The Kildare Fancy hornpipe

One of the first ITM piece of music I ever heard and tried to play

Patsy Touhey plays this screaming fast on a very early recording. Its an excellent hornpipe, and seems like it could be an ancestor of "The Harvest Home," if that is itself a newer tune.

I Came across this variation in Francis McPeake’s Tin Whistle Book:
d>B|A>FD>F A>Fd>B|(3ABA F>A f>ed>c|B>dG>B g>ef>d|(3efe(3dcBA2F>G|
A>FD>F A>Fd>B|A>dF>A f>ed>c|B>AB>d g>ef>d|e>c(3ABcd2:||
d>e|f>dc>d B>dA>d|F>Ad>e f>dc>d|e>A(3AAAg>ef>d|(3efe(3dcBA2d>e|
f>dc>d B>dA>d|F>Ad>e f>dc>d|e>Af>A g>ef>d|e>c(3ABcd2:|

Man, this is probably the first Irish tune I ever heard, as the intro to the Woodwright’s Shop TV show. I love listening to that song. I feel like I’ve found an old friend!

X: 1
T: Kildare Fancy, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe
K: Dmaj
|: d>B |\
A>FD>F A>Fd>B | (3ABA F>A f>ed>c | B>AB>f g>ef>d | e>dc>B A2 d>B |
A>FD>F A>Fd>B | (3ABA F>A f>ed>c | B>AB>f g>ef>d | e>c (3ABc d2 :|
|: d>e |\
f>dc>d B>dA>F | D>dc>d f>dc>d | e>A (3AAA f>A (3AAA | (3efe (3dcB A2 d>e |
f>dc>d B>dA>F | D>dc>d f>dc>d | e>Af>A g>Af>A | e>c (3ABc d2 :|

For the ‘Dundee Hornipe’ name, see note 1-14 at:
http://www.mtrecords.co.uk/articles/summers.htm
(there’s plenty more there on aspects of the old Suffolk Folkscene if you’re interested)

*1 - 14 The Kildare Fancy, hornpipe
Fred ‘Pip’ Whiting (fiddle): Worlingworth 1977

Fred’s version is the same as the one in O’Neill, and he may either have learnt it from a printed source (he was musically literate and collected books of tunes all his life) or from the Irish fiddlers he met during his years in Australia. The tune was also recorded on a 78 by Jimmy Shand as the Dundee Hornpipe, and has also been likened to Harvest Home/Cliff Hornpipe.

X: 3 is a rehash in an attempt for a clearer & cleaner take on the first submission, X: 1, for this hornpipe…

# Added by Innocent Bystander - October 29th, 2005

Their likely source, being note-for-note:

B: "Allan’s Irish Fiddler", Mozart Allan, Glasgow ~ page 24, tune #94
http://www.oldmusicproject.com/
http://www.oldmusicproject.com/allans.html

A collection also available in print ~ and ‘highly’ recommended…

X: 2
T: The Kildare Hornpipe
B: "Allan’s Irish Fiddler", Mozart Allan, Glasgow ~ page 24, tune #94
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe
K: Dmaj
|: d>B |\
A>FD>F A>Fd>B | (3ABA F>A f>ed>c | B>dG>B g>ef>d | (3efe (3dcB A2 F>G |
A>FD>F A>Fd>B | A>dF>A f>ed>c | B>AB>d g>ef>d | e>c (3ABc d2 :|
|: d>e |\
f>dc>d B>dA>d | F>Ad>e f>dc>d | e>A (3AAA g>ef>d | (3efe (3dcB A2 d>e |
f>dc>d B>dA>d | F>Ad>e f>dc>d | e>Af>A g>ef>d | e>c (3ABc d2 :|

B: "O’Neill’s Music of Ireland", 1903, page 288, #1559 (M: 2/4)
B: "1001 Gems: The Dance Music of Ireland", Captain Francis O’Neill, 1907, page 110, tune #809 (M: 2/4)

B: "The Northern Fiddler: Music and Musicians of Donegal and Tyrone", page 245
Allen Feldman & Eamonn O’Doherty,
Blackstaff Press, 1979
ISBN: 0-85640-155-2

S: Peter Turbit, fiddler, Ballygawley, County Tyrone
Concluding ~ || [F2d2] |]

Extracts ~ Pages 205 - 206

"Sitting and listening ot the rest of them, that’s how I got onto the music. I kept it up over the years there, listening to people playing and I could lift up tunes there and I could mind them in my head fairly well. With minor alterations I’d nearly have them all. I coul play the most of them the next day. ~

Most of the dancing ws in the winter-time. Along in the summer then there’d be flax pullings and dancers were givne then. They would gather up the neighbours to pull the flax. The would have a dance when it was all pulled and steeped in the dams. ~" ~ Peter Turbit

This transcription is from how we were playing it back in the 70s, which included the Potts family and others of note. It’s bare bones, but we didn’t tend to overdo anything, but see how close this is to the printed versions, very little difference. It’s just added for that comparison. I’m pretty sure this is from a session in North Dublin, and amongst others present was the box and flute player Paddy Bawn O’Brien, another fine gentleman, a great character, and a wondrous talent, as a dancer too…

Why do I always enjoy the Northern Fiddler versions so much? I know, because they’re fantastic! 🙂 A little problem in the notation of this one, though: measure 5 of the A part comes out oddly in the sheet music; probably would be better off written like this: A>FD>F [F3/A3]F/d>B

You almost had it right. 😉 I’d missed it, now corrected…