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The Castle jig

Also known as The Lonely, Martin’s, Sean Ryan’s.

There are 50 recordings of a tune by this name.

A tune by this name has been recorded together with Jackie Coleman’s (a few times), The Auld Pipe (a few times), The Boys Of Ballinahinch (a few times), The Hut In The Bog (a few times) and Junior Crehan’s (a few times).

The Castle has been added to 36 tune sets.

The Castle has been added to 521 tunebooks.

Download ABC

Eleven settings

X: 1
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
|:~c3 BAG|AGE DB,G,|~A,3 EDB,|DEG AGE|
cBA BAG|AGE DB,G,|A,2 E EDE|DB,G, A,2 B:|
|:cBA ~a3|bag edB|GBd ~g3|GBd cBA|
cBc dcd|ede gab|age dBG|EFG A2 B:|
# Added .
X: 2
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
|:cBA afa|bag edB|GBd gfg|GBd cBA|1
cBA afa|bag edB|GBd gdc|BAG A2B:|2
cBc dcd|ede gab|age dBG|EFG A2 B||
X: 3
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Cmaj
fed edc|dcA GEC| DED AcA|GAc dcA|
fed edc|dcA GEC|DED AcA|1 GEC D3:|2 GEC D2 F||
FED ~d3|edc AGE|CEG cBc|CEG FED|
~F3 ~G3|AGA cde|dcA GEC|1 A,B,C D3:|
X: 4
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
|:cBA BAG|AGE DBG|~A3 EDB|DEG AGE|
c2A B/2c/2dB|AGE DBG|~A2 E EDE|DBG A2 B:|
|:cBA ~a3|bag edB|GBd ~g3|GBd cBA|
cBc dcd|ede gab|age dBG|EFG A2 B:|
X: 5
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
c2 A BAG | AGE DBG | A^GA E^DE | DEG AGE |
c2 A B/c/dB | AGE DBE | A^GA E^DE | DBG A2 :|
cBA a^ga | bag edB | GBd gfg | GB/c/d cBA |
c2 c d^cd | e^de gab | age dBG | E>FG A2 :|
X: 6
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
| AGE DBG | A^GA E^DE | - to - | AGE DB,G, | ~A,3 EDB, |
c2 c d^cd | e^de gab | - to - | cdc d^cd | ede gab |
X: 7
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
c3 BAG|AGE DB,G,|~A,3 EDB,|DEG AGE| versus
a3 bag| eaf ged | c2A BAG |EFG ABd||
'Long' bag|XXX XXX|'Long' XXX|-EG AXX||
X: 8
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Amin
B|:cBA BAG|AGE DB,G,|A,2,A, EDB,|DEG AGE|
cBA BAG|AGE DB,G,|~A,3 EGE|DB,G, A,2B:|
|:cBA a2a|bag edB|GBd g2g|GBd cBA|
cBc dcd|ede gab|age dBG|1E^FG A2B:|2E^FG A2|
X: 9
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
|:B|cBA BAG|AGE DB,G,|~A,3 EDB,|DEG AGE|
c2A B/c/dB|AGE DB,G,|~A,3 E^CE|DB,G, A,2:|
|:B|cBA ~a3|bag edB|GBd ~g3|G,B,D GBG|
cBc d^cd|ede gab|age dBG|E^FG A2:|
X: 10
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Amin
B|:cBA BAG|AGE DB,G,|A,2,A, EDB,|DEG AGE|
cBA BAG|AGE DB,G,|~A,3 EGE|DB,G, A,2B:|
|:cBA a2a|bag edB|GBd g2g|GBd cBA|
cBc dcd|ede gab|age dBG|1E^FG A2B:|2E^FG A2|
X: 11
T: The Castle
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
cBA BAG|AGE DB,G,|~A,3 EDB,|DEG AGE|
cBA BAG|AGE DB,G,|~A,3 EGE|DB,G, A,2B:|
cBA a^ga|bag edB|GBd gfg|age dBG|
Ace a^ga|bag edB|GBd ~g3|edB A2B|
cBA a^ga|bag edB|GBd ~g3|GBd cBA|
cBc d^cd|ede gab|age dBG|EFG A2B||

Thirty-four comments

Sean Ryan’s

This is one of two jigs I know by this name, apparently the more popular of the two. It lends itself to variations—listen to Martin Hayes on his self titled cd (and in the session unfreindly key of D dorian), Kevin Burke on Promenade, or Laura Risk on Greenfire.

