The Boys On The Hilltop reel

This is an ace tune I’m learning at the moment. I’ve transcribed it directly from the playing of SirNose. Below is a more standard session setting:

~A3B B2AG|EGGF G2AG|EA~A2 BABd|egdB BAdB|
~A3B B2AG|EGGF G2AB|c2cA ~B3c|dBGA BAAG||
A2 (3Bcd egdB|GB~B2 defg|aged egdB|GBdB BAA2|
aged egdB|GB~B2 defg|affe fdef|g2af gedB||

This tune caught my attention because of some interesting variations SirNose did at a recent session which I’m trying to put chords to. These involve throwing in F naturals and G sharps into an A dorian tune, so you’re switching between 3 modes (A aeolian, A dorian and A melodic minor) in one short tune, so it totally confuses the ear in a really cool way:

Weird version 1:
~A3B B2AG|=FG~G2 FGBG|A2AB B2AB|egdB BAAG|
DAAB B2AG|=FG~G2 FGBG|cEGc dB~B2|dBAG EAAG||
A2 (3Bcd egdB|^GB~B2 def=g|a2gd egdB|^GBdB BAA2|
a2=gd egdB|^GB~B2 defg|a2gd egdB|fggf gedB||

Weird version 2:
A=FAB B2AG|DG~G2 DGBG|A2AB B2AB|egdB BAAG|
=FAAB B2AG|DG~G2 DGBG|cEGc dB~B2|dBAG EAAG||
A2 (3Bcd egdB|^GB~B2 def=g|a2gd egdB|^GBdB BAA2|
a2=gd egdB|^GB~B2 defg|a2gd egdB|fggf gedB||

And my personal favourite weird version 3 with a mix of everything:
eAAB B2AG|=FG~G2 FGBG|DAAB B2AB|egdB BAAG|
=FAAB B2AG|DG~G2 DGBG|cEGc dB~B2|dBAG EAAG||
A2 (3Bcd egdB|^GB~B2 def=g|a2gd egdB|^GBdB BAA2|
a2=gd egdB|^GB~B2 defg|a2gd egdB|fggf gedB||

SirNose I hope you don’t mind me transcribing these 😏

After coming back to it the next morning I’ve come up with my own version with a bit of a rhythm change. (I’m having some great fun with this in my own self-indulgent thesession corner!)

K:Ador
eAAB (3BcB AG|=FG{A}GF G{A}GFG|DAAB {c}BABd|egdB {c}BA{B}AG|
=FAAB (3BcB AG|DG{A}GD G{A}GBG|cEGc dB~B2|dBAG EA{B}AG||
A2 (3B^cd egdB|^GB~B2 def=g|(3aba gd egdB|^GBdB BAAz|
{^g}a2=gd egdB|^GB~B2 defg|(3aba gd egdB|fg{a}gf gedB||

BTW if you want to try any of these, note that the last G in bar 6 of the B part I have consistently transcribed as a G# but it should be a G nat, and I should have included the key for all the settings, which is Ador.

Sorry for getting carried away, but what about this for an A part that sounds nothing like the original…

K:Ador
eA~A2 eA{B}AG|=FG{A}GF G{A}GFG|DA{B}AG (3ABA Bd|egdB {c}BA{B}AG|
=FA~A2 cA{B}AG|DG{A}GD G{A}GBG|cEGc dB~B2|dBAG =FA{B}AG||

Or what about this for an even more wacky concertina setting:
K:Ador
eA (3ABA aA{B}AG|=FG{A}GF (3GAG EG|DA{B}AG (3ABA Bd|eaed (3cBA BG|
=FA (3AG^A cA (3AGA|D=G{A}G^F (3GAG BG|cEGc dB~B2|eBAG =FA{B}AG||
I think it’s turned into a different tune - I’d better leave it there 🙂

And what about this for the B part:
A2 (3B^cd eaed|=cA^GB def=g|(3aba gd eaed|^cAGE D2D2|
{^g}a2=gd eaed|=cA^GB def=g|(3aba ^ga ~b3g|(3aba ^ge (3=gag ^fd||
Right this is getting ridiculous. I promise to stop (-:

Dow, dow , dow.
are you a genius or just INSANE!!!!
Love you’re work, but my ABC ckills are a bit not good so i’ll have to work through the more bizare versions later

I learnt this one from murty ryan, box-player extraordinaire, in Ennis last year.

(dow, i think we are a VERy bad influence on each other ;o)

Good god, Mark. I still haven’t finished working my way through your extras of Jenny’s Welcome (okay, it’s mainly because of *time*)…this’ll take me another year. ;)

*Sigh* Every time I read through this I find more mistakes in my ABC. The beginning of the 2nd line of the 1st part should read =FA (3A^GA instead of =FA (3AG^A.

