Master Crowley’s reel

This is one of a few tunes I know by this name. I pulled this off a nameless tape of a bouzouki player, and this was the simplest version he did of the tune.

The B Part throws that squirrely downhill run in the first tow measures (and then repeats it right away)—it’s important to keep your fingers relaxed. I bow this section with more slurring than usual—seems to add to the falling downhill effect.

Will

Well,Will, this is the only version (albeit a bit different) of the tune I play although I know there’s others out there of the same name and this is one of my favourites.Why?-the discussion about tunes you hate made me think about tunes I like and the ones I like often have really juicy sections on the bottom strings of the fiddle and this is one them-not complex but it hits the spot,as they say! That,and the contrast between the two parts,it’s a cracker.When I get the hang of the abc, I hope to post a few of my favourites.
Dave

I agree, Dave, there’s something about that sweet growly low stuff that really grabs me. So enjoy the Red Crow, and Nine Mile Stone (listed here as Frankie Kennedy’s I think), Farewell to Erin, and even just the first bar of Mullingar Races. Now if I could just find a fiddle that growled with the right warmth and resonance!

Check out the abc tutorial on the main abc site in the links section—it’ll have you posting tunes in no time.

Will

Oh, I like this one! This goes in the tune book for sure!

Hey, would that be Aleister Crowley? 😉

No,Jeff,somehow I don’t think it would! 🙂 but then again….
Dave

Hmmm… "Jig how thou wilt shall be the whole of the trad?" 😛

Oh JEFF…. hehehehe

There are three reels I know of by this name, and they’re all great tunes. I can only assume Master Crowley was either a gifted composer, or had goos taste in tunes. This one’s got an air of hysteria about it. I look forward to adding it to my repertoire.

Well, yes, a wailing kind of chaos in that B part. I guess that’s why it struck me as appropriate for posting this week….
Will

At a recent session the lead fiddler sharpened the high A in the 1st and 3rd bars of the second part to Asharp, giving an exciting urgency to these measures. Must be one of the rare occasions when you come across an Asharp in Irish fiddle music. Guaranteed to excite the whistle players!

Further to my previous comment today I should have mentioned that the Asharp applies also in the 5th bar of the second part. Sorry!

He probably got the sharpened A bit from a recording that Sean Keane did of it - also the G string work in the first part allows for a lot of interesting variation.

Also known as "Master Crowley’s"
Submitted on January 16th 2003 by what?!!?.
https://thesession.org/tunes/1345

Matt Molloy plays this on the Paul Brady/Andy Irvine/Matt Molloy album "The Gathering" (1992).

On the Kevin Burke and Cal Scott CD "Across the Black River".

in the tunebook Music From Ireland Volume 1 (1974), compiled by D. Bulmer and N. Sharpley. They credit their version to The Regent Hotel Leeds. Here is the ABC for the D Dorian version, which is a little different from the E Dorian version on this website:

X:1
T:Master Crowley’s
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:reel
K:Ddor
|:A,D (3DDD A,DFD|C2B,C G,CEC|A,D (3DDD A,FAF|EGcG EDDC|
A,D (3DDD A,DFD|C2B,C G,CEC|A,D (3DDD _B,3D|EGcG ED (3DDD:|
|:da^ga efdf|ec (3ccc Gcec|da^ga efdB|cAAG AD (3DDD|
da^ga efdf|ec (3ccc Gcec|DEFG AGAc|GEcE ED D2:|

In the tunebook, the D triplets appear simply as ornamented D’s.

The link to tune #1345 posted above now does not work, so I’m posting that interesting Dmix version back up here in the comments section, as it was sent to me by e-mail back in November last year.

X: 1
T: Miss Patterson’s Slippers
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
|: A,D D/2D/2D A,DFD | ECB,C G,CEC | A,D D/2D/2D A,DFA | GE^cE FDEC |
| A,D D/2D/2D A,DFD | E/2G/2E CE G,ECE | DEFD EFGA | GE^cE FDD2 :|
|: dgfg egdg | ecBc Gcec | dgfg egdB | cGEG FEDA |
dgfg egdg | ecBc efgG | FGAB cGEG | A^cGE FDD2 :|
Adfd Adfd | ecBc Gce^c | Adfd Adfa | ge^c’e fd^cB |
Adfd Adfd | ecBc efgG | FGAB cGEG | A^cGE FDD2 ||

I think that version was transcribed from the playing of John Doherty.

