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The Gooseberry Bush reel

There are 52 recordings of this tune.

This tune has been recorded together with Carmel Mahoney Mulhaire (a few times), Dinny O’Brien’s (a few times), The Dunmore Lasses (a few times), The Green Mountain (a few times) and I’m Waiting For You (a few times).

The Gooseberry Bush appears in 4 other tune collections.

The Gooseberry Bush has been added to 17 tune sets.

The Gooseberry Bush has been added to 242 tunebooks.

Download ABC

Four settings

1
X: 1
T: The Gooseberry Bush
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:ADFD EFGE | AGAB =c2 AG | AB=cA d^cAG | FGAF GBAF |
D2 FD EFGE | ABcA d2 de | fdec dfed | cAGE FD D2 :|
|:Ad d2 fded | =c2 cB cA G2 | ABAF GEED | FGAB =cAGB |
Ad d2 fded | =c2 cB cA G2 | ABcA d^cAG | ABcA d4 :|
|:Adcd fdcd | efge aged | cdef g2 ef | g2 ge dcAc |
d2 cd ABAG | FGAB =c2 AG | AB=cA d=cAG | ABcA d4 :|
# Added by Kenny .
2
X: 2
T: The Gooseberry Bush
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
DEFD EFGB | AGAB =c2 c/c/c | AB=cA d^cAG | FDEF GBAF |
DEFD EFGB | AB=cA d^cde | afef dfed |1 =cA (3GFE EDDA, :|2 =cA (3GFE EDDA ||
dcde fded | =cded cAGB | AB=cA GEED | (3EFG AB =c2 c/c/c |
Ad d/d/d fded | =cded c2 AG | AB (3=cBA dcAG | AB (3=cBA dddc |
dcde fded | =cded cAGB | AB=cA GEED | (3EFG AB =c2 c/c/c |
Ad d/d/d fded | =cded cAGB | AB=cA dcAG | AB (3=cBA dddc ||
Adcd fdcd | edge aged | =cdef (3gag ef | fg (3gag dcAB |
d2 AB GBAB | FGAB (3=cdc AG | AB=cA dcAG | AB (3=cBA dddd |
Ad (3cde fdcd | edge aged | cdef (3gag ef | (3gag ge dcAB |
d2 AB GBAB | FGAB (3=cdc AG | AB=cA dcAG | AB (3=cBA d4 |]
3
X: 3
T: The Gooseberry Bush
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:ADFD EFGB | AGAB =c2 AG | AB=cA dcAG | (3EFG AF GBAF |
DEFD EFGB | AB=cA dfeg | fddc dfed | cAGE EDD2 :|
|:Ad d2 fded | =c3 d cAGc | A2 FA G~E3 |FGAB =cAGc |
Ad d2 fded | =c3 d cAGc | AB=cA dcAG | AB=cA d4 :|
|:Addd fddd | efge aged | (3Bcd ef g2 ef | ~g3 e dcAd |
d2 Bd GdAG | (3EFG AB =c2 AG | AB=cA d=cAG | AB=cA d4 :|
4
X: 4
T: The Gooseberry Bush
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmix
DEFD EFGE|~A3B cAGB|ABBA dcAF|~G3F GBAF|
DEFD EFGE| ABBA d2de|f2e^c dfed|cAGE EDD2|
DEFD EFGE|~A3B BAAG|ABBA dcAF|~G3F ~G3z1|
DEFD EFGE| ABBA d2de|f2e^c dfed|cAGE D2z2||
||:Add2 fded|cBcd cAG2|~A3F G~E3|FGAB cAAG|
Add2 fded|cBcd cAG2|ABBA dcAG| ABBA d4:||
Add2 fd^cd|efge aged|^cdef g2ef|~g3e d^cAd|
BdAd G2AG|FGAB c2 AG|ABBA dcAG|ABBA d4|
Add2 fd^cd|efge aged|^cdef g2ef|~g3e d^cAd|
d2Bd AdG2|FGAB cAGB|ABBA dcAG|ABBA d4||

Twenty-three comments

Gooseberry Bush

A fine reel which I’m surprised doesn’t seem to be in the database.
I was reminded of it after posting "O’Mahoney’s". Both were recorded in the 60s on what I believe was the first ever LP wholly devoted to the tin whistle, on the Belfast "Outlet" label , and by Tom McHaile of Co. Roscommon, who was All-Ireland tin whistle champion in 1965 or 66. I was also reminded by a request for a tune called "The West Clare Railway" , as I once heard Dick Gaughan play it , giving it that title.