We do this in a set after Rambling Pitchfork and Hole in the Hedge.

Will

Posted .

I love the jig and the way that it uses such a large range of notes!

I’ve seen this as The Castle, by Sean Ryan.

Posted by .

A friend who used to play with Joe Cooley said Joe would play the 12th bar as an arpeggio starting on the very lowest note of his box, an octave below the lowest note on the fiddle. I’ve a tape of Joe with this tune, it’s quite the thundering sound there.

Posted by .

John Carr, who leads the session up in Ft. Collins that we attend regularly, plays the B repeating the first part the first time through the B and then using the second part of the part as a second ending:

|:cBA afa|bag edB|GBd gfg|GBd cBA|1
cBA afa|bag edB|GBd gdc|BAG A2B:|2
cBc dcd|ede gab|age dBG|EFG A2 B||

This tune was composed by Sean Ryan and he called it ‘The Castle’.

Posted by .

Yep, just like the 3rd post from the top sez….

Posted .

Will, did you know that this tune is actually called "The Castle"? It’s a composition by Sean Ryan.

:-)

Cape Breton fiddlers call this tune "Gallagher’s Jig." Don’t ask me why.

Nice echo in here….
:-/
:o)

Posted .

By the way, there is another jig associated with Sean Ryan, which has yet to be posted. It’s on the Tap Room Trio album, and I think I once heard it played by Providence on the radio.

I like to call it, "Sean Ryan’s Castle." :-)

The other Sean Ryan Jig is called "The Nightingale".
https://thesession.org/tunes/1868
Go over there and we can repeat all these comments again.
Did I mention he also wrote the Castle :)

Nope. There’s another "Sean Ryan’s Jig."

This reminds me a lot of a tune I’ve heard called
"The Large Fortified Building or Group of Buildings with Thick Walls." Don’t know who composed it though.

Posted by .

Martin Hayes’ setting

This is the version Martin Hayes plays on "The Lonesome Touch". It is close to the original tune posted but he plays it in C Major so it goes "Paddy Fahy’s Jig #1".

X: 1
T:Sean Ryan’s Jig
R:Jig
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:C
fed edc|dcA GEC| DED AcA|GAc dcA|
fed edc|dcA GEC|DED AcA|1 GEC D3:|2 GEC D2 F||
FED ~d3|edc AGE|CEG cBc|CEG FED|
~F3 ~G3|AGA cde|dcA GEC|1 A,B,C D3:|

Oops

Sorry, its not on "The Lonesome Touch". It’s on his "Martin Hayes" CD.

Have y’all tried this in E dor? It’s great fun and makes the whistle player in your band happy (but drives your fiddlers crazy).

Paddy Canny’s take

I just found this doing a search for "Paddy Canny". It’s either played along with pipes or with heavy artifact from click removal. The turns in the B part are done more as sliding up to the note with slow attack. Paddy made those sound almost like a dixieland trumpet with a derby over the bell.

