McGovern’s Favourite reel

Over the years here, we’ve debated the wisdom of posting plain settings of tunes versus settings that show typical ornamentation. So this post is partly in response—trying to satisfy both sides. It’s also my personal reaction to learning tunes on both fiddle (which I’ve played for way too long to still be this shoddy) and flute (which always sounds good to me despite —or is that because of—how new I am to the instrument). The plain version is easier to make sense of on fiddle. The ornamented version is based on the flute playing of Michael Clarkson.

So Jeremy, did you disengage the midi function that used to always stumble through the roll? It’s much better this way—while the reader can see the tilde and play a roll, the midi stays on beat. I hope this is a permanent change to the site?

What a great help for learning a tune! In a perfect world we could be catching them all by ear from a traditional source, but this does a lot to bridge the gap resulting from trying to learn off "the dots." Nicely done, and much appreciated!

This title was attached to the tune by Paddy Killoran, who recorded it in New York a long time ago. It was played as a hornpipe called "Fitzpatrick’s" in Sliabh Luachra and recorded in that style by Paddy Cronin.

From Josephine Keegan’s Collection, A Drop In The Ocean. She calls the tune "The Cottage In The Grove".

X:1
T:The Cottage In The Grove
M:4/4
R:Reel
K:ADor
|:A2BG AGEF|GABd (3efg dg|eaaf gedB|(3ABc BG AGEG|
A2BG AGEF|GABd (3efg dg|eaaf gedB|(3ABc BG A4:||
|:a2ba gefa|gedB AGEG|g2af gedB|(3ABc BG A2Ag|
a2ba gefa|gedB AGEF|GABd (3efg dg|eaaf gedB:||

Here’s my flute version of the tune inspired by the playing of East Galway musician Sean Moloney.

K: Ador
B|~A3G GEDE|G2Bd edBd|eaaf gedB|AcBG AGEG|
~A3G GEDE|G2Bd edBd|egfa gedB|AcBG A3:|
z|a2ab agef|gedB G2Bd|eaaf gedB|AcBG AGE2|
~a3b agef|gedB G2Bd|egfa gedB|AcBG A3z|
a2ab agef|gedB G2Bd|eaaf gedB|AcBG AGEG|
~A3G GEDE|G2Bd edBd|egfa gedB|AcBG A3||

Well, on the recording Sean Moloney misses out or repeats some bits of the tune too much, so this is a reconstructed version which fits on the flute. Sean is one of the most beautiful flute players I’ve ever come across in person, but he plays this tune on the fiddle. I’m not familiar with the East Galway fiddle style, but his haunting fiddle playing has some echoes of great Clare fiddlers such as Bobby Casey.

As for the tune itself, he cites Lucy Farr as the source of the tune. On a different page of the notes, he writes Lucy Farr and his grandfather Stephen Moloney were neighbours in Ballinakill, a place which has produced many well-known musicians such as Joe Burke, Mike Rafferty, etc. I just passed through the area a few times, but will hopefully explore the scene there someday.

A variant of this tune can be found on Mike and Mary Rafferty’s album ‘Old Fireside Music’ (1998). Frank Claudy told me he learned it from Billy McComisky, who learned it from Sean McGlynn, who got it from Kevin Keegan, who got it from Mike Flynn, originally from Co. Sligo, later of New York. Mike Rafferty learned it straight from Flynn. I undestand that Mike Flynn participated in the Paddy Killoran recording of "McGovern’s Favourite", so he would have given it that name.

I was first aware of the tune as "Cottage In the Grove" from an Arty McGlynn and Nollaig Casey recording. It’s also in O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland as "Maurice Casey’s Fancy", and in Ceol Rince na h’Eireann other names mentioned include "The Village in the Grove" and "The Conberry Reel".

X:175
T:Mike Flynn’s
D:Mike & Mary Rafferty, The Old Fireside Music (1998)
N:Transposed from C dorian
Z:Nigel Gatherer
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:A dorian
A>AAB GEDE|G2 Bd edBd|ea a2 gedB|A z BG AGED|A>AAB GEDE|G2 Bd edBd|
ea a2 gedB|AcBG A2 z2::a>aab agef|gedB G2 (3Bcd|egfa gedB|
A z BG AGed|a>aab agef|gedB G2 (3Bcd|ea a2 gedB|AcBG A2 z2:|]

The Mike Rafferty recording is in C dorian, but it has been suggested that he was playing it on an F flute; on a D flute it would come out in A dorian.

So, Mike Rafferty didn’t learn it from his neighbours in Ballinakill, East Galway. My transcription above can be traced back to Lucy Farr, who was also from Ballinakill.

Hello Hiro - how are you?

It’s perfectly possible that Mike Rafferty knew the tune from his home town, but on his CD, he says "I Learned [this reel] from Mike Flynn, a great flute player from Co. Sligo now living in New York."

