Newmarket polka

And the third “Newmarket Polka” from “Irish Times”, aka “Terry Teahan

This is one of the first tunes taught to beginners in Bristol (UK), and is usually in a set with Henry’s Polka and Riding on a Load of Hay. Here is the version as taught and played in Bristol:

K:G
D>D DB|AG EG|D>D DB|AG GE|D>D DB|AG EG|D2 d>B|1 AG GE:|
AG GA|:Bd A>B|AG EG|Bd A>B|AG G>A|Bd A>B|AG EG|D2 d>B|1 AG G>A:|AG G2||

trevor

Here’s a version suited to the bagpipes:
X: 1
T: Terry Teehan’s
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K:Daj
A2 Af|ed Bd|A2 Af|ed d2|
A2 Af|ed Bd|1 A2 af|ed d2:|2 A2 a>f|ed de||
fa e>f|ed Bd|fa e>f|ed d>e|
fa e>f|ed Bd|1 a2 Af|ed d>e :|2 A2 a>f|ed d2||

This polka’s what polkas are for! yeeha!

S: John Brosnan

# Posted by (ian) iwilson - September 14th, 2009
https://thesession.org/discussions/22647

😎 Apologies, falling down on the job, as I’d meant to add this one way back when, but was convinced it was already here from ages back, and it may have been, but might have gotten lost in an earlier exodus? It’s wondrous how much difference the same basic melody can have - in different hands, over time, like Chinese whispers…

Known as Terry Teahan’s at the Greenbriar Slow Session, presumably taken from the Comhaltas Books. A good polka with nothing too special, try holding a dotted quarter for that low D (especially on box) the second time through to add to the craic.

Also, for B/C players - try really emphasizing the draw from the D all the way to the push G for extra effect.

Setting from the playing of Sliabh Notes (Matt Cranitch, Dónal Murphy, & Tommy O’Sullivan).

Their “Gleanntán” album liner notes say that this polka, and Annaghbeg, were both learned from manuscripts of Padraig O’Keeffe. They named this polka Gleanntán, noting that it was untitled in O’Keeffe’s manuscript.

A few variations.

My transcription of the Patrick Street version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-5mnfPznDg

play video

starts at 2:08

Here are links to Pádraig O’Keeffe’s versions that he gave to various pupils, taken from the excellent ITMA site .
https://www.itma.ie/digital-library/score/padraig_okeeffe_oconnor_mss_c_016
http://port.itma.ie/score/ITMA_4238
Tune no. 42 in McAoidh _Misc MSS, unfortunately the link to this tune is not working presently.
IMHO there are two different tunes in this entry #331. X:1, X:2, X:8, X:11, commonly called the Newmarket (e.g. by Jackie Daly and Patrick Street); the other is the one (X:4, 7, 9, 10) christened Gleanntán by Sliabh Notes and taught by Pádraig O’Keeffe.

Another link to ITMA and Pádraig O’Keeffe: http://port.itma.ie/score/ITMA_4088
And a correction it should read “Tune no. 41 in McAoidh _Misc MSS, unfortunately the link to this tune is not working presently.”

This is the title attributed to track 13 on Terry Teahan on his LP with Gene Kelly https://thesession.org/recordings/3058 . Unfortunately there are two polkas on the this track and it starts with Bill Sullivan’s (but just one run through). However I suspect TT meant the second polka, which he said he wrote and passed on to Padraig O’Keeffe, partly because it is often called Terry Teahan’s etc.. His version is like settings X:1, X:2, X:8, X:11. So I propose TT’s be added as composer and this name be given to this polka. Anyone (dis)agree?

I’ve been trying to deconstruct Gleanntán / Glin polka this and that way and I’m not entirely convinced it’s just a “sub-version” of Teahan’s / Newmarket (or the other way round). The latter ends on the tonic (I) in the middle of each part, while Glin ends on II there:

E2 E>c BA A2
vs.
EA AB cB B2

This might seem like a one-note difference to us, but I know that this note (plus slightly different endings) would mean a world of difference to the old musicians, who would probably call them two different polkas. Besides, it suggests different harmony for these tunes (although you can choose to play the same one).

An obvious relative of Glin would be Tarmon’s polka from Co. Limerick:
https://thesession.org/tunes/10133