9OqZzIhogF19niVVx4dYqi&feature=em-comments

play video