I transcribed "Mike Flynn’s" in 2000. Shortly afterward an acquaintance from Cyberspace mentioned it to Mike Rafferty, who played it. My friend said "…he seemed really happy to be reminded of the tune and was all smiles when he finished playing it." He also wanted to know what instrument I was playing it on (it was mandolin).

Fine thanks, Nigel. But I’ve learned too many Irish tunes.

I tend to confuse this tune with "The Knotted Cord": https://thesession.org/tunes/921

Trouble In The Kitchen did a great version of this on their 2nd album ‘When The World Was Wide’. You should learn that one, Slainte.

We got the version we play from Randal Bays. He plays the 8th bar of the B-part up an octave. I asked him how he came across this version and he said that himself and Joel decided to do it because the B-part seemed too repetative and it added a little variation and punch.

X: 1
T: McGovern’s Favourite
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Ador
|:A3B GEDE|GA(3Bcd edBd|eaaf gedB|AcBG AGEG|
EAAB GEDE|GA(3Bcd ed(3Bcd|eaaf gedB|AcBG A3:|
|:a2ab agef|gedB GABd|egfa gedB|AcBG AG E2|
a3b agef|gedB GABd|eaaf gedB|gbaf gedB :|

Kevin Burke and Ged Foley just call it McGovern’s and they play it in E- dorian. Interesting, but not suitable für whistlers and flute players.

At the "local" session in New Haven CT it is played AAB.
Like so …

X: 1
T: McGovern’s Favourite
C: Trad
M: C|
K: Ador
A3B GEDE|G2Bd edBd|ea~a2 gedB|AcBG AGEG|
A2AB GEDE|G2Bd edBd|ea~a2 gedB|1 AcBG A4:|2 (3ABc BG A4||
a3b agef|gedB G2Bd|(3efg fa gedB|AcBG AGEG|
a3b agef|gedB G2Bd|(3efg fa gede|gbaf gedB||

It seems a little abrupt to me, but I’m not the leader so …

I recently found similarities between this reel and "Tuamgraney Castle": https://thesession.org/tunes/1927

Just learned this tune as June Mac Cormack plays it: the second part is not repeatet and has a different ending. Both versions are great!

Note: There is a tie that thinks it is tying to the wrong octave of the A in the first time repeat bar in part A. This should tie the notes as written, but the tie appears to be flying skywards. After scouring abcnotation.com I could find no solution. Please let me know if there is a solution!

The "No.2" is completely arbitary, relevant only to thesession.org, as there are other reels bearing Paddy Killoran’s name posted here already. To the best of my knowledge and having looked at all the others that I could find, this is a different tune altogether rather than a setting of another. It is completely different; all the others here are in major keys and have wildly different themes to this.

Kevin Burke plays it in a set of Paddy Killoran’s reels, Mandy Murray also plays it on anglo concertina along with The Congress reel, and I’m sure many other people do too. I hope you enjoy this one!

This is a version of McGovern’s Favourite: https://thesession.org/tunes/2430

I still think it’s a different tune. Yes there are similarities, but that’s fairly common in trad tunes. If you really think it’s the same tune we ought to get a few more opinions to see if it needs moving to be a setting of McGovern’s Favourite, and if so moving it is beyond my computing skills.

Firstly, mulimentalist, there is nothing wrong with your ABC notation, the result you see with the "tie" is the way it is produced by some software when a low beam is followed by a high beam.

As to whether it’s a different tune, I am inclined to agree with slainte that it’s a version of McGovern’s.

Cheers for the info on the software…

Is there a way transfer the tune to be a setting of the McGovern’s Favourite? I’m not really that good at working the software. Thanks

I don’t think you can transfer. Your definitely need to add the new setting to McGovern’s. Any visitor to this page will see what has happened, so no harm done if this page remains. Alternatively you can try emailing Jeremy under "contact" and see if he will delete it.

I had a little play around with this tune today: https://youtu.be/COClJDUvg5E

play video

This version should be close to the first playing of the third tune of that set by Nasc (Pádraig Rynne - Concertina ; Tara Breen - Fiddle ; Jim Murray - Guitar) recorded live in Ennis as part of the Consairtín festival in April 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrLgWua99A8

play video

According to the set’s note, these are three reels which Nasc have been playing together for some time. Nollaig Casey composed the first one and named it after a well known beach "Silver strand" in Salthill, Co. Galway.
"Caha Mountains" was composed by Nollaig’s uncle, John Dwyer and is sometimes referred to as Finbar Dwyer’s.
The final reel "Mc Govern’s" is a very old tune which Nasc learned from Matt Molloy.

These three reels is #1 taken from their 2021 release Nasc: https://padraigrynne.bandcamp.com/alb…​
http://www.padraigrynne.com​
I am expecting that CD soon 🙂