The Wild Swans At Coole reel

This is an Ed Reavy tune and can be found in “The Collected Compositions of Ed Reavy.”

I caught this very beautiful slow tune by the same name (almost) i.e. Swans At Coole and it is nothing like the reel posted here. It appears to be in E minor. Does anyone know this one and what the chords are?

Norbeck’s transcription of this is very different: see
http://www.norbeck.nu/abc/index2.asp?cat=i&sort=title&first=W

Not sure which one to go with, but I’m thinking Norbeck has a better one

http://www.reavy.us
and evreybody will get the good version.

By any chance is the Coole in the tune related to Coole, Co. Westmeath? Because there is a legend about swans on Lough Derravarragh. It’s the final resting spot of the Children of Lir, hence the local Comhaltas branch is called Craobh Clann Lir….

Actually it could because Ed Reavy was born in Barnagrove, Co. Cavan in 1897. Barnagrove is close enough to Coole.

This sounds like a beautiful reel, though this score looks a bit wonky. I had a go at it but it proved harder to fix than I imagined. My version is not particularly convincing but at least it is tidier than the current ABC.
X: 1
T: The Wild Swans At Coole
M: 2/2
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: D dorian
Ade/d/c d2AB | c3G EFGE | DA,A,A, CA,A,A, | FEDB, CA,G,_B, |
A,2FE FEDC | A,B,CD E/F/GAB | cde/^f/g agfa | gece d3c :||
d2Ad fgaf | eccc efge | d2Ad fgaf | gfaf eddc |
defg a_bag |edcA c3d | eaag e/f/ge | dcAG ED3 :||

Most Ed Reavy tunes seem to be most commonly played in versions that are not very close to the way they were written out by Ed Reavy himself. “Wild Swans at Coole” is one of these. My transcription is from listening to a fiddle player, not from the “dots” in the book.

X:115
T:Wild Swans at Coole
R:reel
C:Ed Reavy (1898-1988)
Z:id:hn-reel-115
M:C|
K:Dmix
dc | Addc dcAB | cBcG E^FGE | DA,~A,2 =FA,~A,2 | =FEDB, C2CB, |
A,=F=FE =FEDC | _B,CDE =FGAc | de^fg agfa | ge^ce d3^c ||
de^ce d^cdA | =c2cG E^FGE | DA,~A,2 =FA,~A,2 | =FEDB, C2CB, |
A,=F=FE =FEDC | _B,CDE =FGA=f | ecde dcAG | cAGE D3A ||
|: d2Ad ^fgaf | ec~c2 acec | d2Ad ^fgaf | ea^ce d3^f |
~a3b ag (3^fga |1 ge^cA GAE^C | A,^CE^c e^fge |
^fge^c d3A :|2 g^fed ^cdeA | ^c2^cd e^fge | ^cAGE D2 ||

“By any chance is the Coole in the tune related to Coole, Co. Westmeath? ”

Well, the title is the same as a famous poem by Yeats, and the Coole in his poem is Coole Park, Co Galway.

W B Yeats wrote a poem called “The Wild Swans at Coole” which is rather beautiful, and I imagine Reavy named the tune after that poem. However since he grew up near Coole it could just be a coincidence, but that seems unlikely.