X: 1
T: Sean Ryan’s
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Ador
|:cBA BAG|AGE DBG|~A3 EDB|DEG AGE|
c2A B/2c/2dB|AGE DBG|~A2 E EDE|DBG A2 B:|
|:cBA ~a3|bag edB|GBd ~g3|GBd cBA|
cBc dcd|ede gab|age dBG|EFG A2 B:|

“The Castle Jig” ~ by Seán Ryan

"The Hidden Ireland:
The First Selection of Irish Traditional Compositions of Seán Ryan"
Compiled by Brian Ryan

Page 8: "The Castle Jig"

“The Castle Jig” C: Seán Ryan

X: 5
T: The Castle Jig
C: Seán Ryan
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Ador
|: B |\
c2 A BAG | AGE DBG | A^GA E^DE | DEG AGE |
c2 A B/c/dB | AGE DBE | A^GA E^DE | DBG A2 :|
|: B |\
cBA a^ga | bag edB | GBd gfg | GB/c/d cBA |
c2 c d^cd | e^de gab | age dBG | E>FG A2 :|

thanks, Ceolachan, for that. It explains things I didn’t even know needed explaining. The Paddy Canny track I found was a medley called Paddy Canny’s Castles, altho I had previously only known it as "Sean Ryan’s", entirely without the sixteenth-notes, which add so much. Those accidentals change the flavor, too. I’ll need to play them a while for the feel of it.

Oh, I missed something in the fourth measure, played as

|DE/F/G AGE|

For the sake of Seán Ryan’s “The Castle Jig”

Just so you know, X: 5, that transcription, isn’t from the book. It’s an alternate take from me offering another choice for those that can’t dip below D… But I picked up that option of playing those accidentals, for example ~ | A^GA E^DE | ~, from playing this tune with others… Here are the same bars from the book, so as to make the distinction, as I’ve given it above first…

A-part
| AGE DBG | A^GA E^DE | - to - | AGE DB,G, | ~A,3 EDB, |

B-part
c2 c d^cd | e^de gab | - to - | cdc d^cd | ede gab |

Incidental accidentals, especially when they don’t lie on the first note of a beat, so the 2nd or 3rd with a jig, don’t pose any real conflct in playing this tune with others. With the bar | A^GA E^DE | the accidental is the second note, just a slight dip below the primary tone of these two beats, or A & E…

I forgot to say, nice transcription justjim, I like it…

I used to confuse this with the Cliffs of Mohair: reading the score now, I can see why, it has to do with their 1st parts:
c3 BAG|AGE DB,G,|~A,3 EDB,|DEG AGE| versus
a3 bag| eaf ged | c2A BAG |EFG ABd||
<=>
‘Long’ bag|XXX XXX|’Long’ XXX|-EG AXX||
They’re both descending with the long notes placed in the same spots and only 2 identical short runs.

Sean Ryan’s

As played by Martin Hayes

Joe Cooley’s version

The Joe Cooley Tape 5 has his lovely setting of the Castle/Sean Ryan’s jig in Em (E dorian?) and it’s called ‘Cooley’s Jig’ on Tony MacMahon’s In Knocknagree album. Here’s a basic transcription:

T: Joe Cooley’s version of The Castle
K: Em
L:1/8
M:6/8
|: f|~g2 e fdd|edB AFB|EFE BAF|ABd edB|
g2 e (4fgaf|edB AFB|EFE B2B|AFD E2 z:|
|: F|GFE ~e3|fed BAF|DFA dcd|DFA DFA|
~G3 ABA|~B3 def|edB AFD|B,CD E2 z :|

Joe Cooley’s version of The Castle

Joe actually played all of that an octave lower, as in Emin he could use the lowest pitched button on his box.

The Castle

X:9 from Seán Ryan’s Hidden Ireland but they left out the beautiful low C# he played in bar 7. Also I can’t believe no one seems to play the beautiful G,B,D arpeggio in bar 12, that’s the best part of the tune.

Re: The Castle

As for the Nightingale https://thesession.org/tunes/1868, and as said Zina a long time ago, there is another way to play the second part. Four men and a dog, and De Danann (Selected Jigs and Reels) for the Castle, Kevin Crawford with Martin Hayes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9RqkbmHUtQ for the Nightingale (but not for the castle !), are playing like that. This way allow to keep the interest more longer until the end of the tune, in a kind of conclusion.

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