Return To Camden Town reel

After a recent discussion with “oor Michael” about Joe Burke’s LP, “Galway’s Own”, I noticed this fine reel wasn’t in the tune listings. More suitable for box, fiddle or banjo than a wind instrument, unfortunately.

Hello Kenny,Just a suggestion that if you wanted to change the name to `Return FROM Camden Town`it would show more recordings -I think the Burke recording is one which uses `from`.Cos

I think there is another tune called The Return From Camden Town. I’ll check up on that.

Yes - according to Henrik Norbeck, The Return From Camden Town is an alternate title for Farewell to Leitrim, which appears not to have been posted here.

Sorry, lads - I have to disagree, and you know how pedantic I am about tune titles, but I’ll leave the alternative title in, as you suggest, cos. It’s “To”, not “From”, and I think “From” is a mistake on Joe’s sleeve notes. I learned the tune from Glasgow fiddler Chris Miller, and it’s in Bulmer and Sharpley 3, both refer to the reel as “To”.
I’d be willing to bet that there is no reference or recording where the tune is called “From” before 1971, when Joe recorded “Galway’s Own” .
Joe recorded “Return “From” and also “Farewell To Leitrim” on seperate tracks on that LP, so I would suggest that rather than the 2 names being alternative titles, they’ve just been mixed up - and now Norbeck is passing this alternative title theory on as fact.
Well done for posting “Farewell To Leitrim” David - “Galway’s Own” is now nearly a “full-house”.
P.S - David, I haven’t forgotten that I promised you a pint in “Queally’s” - the time is approaching!

Kenny - I don’t remember seeing you in Queally’s - only in ‘The Blondes’ and in your own car, 5 years ago.

Must have been two other fellas! It was “Cleary’s” - aka “The Blonde’s”.

This is a fabulous tune. I learned it last summer from fiddler Becky Tracy. She knows it as Return TO Camden Town too.

I love it that there’s both a tune and an Irish music festival named after a train ticket!
You can just imagine it: “Hi, can I have a return to Camden Town?”
“Sure, that’ll be £3, please”
(customer hands over the £3)
“Thanks..” (gets out his button accordion)
E2 DE CA, A,2 | EDCD EGAB | cBcd edeg | aged cABG |…….

Sure the B part is Cmaj, but the A part is clearly Amin, right?!

It sounds to me like a Sean Ryan tune - did he in fact write it? Does anybody know who did write it?
Thanks– David

According to the Fiddler’s Companion, it’s been attributed to Bobby Casey.

I always understood that it was composed by accordion player Raymond Rowland

Another edition

Paddy O’Brien’s setting from his album The Stranger At The Gate. Love the F sharp quirk 🙂