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The Brown-Sailed Boat strathspey

Also known as The Brown Sailed Boat, The Brown-Sailed Boat Highland Fling, John Doherty’s Selection, The Lonach Highland Fling, The Lonach, Miss Chalmers, Mr Young’s, Peter Bailie, Peter Bailie’s, Peter Baillie, Peter Baillie’s.

There are 9 recordings of this tune.

The Brown-Sailed Boat has been added to 2 tune sets.

The Brown-Sailed Boat has been added to 73 tunebooks.

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Five settings

1
X: 1
T: The Brown-Sailed Boat
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Edor
B<E B>A B<E B>c|d>B A>G F>D (3FGA|B<E B>A B<E B>A|(3Bcd FA G<E E2:|
g>f e>f g<e b>g|f>e d>e f<d a>f|g>f e>f g<e b>g|f>e ^d>b g<e e2|
g>f e>f (3gab (3efg|f>e d>e (3fga (3def|(3gab (3fga (3efg (3ded|(3Bcd FA G<E E2|
# Added by jdave .
2
X: 2
T: The Brown-Sailed Boat
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Edor
A|B2BA B2BA|(3Bcd AB FDFA|B2BA B2BA|(3Bcd FA BEE:|
f|gfef gbag|fede fdab|gfef (3gfe be|Bdfa geef|
gfef gbag|fede fdab|(3gab (3fga (3efe cA|BdAd BEE|]
3
X: 3
T: The Brown-Sailed Boat
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Edor
A/|B2B>A B<EB>c|d>BA>d F>D (3FGA|B<EB>A B<EB>A|(3Bcd F>A G<EE3/2:|
f/|g>fe>f (3gfe b>g|f>ed>e (3fed a>f|g>fe>f (3gfe b>g|f>e (3def (3gee e>f|
g>fe>f (3gab (3efg|f>ed>e (3fga (3def|(3gfe (3fed (3edc (3dcd|(3Bcd (3FGA G<EE3/2||
The second time throught the tune, they play the ending like M. Mooney and F. Kennedy did: (3gab (3fga (3efg (3dcd|(3Bcd (3FGA G<EE3/2||
4
X: 4
T: The Brown-Sailed Boat
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Edor
e|B<EB>A B<EB>A|F>AD>A d>A B/A/G/F/|B<EB>A B<EB>A|(3Bcd (3FGA B<EE:|
f|g>fe>b g<eb>g|a>fd>a f>da>f|g>fe>b g<eb>g|a>fd>f g<ee>f|
g>fe>b g<eb>g|a>fd>a f>da>f|(3gab (3efg (3fga (3def|(3Bcd (3FGA B<EE||
5
X: 5
T: The Brown-Sailed Boat
R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Edor
|:ed|B<E B>A B<E B>c|d>B A>G F>D (3FGA|B<E B>A B<E B>A|1 (3Bcd FA G<E:|2 (3Bcd F>A G<E E2||
||g>f e>f g<e b>g|f>e d>e f<d a>f|g>f e>f g<e b>g|f>e ^d>b g<e e2|
g>f e>f (3gab (3efg|f>e d>e (3fga (3def|(3gab (3fga (3efg (3dcd|(3Bcd FA G<E e>d||

Twenty-five comments

The Brown Sailed Boat

This comes from Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh and Frankie Kennedy’s
"Ceol Aduaidh." According to the liner notes it is a Donegal adaptation of a Scottish strathspey called "Peter Baillie." Also, after I learned this in the dotted strathspey rythym, I sped it up to reel tempo. It sounded strangely familiar, and sure enough, Fintan Vallely plays it as "Miss Chalmers Reel" on his solo album. The name sounds Scottish, but as Fintan hails from Donegal (I think), it could be Northern Irish.

Posted by .

Thank you for posting the tune. It’s a lovely strathspey. I had a look at the original Scottish version, but I prefer this Donegal one. To avoid d# in the second part, we can follow the Scottish setting:
…|g>fe>f gg|a>fd>f gf|…

lovely lovely tune

Posted by .

Fintan

Fintan come fom Co. Armagh, and "Peter Baillie’s" is a very old Scottish tune.

Posted by .

Brown Sailed Boat

No problem, slainte. The other day I looked on the request page and saw it listed—so I just had to learn it and post it!

Regarding the d#, yes it may be expedient to avoid it if you have a simple-system flute or whistle. I tried it on my low whistle and half-holing is not fun! However, I also play a silver flute so I like to add the d# just to give some flavor to the tune.

-Jonathan

Posted by .

I mostly got the tune, but not so sure of tricky bits in the second part.

There seems something wrong with the last comment. Leaving out "more than" and "less than" marks, I mean …|gfef gebg|afdf geef|…

Thanks again, Jonathan.

