Sean Bui jig

There’ s a very nice recording of this tune by Liam O’ Flynn, Andy Irvine and Mick Hanly on the CD
“ Magic Irish Instrumentals “ .

Enjoy! Try upping the tempo to 140 for 5-string banjo. That will give the fingers a workout!

Doc

I recognise this from a set that the Bothy Band played.

They start with Rosie Finn’s Favourite, then play this (which they call Over The Water To Charlie) and finish with The Kid On The Mountain.

The Bothy’s version is in G, as posted by Doc, and fiddle starts out an octave lower then moves to the higher octave for the last go round. I’ve also heard this played in sessions in D–same fiddle fingering as the low octave in G but moved up a string.

Here’s the low octave G setting:

|G,B,D EB,D EFG DB,D|G,B,D EB,D E2 F G3|
|G,B,D EB,D EFG DB,D|1 BAG AGF E2 F G3:|
|2 BAG AGF E2 F G2 A||
|BAG AGF EFG DB,D|BAG AGF E2 AA2 A|
|BAG AGF EFG DB,D|1 G,B,D EB,D E2 F G2 A:|
|2 G,B,D EB,D E2 F G3|

On the 1975 album, it sounds to me like Peoples is “cranning” or rolling the open G, string instead of playing G,B,D.

Oops, sorry, that’s the Live In Concert album. They call it Sean Bui (Yellow john).

no, thanks for posting that! ive been trying to figure out the bothy version, and i was confused because i thought that it was ded and not dBd after the efg. and the notes in the endings are switched around from how i heard them.

Hi Everyone, I have been looking for the above tune but the version that the Bothy Band plays. I don’t think the one listed in the tune section is that version. Can anyone help? Thanks. Lowhistle

The comments for this version say it’s the Bothy Band version. https://thesession.org/tunes/882

“spindizzy’s” link is as near as dammit to the Bothy Band version.

If you have the rcording, why do you need the music?

Hello Everybody, I am trying to find the music for “Over the Water to Charlie’s”, and the version listed here is not the one I neeed. My request is the middle tune of The Bothy Band’s Rosie Finn’s Favourite-Over the water to Charlie-Kid on the Mountain. Thanks.

https://thesession.org/tunes/882
Glad to see others are trying to improve the so called
“Tune Request” category

Look up, under Tunes: The Kerry (it’s entered here as a slide).

It is recognisably the Bothy Band tune but has some differences (and I like the setting less). In the Comments below, someone has given the ABC’s for the Bothy Band version as played on their Live In Concert album - it’s played/notated an octave down, based on low G,

A transcription of the tune as played on the Bothies’ first album doesn’t seem to be in the Tunes base or comments.

Tonya’s got it for you.

I should have said, above, “played on the Bothies’ *second* album” (“Old Hag You Have Killed Me”).

As once played in the USA from early fiddlers:

X:1
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:jig
K:D
| D2F A2A | BdB AFE | D2F AFA | B2c d2d |
| D2F A2A | BdB AFA | fed cBA | B2c d2e |
| fed cBA | BdB AFA | fed cBA | B2c d2e |
| fed cBA | BdB AFE | D2F A2A | B2c d3 |

There’s another version here https://thesession.org/tunes/882

Here’s a version in G https://thesession.org/tunes/882

Let’s try that again: https://thesession.org/tunes/235

I heard this on an album once, I just don’t remember who playted it; I think it was Bothy Band.

https://thesession.org/tunes/882

If the Bothy Band recorded it, it’s almost certainly here already.

Jeez, don’t know how I missed that. There are some big differences but they’re clearly the same tune. I guess I’ll save both of them side by side in another file.

Pretty much Sean Bui in G isn’t it?

thanks for the link to this better version.

X: 2
T: Over the Water to Charlie
S: “The Oregon Country Dance Orchestra Tune Book”
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Gmaj
|: G |\
“G” GBd dBd | “Em” egB BAG | “G” GBd dBd | “C” e3 g2 G |
“G” GBd dBd | “Em” egB BAG | “G” gbg “D” afd | “C” e3 “G” g2 :|
|: d |\
“G” gbg “D” afd | “Em” egB BAG | “G” gbg “D” afd | “C” e3 g2 d |
“G” gbg “D” afd | “Em” egB BAG | “G” GBd dBd | “C” e3 “G” g2 :|

Transposed for comparison

K: DMaj
|: D |\
DFA AFA | BdF FED | DFA AFA | B3 d2 D |
DFA AFA | BdF FED | dfd ecA | B3 d2 :|
|: A |\
dfd ecA | BdF FED | dfd ecA | B3 d2 A |
dfd ecA | BdF FED | DFA AFA | B3 d2 :|

Appears in two setting as “Yellow John” in O’Neill’s 1850 (numbers 1832 & 1833).
Both settings added here (copied from John Chambers’ transcriptions).
A “Seán bui” (yellow John) can be a disparaging term for a “pompous Englishman” (John Bull type) or even, so I’m told, England.
Whether the title of this tune refers to this, I don’t know.

The song “Over the water to Charlie”, sung to a variant of this tune is well known. One of the best versions I’ve heard was sung by Tom McConville and Dab Hand. Tom playing fiddle and singing simultaneously.

It’s over the water, it’s over the sea
It’s over the water tae Charlie
Come weal, come woe, we’ll gather and go
To live or die wi’ Charlie

Piping version

Interesting to see the title “Sean Bui” for this well known tune. It can be found in a Scottish manuscript from the early 1700s (from the Inglis Collection - see http://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/pageturner.cfm?id=94569172) as “Ian Buis” - an obvious link. Elsewhere it’s in Gow’s 3rd Collection (1792) as “O’er the Water to Charlie” and “Wishaw’s Delight”.

There’s a nice 6-part version in James Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion (Book 11, I think) under the name “Shanbuie”.

As played by Nollaig Mac Cárthaigh on the NPU beginners piper tutor.

Piping version learned many many years ago from the french piper Marc Guilloux during workshops of the Paris’ piper’s club “Na Piobairi France” of that time.

Setting I heard from Tommy Reck’s field beautiful Album “The Stone in the Field”, under the name of “Sean Bui”. It seems to be a more common setting amongst pipers, or atleast very similar to this one.

IIRC he borrowed Pat Sky’s Rowsome flat set in that particular recording.

Whoops! I thought this was the correct place for the “official” Sean Bui! Oh well

Tommy Reck’s version from the field album ‘The Stone in the Field“, of which was played on Pat Sky’s own Rowsome Flat set which Pat lent to Tommy whilst recording.

For comparison.. This is “Over the Water to Charlie” from the “Winders of Wyresdale..”
X:1
T:147 Over The Water To Charlie
M:6/8
S:James Winder Ms, Lancashire, 1835-41
S:in Airds2
S: 4 part version from Jackson
R:Jig
A:Wyresdale,Lancashire
K:D
A2A A>BG | FGE D>FG | A>BA AFA | B3 d3 |
D2D DEF | GAF E2D | dcB AFA | B3 d3 :|
|:d2e fgf | efd ecA | d2e fgf | e3 A3 |
d2e f>gf | efd ecA | B/2c/2dB AFA | B3 d3 :|
|:AFD AFD | BGE BGE | AFD DFA | B3 d3 |
AFD dAF | GAF E2D | fed AFA | B3 d3 :|
|:dfd dfd | ecA acA | dfd dfd | e3 A3 |
dfd afd | c/2d/2ec ecA | B/2c/2dB AFA | B3 d3:|