X:1
T:Master Crowley’s
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:reel
K:Edor
|:B,E (3EDE B,EFE|EDA,G, A,DFD|B,E (3EDE DGBG|FAdA FEEF|
GFED B,EFE|D2A,G, A,DFD|B,E (3EDE DGBG|FAdA FEED:|
|:ebab gaeg|fdad bdad |ebge f3e|dBAc BE E2|
|ebab gaeg|fdad bdad |EFGA B3B|AFdF FE E2:|

Here’s an arrangement for the whistle

X: 1
T: Master Crowley’s
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Edor
|:Be (3eee befe|edBd Adfd|Be (3eee Begb|
afde feed|Be (3eee Befe|edBd Adfd|
Be (3eee Begb|1 afdf feed:|2 afdf feeA||
|:Bbab fgeg|fd (3ddd Adfd|Bbab fgeg|
fdAF FEEA|Bbab fgeg|fd (3ddd Adfd|
EFGA BABd|1 AFdF FEEA:|2 AFdF FEEd||

And here’s a nice arrangement by two young fiddlers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-rBSpgmen0

play video

Mmm, that’s too modern to my ears.

Tommy Potts’s rendition is not listed here because the track has been linked to another reel called ‘Crowley’s’. You can hear it on The Liffey Banks:
https://thesession.org/recordings/289

I always think of Hugh Gillespie’s setting of this tune. You can listen to it here
http://www.juneberry78s.com/sounds/Hugh%20Gillespie%20-%20Master%20Crowleys%20Reels.mp3

A slightly different D dorian setting, from a field recording done in Ireland in the 60s or 70s and released on the French label Ocora. It was played by a woman on mandolin. Sorry I can’t remember her name. I like that the F major triad is spelled in the 3rd bar of the A part, as an alternative to a Dm triad, which other settings have as A,DFA:

T:Master Crowley’s
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
K:DDor
A,D~D2 A,DFD|~C2B,C G,CEC|A,D~D2 CFAF|EGcG ED~D2|!
A,D~D2 A,DFD|~C2B,C G,CEC|A,D~D2 CFAF|EGcG ED~D2:||!
~a2^ga efdf|ec~c2 Gcec|~a2^ga efdc|dAAG AD~D2|!
~a2^ga efdf|ec~c2 Gcec|DEFG AGAc|EGcG ED~D2:||

Of course it’s D dorian, not mixolydian (need more caffeine)

Kevin Burke can be heard playing his colourful rendition on this video, second tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL5dOJ3WiT0

play video

… closely follows Tommy Potts’ take on the tune (from The Liffey Banks).

Very probable that he learnt it from the recording then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy8RZf_kFGY

play video

I did hear that Master Crowley was Michael Coleman’s dancing master and fiddle teacher

I play Master Crowleys since ages but it’s a completely different version to Paddy O Brien’s playing on his collection Disc 4: 173. Master Crowley s (No.1)

I love his version but I can not figure out what he is doing on his box.
And none of the versions here fits his playing.

Any help (abc or dots) would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

The collection is promoted here:
https://thesession.org/discussions/31890#comment698140
(I would be able to provide a basic mp3 cut of the tune.)

There are two tunes of this name, probably Paddy is playing the 2nd one, which is also called the Roscommon reel.

Thanks Kevin.
I know Paddy O’Brien calls The Roscommon Reel "Master Crowley’s (No.2)", it is on Disc 7 No. 323.
But I am definitely looking for Paddy’s version of "Master Crowley’s".
Unfortunately I can not hear what he is playing … I always "hear" my version.
I am not very good in learning tunes by ear 🙁

Well, probably very few will scroll down this far what with all the comments registered for this tune, but I thought the D Dorian version I submitted was nice, with its added twist. I would have gotten this version from a fiddle class with Brendan Mulvihill round about 1991. He played a variation of the first part with a low b-flat thrown in. I thought it was pretty imaginative and cool how he worked it in. He wouldn’t have played that in there every time, in fact only once, but I thought it was worth passing along for big fans of Master Crowley’s (ie. those of you that scrolled down this far).

X:9 "Miss Patterson’s Slippers" played by Francie Dearg 0’Beirn, from the CD The Donegal Fiddle, a recording made in the 1940s. Fascinating how it’s mostly the same notes but seems to have found itself in A major, modulating into E and D major.

Added Paddy Glackin’s setting.

X: 9 (Francie Byrne’s version) is also to be found on the recording "Ceol Na dTéad", made by him and his brother Mickey, although only Francie plays this tune there. That version has grown on me quite a bit; wonder if anyone in Donegal still plays it…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUv_1ndk4FQ

play video

https://youtu.be/lnImwXSCcQI

play video

Matt Molloy version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXfqAzdu8IY

play video

In the D Dorian version there are triplets on open D on the second beat. A lot of the time when I hear triplets on plucked strings some of the notes are muted, but you can’t really do that on open strings. Is it ok to give full voice to all the notes in a triplet in this case?

This is more or less how we play it in our local session.