Hughie’s Cap reel

Written by Ed Reavy for a man he knew with a special cap…

The aAfA passage in bars A3, A7, and B4 should actually be aAgA.

Shouldn’t this tune be notated in F? Listening to John Carty’s recording leads me to believe the first part is in F and the second in D minor.

I’m not sure. I learned it from Solas, and they play all B-naturals in the first part, making it D Dorian rather than F Maj or D Minor.

The A part and the B part are the wrong way around. Reavy wrote it the other way and it does sound a bit better if played that way. I also think that the B should be flat in the B-tune (despite what Reavy wrote … I never said I had to be consistent).

Here’s how I’ve been playing it, learned from the abcs at the Reavy site (though I might have changed bits of it).

X: 1
T: Hughie’s Cap
C: Ed Reavy
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Fmaj
FG |: A2 de fedc | A~F3 DGGB | Acde fedf | e~c3 agfe |
|d3 e fedc | AGFE FDEC | A,DDE FGAd |1 cAGE ~F3G :|2 cAGE FGAB ||
|: c2 AF ABcA | d/d/d BG Bcdf | e~c3 agfe | fagf dcAB |
| c2 AF ABcA | d2 BG Bcdf | e~c3 agfe |1 fdcA FGAB :|2 fdcA F2 FG :||

Thanks to Aimee N. for pointing this tune out to me—it’s quickly become one of my favorites. I like the pairing of the sweet-sad first half with the happy-go-lucky, tail-wagging joy of the second half.

I also play the two parts the other way round to how it’s written out here

http://www.reavy.us/

http://www.reavy.us/Reavycom.abc

The following is an excerpt from the Reavy site’s ABC’s"

"A favorite story of Ed’s tells of Hughie, an easygoing sort who had a fierce look when he wore a certain cap. Friends would take Hughie along whenever a fight was anticipated. One look from Hughie and his cap would silence the most quarrelsome bullies. One night, as itwould happen, Hughie’s friends found themselves in the worst sort of mix and quickly looked for Hughie’s help. But Hughie, alas, had ventured out this time without his menacing capeen. "Oh God," one exclaimed, "somebody go fetch Hughie’s cap, or there’ll be hell to pay for all of us this night!"" ~ Joe Reavy

Both printed collections featured at the site are prizes well worth pursueing…

Sweet tune this. And the way it is here is actually backwards, I’ve got the a copy of the published version and it has the parts reversed from what they are here.
I learned this one partly from Yvonne Kane at a fiddle camp I went to, I really like her version of it.

Oisin MOisin Mac Diarmada has a lovely setting that’s down a step in C dorian-ish on ‘Ar an bhFidil’. It takes advantage of the low G string on fiddle and falls under the fingers very nicely:

X: 1
T: Hughie’s Cap
M: 4/4
R: reel
S: Oisin Mac Diarmada on "Ar an bhFidil"
Z: fidkid
K: C dorian
Gccd edcB | {GA}G2 FE {F}EDCB, | G,Gcd edce | cd (3BBB BgfB |
Gccd edcB | {GA}G2 FE {F}EDCB, | G,CCD EGcG |1 c{GA}GFE DE{F}EF :|2 c{GA}GFD EFGc ||
BG{FG}FE B,EGB | ccAF CFAc | dB {d}B2 gfed | egfe cBFG |
BG{FG}FE B,EGB | ccAF CFAc | dBBg gfed |1 ecBG DE{F}EG :|2 ecBG DE{F}EF |]