Thomond Bridge hornpipe

I got this from Leo Ginley ,A great Belfast fiddle player some 25 Years ago.I just hope the usual`typical James Hill flat-keyed Hornpipe`comments don`t weigh in -its Irish!!

Thanks Michael, but F major isn’t the key for flautists including me!

I came to love this tune through the fiddle and low whistle duet playing of well-known Scottish piper and fiddler Iain MacDonald and Iain MacFarlane: they couple it with James Hill’s composition "The Steamboat." It’s also on the quite recent debut album of Hugh and Colm Healy from Corofin. They play it in G major and then move on to "Fox on the Town," a beautiful reel in the same key. Sean Smyth recorded it on the whistle, but I don’t remember in which key he plays it.

It seems Thomond Bridge is in Limerick.

Seamus Ennis played this on the pipes, in G. Instead of the ascending arpeggios of straight eighth notes in the first part, he played a triplet and a quarter note= Ceg(3) c; bdg(3) b, etc. This was to facilitate getting from the high C back down to the low B.
Seamus played the regulators all over this tune too. Show off! I also heard a recording of Tommy Reck playing it in duet with Mick O’Brien, so it must have been a popular tune with the old Dublin pipers.

A superb recording and long overdo for re-release. Does anyone have any strings they can pull, influence to sway? There is a fine G Major transcription taken from his playing in:

"Irish Tin Whistle Legends" page 37
Tommy Walsh, Walton’s, Dublin

Two other keys and takes on this lovely hornpipe:

https://thesession.org/tunes/4589

It has been decided on high that the versions I’d posted of this tune recently were not sufficiently different to warrant their own space, so, as promised, here they come, under ‘Comments’.

K: Gmaj
|: (3def |
g>ed>B c>ed>c | (3BcB G2 G2 g>a | b>ag>e f>ga>g | (3fgf d2 d3 B |
c>eg>c’ B>dg>b | A>^ce>a G>Bd>g | (3efg a>b (3c’ba f>a | (3gag f>a g2 :|
|: (3edc |
B>g (3ggg G>g (3ggg | b>ag>f e>dc>B | A>a (3aaa ^c>a (3aaa | c’>ba>g f>ed<c |
B>g ~g2 G>g ~g | b>ag>f e>dc>B | c>ea>e (3Bcd g>d | (3cBA F>A G2 :|

K: Dmaj
|: B>c |
d>BA>F (3GAB A>G | F2 D2 D2 (3cde | f<ed>B c<de>d | c2 A2 A2 B>A |
G>B (3efg F>A (3def | E>G (3cde D>F (3Bcd | c<de>f (3gfe c>e | d2 A2 D2 :|
|: (3GFE |
D>dc>d F>dc>d | (3fed c>B (3AGF E>D | E>e^d>e B>ed>e | (3gg/f/e (3dcB (3AGF (3EDC |
D>dc>d F>dc>d | f>dc<d A<d (3FED | G>AB>c d>AB>G | F<dE>d D2 :|

I’ve been forgetting about this tune. Thanks for reminding me. I’ll learn it in D.

I just transcribed my own playing of it for a friend, so I thought I’d stick it up here in a fluter-friendly key. This tune doesn’t seem to get much of an airing these days, which is a pity. I think this version owes much to Eamonn Cotter’s masterful playing on his CD. Haven’t got the CD handy so I can’t compare.
K: Gmaj
|: ba|gedB cedc|B2G2 G2ga|bagf ge^ce|f2d2 d2dB|
|cegc’ B/^c/d gb|Adfa GBdg|e/f/g ab c’/b/a fg|aggf g2 :|
|:dc|Bg~g2 dg~g2|bagf edcB|a/b/a ^gb ~a3b| c’bag fedc|
|Bg~g2 dg~g2|bagf edcB|cedc BAGF|A2G2 G2:|

This tune was popularized by the Aughrim Slopes Ceili Band. Button accordionist John Bowe recorded a great version as well (in ‘D’). The original ‘F’ setting was published as "Thomond Bridge" in the Roche collection, but the tune may well be from Scotland or Northumbria originally. It was recorded in Cape Breton Island by Dan R. MacDonald, who called it "Lady Hartwell of Cantwell." I don’t know the source of that title.

Great version played by Gerry O’Connor here:
http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_299_1_gerry_oconnor_on_banjo/

"The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music, Volume II"
Compiled and commented on by Francis/Frank Roche, 1912.
page 11, tune #214: "Thomond Bridge"

X: 5
T: Thomond Bridge
B: The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music, Volume II, page 11, tune #214
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe
K: FMaj
|: a>g |\
f>dc>A B>Gc>B | A2 F2 F2 f>g | a>gf>e f>ag>f | e2 c2 c2 c>A |
B>df>b A>cf>a | G>Bd>g F>Ac>f | e>fg>a b>[gc’] [ed’]>[ce’] | [f2f’2] [f2f’2] [f2f2’] :|
|: c>B |\
A>fc>f A>fc>f | a>gf>e d>cB>A | B>gd>g B>gd>g | b>ag>f (3efe (3dcB |
A>fc>f A>fc>f | a>gf>e d>cB>A | B>dc>B A>GF>E | G2 F2 F2 :|

"transposed up to G"

K: GMaj
|: b>a |\
g>ed>B c>Ad>c | B2 G2 G2 g>a | b>ag>f g>ba>g | f2 d2 d2 d>B |
c>eg>c’ B>dg>b | A>ce>a G>Bd>g | f>ga>b c’>af>d | g2 g2 g2 :|
|: d>c |\
B>gd>g B>gd>g | b>ag>f e>dc>B | c>ae>a c>ae>a | c’>ba>g (3fgf (3edc |
B>gd>g B>gd>g | b>ag>f e>dc>B | c>ed>c B>AG>F | A2 G2 G2 :|

X:7 from O’Neill’s Irish Music - 400 Choice Selections Arranged for Piano or Violin - title is "Cuckoo Hornpipe." Interesting that this has the ascending triplets in bars 6 & 7, as played by later pipers. The Aughrim Slopes Ceili Band recorded this early on too, with those triplets; a bit later Dan R. MacDonald laid it down on an LP with triplets as well, and in G, despite his familiarity with books and flat keys.