SirNose, any single notes in { } brackets is a cut or tap on the flute. Triplets I explained on Sunday, and the only other one is accidentals outside the key signature. = makes a note natural if it’s sharp in the key sig, ^ is sharp, and _ is flat. Any accidentals have a lasting effect throughout the whole bar they appear in, but get neutralised back to the original key sig after the next barline (as with sheetmusic). ~ strictly speaking is a short or long roll, but I use it as an easy-to-read general ornament which could be either a roll or triplet type thing. z is a rest (its value works just like a normal note).

….Hey what about this one for a final version (-:

K:Ador
eAA{B}A ^GA{B}A=G|=FG{A}GF G{A}GEG|DA{B}AG AzBd|eaed (3cBA BG|
=FAA{^G}A cAA{^G}A|D=G{A}G^F G{A}GBG|cEGc dB~B2|eBAG =FA{B}AG||
A2 (3B^cd eaed|=cA^GB def=g|a{b}agd eaed|^cAGE ~D4|
{^g}a2=gd eaed|=cA^GB def=g|a{b}a^ga bzbg|a{b}a^ge =g{a}g^fd|

You could maybe cran for ages on that low D Kevin Crawford style.

It deserves a new name I think - what about “The Insane Boys On The Hilltop”!

Now you’re pluralizing yourself & referring to yourself in the third person… yep, that title works for me. 🙂

’,🙂 Hmmm!

Hey by the way, in case you’re wondering, I read somewhere on the net that (-: is officially a “smile from the southern hemisphere”. For some reason I find that quite amusing. I’m just wondering about my “ironic look” and “doubtful expression” - whether those’ll work… okay: (-:‘, {-:,’ /-:‘, \-:,’ hmm I’m not sure that they work as well.

I just need a “Dow is insane in the southern hemisphere” expression now to complete my repertoire. What about #-8{

Well, the hat’s on upside down, that bit’s right at least.

~ ~
@@
v
O

I know I’m violating the one line emoticon rule, but I just had to use the ‘at’ sign. Plus, it’s pretty lifelike.

Oh well I deserved for that not to turn out. It looked better in the box.

Lifelike… so I look vaguely like a surprised dog wearing spectacles?

hehehe…a mutt, at that…

Sorry Jeremy, I didn’t realise this was already here: https://thesession.org/tunes/1197

X:1
T:Boys On The Hilltop, The
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:reel
K:Gdor
D |G3 B A2 GF|DF FE F2 GG/F/|DG G2 AFAc |dfcA AGGF |
G3 B A2 GF|DF FE F2 GA|BGGG A3 B| cAFG AGGF ||
G2 (3ABc (3def cA | FA A2 cdef | {f}g2 dc dfcA| FAcA AG G2|
{f}g2 dc dfcA | FA A2 cdef| gefd ecde |fa ge fdcA ||

Here’s a clip of this tune played by ony Linnane & Jim O’Connor. It’s the second tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roFxoK0Vbqs

play video

There’s a very nice version of this song on Welcome Here Kind Stranger, where it is played by Tommy Peoples in Bb dorian.

I like Patsy Hanley’s version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjLcfnY8-gY

play video

Oh, that is a good one indeed. Very nice playing.

For more of P. Haley’s flute playing, visit this page: http://www.lafferty.ca/music/irish/flute-geezers/

Sorry, I mean Patsy Hanley. He actually appeared on RTE radio 1 a couple of years ago: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/therollingwave/1251860.html (July 1)

http://comhaltasarchive.ie/search?tab=tracks&q=carney+michael Piping version from Mayo musician Michael Carney, recorded on wax cylinder back in the day. This is subtly different than the usual setting, the 2nd part starts something like this:

A2eA eABA G2BA Bdeg a2eA eABd bag2 baag a2eA

Lots of little variations go by, too. Carney was a great piper and these cylinders are even better than his 78s, fine as those were.

X:9 is Patsy Hanley’s version from the YT clip mentioned above.

X:10 from the recording of Mike Carney mentioned above. He played an awful lot of variations, some quite subtle shifts in timing/emphasis, listen to the original recording to get an idea of what he played.

however is rather straightforward, with only a few minor variations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op5Q7WjCrQ0

play video

Other versions of this tune on TheSession: https://thesession.org/tunes/1197

The version I posted is from Patsy Hanley.

This setting from the great Paddy Killoran from Ballymote, Co. Sligo. Killoran was my favorite of the Sligo fiddle masters, though he is occasionally forgotten among his counterpart Michael Coleman and mentor James Morrison. The tune is lovely and Killoran does a wonderful job of dressing it up tastefully with subtle cleverness.
Paddy plays the Mullingar Races ( https://thesession.org/tunes/225 ) before this.