The Brown-Sailed Boat

John and James Kelly recorded this strathspey and "the Humours of Tullyknockbrine" as John Doherty’s Selection. It’s the same set F. Kennedy and M. Mooney play together on "Ceol Aduaidh."

As a Highland

I heard a couple of Armagh or Donegal musicians play this tune as a highland on TG4’s "Geantraí" last year. The file is no longer available on the website, but I believe it’s probably similar to what "dinn2" tried to transcribe and "ceolachan" reorginised recently. To edit it a little bit more, that’s something like this:

K: Edor
A|B2BA B2BA|(3Bcd AB FDFA|B2BA B2BA|(3Bcd FA BEE:|
f|gfef gbag|fede fdab|gfef (3gfe be|Bdfa geef|
gfef gbag|fede fdab|(3gab (3fga (3efe cA|BdAd BEE|]

"Terry ‘Cuz’ Teehan’s Highland Fling" ~ kissin’ cousin

Key signature: E Dorian (not minor)
Submitted on December 18th 2001 by seara.
https://thesession.org/tunes/444

"The Brown Sailed Boat" ~ rescued duplication

highland fling / strathspey
Key signature: E Dorian
Submitted on June 2nd 2007 by dinn2.

X: 1
T: The Brown-Sailed Boat
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: highland fling / strathspey
K: E Dorian
|: EA |
B2 BA B2 BA | (3Bcd AB FDFA |
B2 BA B2 BA | (3Bcd FA BE :|
|: ef |
gfef gbag | fede fdab |
[1 gfef (3gfe be | Bdfa ge :|
[2 (3gab (3fga (3efe cA | BdAd BE :|

# Posted on June 2nd 2007 by dinn2: with the above

"This is the Tune that follow’s "Frank Cassidy’s" and "Jimmy Lyons" on Dermott Byrne’s CD."

Recording: "Dermot Byrne"
https://thesession.org/recordings/602

Frank Cassidy’s Highland Fling / The Laird O’ Thrums
~ highland fling / strathspey
Key signature: Amajor
Submitted on May 30th 2007 by benhall.1.
https://thesession.org/tunes/7284

"Jimmy Lyons"
~ highland fling / strathspey
Key signature: Amajor
Submitted on June 30th 2001 by martin t.
https://thesession.org/tunes/171

I’ll try to transcribe John and James Kelly version of this strathspey in a few days. It’s slightly more flute-friendly than Mooney and Kennedy version.

That would be cool… I still have to get that recording, a prize!

Which recording, "c" ?
I’m confused, "slainte". Why would the Kelly Bros version - played on 2 fiddles - be more "flute-friendly" than Frankie & Mairead’s version - played on flute & fiddle ?

Posted by .

"John & James Kelly: Irish Traditional Fiddle Music"

~ with Michael Crehan & Michael Gavin
https://thesession.org/recordings/1567

Not necessarily, but I love this recording, sweet, and with aural memories. Slainte played it for me when he was visiting and I was familiar with their playing and their da’s from ‘back then’, so it brought good feelings. I have done a search for it and it is still available, but I haven’t yet scored there. I also am interested in any transcription and look forward to this one, and to see as you’ve asked, why slainte thinks it is "slightly more flute-friendly"… I guess we’ll just have to wait see. 🙂

I can help here, "c" - will be in touch.

Posted by .

I mean Kelly brothers play it without that D# in the second part. Their recording is available for just 9.99 from CD World.

John and James Kelly Version

R: strathspey
K: Edor
A/|B2B>A B<EB>c|d>BA>d F>D (3FGA|B<EB>A B<EB>A|(3Bcd F>A G<EE3/2:|
f/|g>fe>f (3gfe b>g|f>ed>e (3fed a>f|g>fe>f (3gfe b>g|f>e (3def (3gee e>f|
g>fe>f (3gab (3efg|f>ed>e (3fga (3def|(3gfe (3fed (3edc (3dcd|(3Bcd (3FGA G<EE3/2||

The second time throught the tune, they play the ending like M. Mooney and F. Kennedy did: (3gab (3fga (3efg (3dcd|(3Bcd (3FGA G<EE3/2||

Re: The Brown-Sailed Boat

In Peter Baillie’s collection of 1825, this is called "Mr Young’s Strathspey" and it all the tunes in the book appear to have been composed by Mr Baillie himself.

Peter Baillie, X:6

Version I learned from one of Alison Kinnaird’s tune books. likely ended up being called Peter Baillie because of it being one of his notable tunes.

The Brown-Sailed Boat, X:7

This is how I hear the version recorded on Ceol Aduaidh (track 14a). Nearly identical to X1 but with some pickup notes, and another triplet in the penultimate measure.