Posted by .

Clare/Cork ?

oops… request was for "The West Cork Railway" - don’t know of that one, sure it wasn’t Clare?

Posted by .

A great reel Kenny which is popular in Clare. Most tunes have something which gives them that special character (the F natural in "the Cook in the Kitchen", the C naturals in "Jenny Picking Cockles", etc) and with this one I’d say it’s the fourth bar from the end - don’t ask me why!

I love this reel. That 4th bar from the end has that lonesome sound. On the flute I like the 3rd and 4th bars in the beginning especially. This tune also sounds good slow (which is how I had to start with it of course). And it reminds me of Joe Burke for some reason, whenever I play it I think of his beard. (?) No idea why.

I’ve just gotten Jenny Picking Cockles this week, what a nice coincidence to see it mentioned.

Posted by .

Fourth bar from the end

The ABCs and thus the sheetmusic here are not as I’ve ever heard this bar played, but seem to be a very anodyne variation. The youtube links both show what Bannerman and LH meant above: either
d2Bd GBAG or d2=cd GBAG
(or variations thereof), but definitely with a G as the 5th note of the bar.

composer?

is this a Sean Ryan tune by any chance? It just ‘feels’ under the fingers related to the Trip to Nenagh but maybe just a coincidence

No. It’s in O’Neill’s 1850 according to http://irishtune.info. Also, Trip to Nenagh is probably incorrectly attributed to Sean Ryan. It’s most likely really composed by Finbarr Dwyer, who calls it The Meadow.

Is this the same tune that Mick Molony plays on his "strings attached" album?

Yeah, it’s the same tune. It’s interesting to compare Moloney’s setting with Dale Russ’s fiddle setting in one of the above comments.

Does anybody have other settings of the tune? Possibly something a bit closer in sound to Mick Moloy’s version? Working on learning the tune and am using that recording as a guide.

The Gooseberry Bush

The new setting (X:2) is from Mick Moloney’s ‘Strings Attached’ record (1980), as asked for by TheBlindBard.

Thanks, man 🙂 I appreciate it.

Is the ornamentation put into the ABC? I don’t really care one way or the other, just was curious so I can work on them/know where they are or where to put them.

Is it a C natural or a C-sharp in the second setting? Listening to the recording, It sounds natural, but I’m slowing it down with vlc media player.

well, I’m pretty sure in the recording, it’s some kind of a double-stop, either that or hitting the note hard so it rings.

Trip to Nenagh / Meadow

"Also, Trip to Nenagh is probably incorrectly attributed to Sean Ryan. It’s most likely really composed by Finbarr Dwyer, who calls it The Meadow."
That’s interesting, GaryAMartin, and what I’ve always thought. What’s the evidence for Sean Ryan having written it, do you know?

It appears as "Trip to Nenagh" in "The Hidden Ireland", a book of Sean Ryan compositions compiled by Sean’s son Brian after Sean’s death. On the flip side, I’m told (though I don’t have access to either source) that it appears as "The Meadow" in Bulmer & Sharpley and that someone in New York has a tape her father made in the 60s or 70s of Richard Dwyer playing it and saying it was his brother’s tune. Stylistically it sounds much closer to other Finbarr Dwyer tunes than it does to Sean Ryan tunes, and it is very well suited to the B/C accordion.

The Gooseberry Bush

I got this from a session recording from Kevin Crawford and Tony Linnane in Gort.

The Gooseberry Bush, X:4

This is a version I’ve learnt from a video of the great Matt Molloy. I’ve tried to transcript as closer as possible what he plays and, althought this is nearly impossible, you can have a better idea if you can try to learn his version.

This is the video I am talking about:
https://www.facebook.com/gradamceoil/videos/2161334490591623/