Reaping The Rye slip jig

I learned this tune from a friend that learned this tune from a friend up in the San Francisco Bay area. She didn’t have a name for it, so neither do we. It sounds like a newly composed tune. I would really like more information on it if anyone can help. It’s now one of my all time favorite slip jigs. I truely think whoever wrote it is a great tune smith if there ever was one.

Tamalin recorded this on their CD. I’ll check the track listings and give you a title for the tune tomorrow.

Learned from multi-instrumentalist Duncan Davidson, who lives near Wellington, New Zealand

Though this seems to be a slightly different version, it appears this tune was composed by fiddler Paul Murphy of Cregan, Co. Armagh. A family friend of the Keegans’, he is mentioned in her book, ‘The Keegan Tunes, Vol. 1’. Here’s the version from Keegan’s book:

X:1
T:Reaping the Rye
C:Paul Murphy
M:9/8
L:1/8
R:slip jig
K:Emin
BcB B2A GFE | GAG B2g f2e |
BcB B2A GFE | G2A Be^d e2g |
BcB B2A GFE | GAG B2g f2e |
BcB B2A GFE | G2A Be^d e3 :|
BcB g2g fed | BcB g2g f2e |
BcB g2g fga | gfe Be^d e3 |
BcB g2g fed | BcB gag fga |
bag agf gfe | G2A Be^d e3 |

Most of the differences are found in the turn, though there are some phrasing differences in the tune, as well. Additionally, this tune was published with only 6 bars of the turn!

-Please note that the 7th and 8th bars of this transcription are my attempts at a fitting ending for the turn. If anyone is familiar with this version I’d be interested in a critique of my work!

Played here by Tamalin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyMh1l3o4xw

play video

Reaping the Rye is tune 1153 in O’Neill’s 1850, where it is not attributed to any particular colleague of O’Neill. The only differences are a few minor melodic variations, and the first triplet of each measure (except the last two of the tune) are dotted.

Don’t know when Paul Murphy lived. Is he mentioned in O’Neill’s writings?

Oh, and O’Neill’s version is not “ragged” - 8 bar A and 8 bar B.

X:1
T:Reaping the Rye (1153 in O’Neill’s 1850)
M:9/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Gmaj
B>cB B2A GFE|G>AG B2g f2e|B>cB B2A GFE|G2A Bed e3:|
B>cB g2g fed|B>cB g2g f2e|B>cB g2g fga|g>fe Bed e2|
B>cB g2g fed|B>cB gag fga|bag gfe fga|gab Bed e3|]

Hi there,
when I was playing with Shamrock, a four pieces Irish music band based in Paris in the 80’s, our fiddler, Olivier Darras, picked this tune from the O’Neill, and we have decided to do a little change in the bars B.2 and B.6, replacing “B>cB” by “c>Bc”, which have dramatically changed the “color” of the tune. It has been recorded like this on our LP/K7 called “Mo Cheol Thu”, published in 1985 by Polydor Ireland.

http://www.irishtrad.fr/infos/Shamrock/Mo_Cheol_Thu/07-Slip_jigs.mp3 #3

I am happy to see that this modification has been adopted by number of musicians since this time.

Note that the B.4 bar is “g>fe Bed e3|” and the the number is 1152 inthe 1st edition of the O’Neill (1001) tunes :

http://www.oldmusicproject.com/OneilsSlipjigs.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KoaK0B8sQM

play video

Transcribed from the playing of Iain MacFarlane on his album Gallop to Gallop (track #8, tune #2).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAgZ2miCpmE

play video

From the playing of Eimear McGeown