The Girls Of Banbridge jig

The attribution for this tune is Francis O’Neill: “Dance Music of Ireland”, no. 83. I can’t confirm this since I don’t have that book.

Peter

Lesl H once told me the Welsh name - “Gwynt Y Glan” - translated as “The White Wave”, but I can’t confirm that.

I used to speak Welsh, but have lost it, sadly. But I would have said that “Gwynt-y-Glan” meant “The Shore Wind”. Let’s have some Welsh speakers sort it out for us …

Ben’s translation seems to make sense. ‘Glan’ can be translated as ‘shore’, ‘bank’ or ‘side’ (glan y mor - seashore or seaside, glan yr afon - riverside or riverbank), but ‘shore’ seems the most likely.

‘Y Don Wen’ would be ‘The White Wave’, if my Welsh serves me correctly. I’m not a fully-fledged speaker, but I attend regular classes.

This version is 3rd of a set of four jigs as played by Paul Kelly on “A Mandolin Album”. The set is called Des Carty’s Jigs
and I have transcribed them all and added them to thesession

X: 1
T: Girls Of Banbridge, The
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Gmaj
|:E|DGB d2e|dBG g2e|dBG DGB|cBc AGE|
DGB d2e|dBG gfg|dBG DGB|AGF G2:|
|:D|GBd g2g|agf efg|dBG DGB|cBc AGF|
GBd g2g|agf efg|dBG DGB|AGF G2

X:3 is from the fiddling of Johnnie Wilmot, his 1960s recording may be heard on the CD Another Side of Cape Breton. It was the 2nd tune in a medley with the blanket title “The Baddeck Gathering,” his 1st tune is here: https://thesession.org/tunes/10243

Wilmot played as much Irish music as Scottish and his setting is a nice variant on that from O’Neill’s. His 3rd part is especially so, an easy way to have a tune to practice shifting positions on the violin; it’s also a snap on the flute or pipes.

This is a plain version of Gwynt y Glan as played in west Wales. I learned it from flute player Jonathan Shorland who was then living in Aberystwyth. I seem to remember thet he in turn got it from fiddler Dave Hamilton. It first appears in print in Nicholas Bennett’s collection Alawon fy Ngwlad, 1896. Gwynt y Glan means the Shore Breeze, or the Windy Shore. It’s usually played in a set with Deildy Aberteifi in G, Hafotty Dafydd Owain, Gwynt y Glan, & sometimes followed by Stephen Rees’ tune, Mynydd yr Heliwr in Edor

Just dug out O’Neills 1001 Gems and indeed it is Double Jig No 83. Ware teg i di Ceri.

I was going to reply to this till I realised it was “The Girls of Banbridge”, not “The Girls of Bondage”, as I originally thought.

David

A few variations on the Cape Breton setting.

English variant.

Setting from Peter Kennedy’s 1951 “Fiddler’s Tune Book vol. 1”.

More info available at Tune Archive:
https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Plymouth_Lasses

Another variant:
https://thesession.org/tunes/18296

Confirmed it is in O’Neills collection 1001 under double jigs tune 83.

This version of the tune is played in Wexford with the local name ‘The Galbally jig’. Galbally is about halfway between Wexford and Enniscorthy on the western side of the Slaney river. The version given here is transcribed from the playing of the lovely old fiddler Michael Boyce, of Ambrosetown Duncormick.