The Greencastle hornpipe

This is a very well known hornpipe which I’m surprised isn’t here already. You might have noticed that I’ve also requested it (by mistake) but the facility for cancelling your own requests seems to have vanished-unless I’m missing something?

No, you’re right. That was an oversight on my part. I’ve now restored the ability to cancel requests.

This tune is also known as McPartland’s Style, which is often paired with the Buck from the Mountain. Frankie Gavin and Marcas O’Murchu recorded the two tunes together, and that’s one of the sets associated with Leitrim flute player John McKenna.

Does anybody know John McKenna’s version of the tune? As I wrote above, F. Gavin and M. O’Murchu recorded it as a tribute to McKenna, but they play very different versions in totally different styles. I’m currently playing a composite of the two versions, but would love to learn the authentic Leitrim version.

According to the notes of M. Murchu’s recording, the title refers to his great-grandfather, Pat McPartland, who liked to dance to it.

Is this an old tune? If not, who wrote it?

This version I’ve transcribed from the playing of Frankie Gavin on his “Croch Suas É” album. Not sure how accurate it is to the original John McKenna version. In this recording F Gavin is jumping around octaves a lot, plus playing what sounds like an F flute, so not too easy to transcribe exactly. Sounds good though!

Another good and simple setting courtesy of “Allan’s Irish Fiddler”, page 19, tune #75… We were dancing to this and playing it last night, admitting that I do have some ‘different’ ways with it…

Here’s an online version of this collection:
http://www.oldmusicproject.com/allans.html

The X: 1 transcription is basically the same as X: 3 from “Allan’s”…

In O’Neill’s Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby he writes that he picked up the Greencastle Hornpipe from a flute player, James Moore, in the winter of 1875 in Chicago, and it’s in O’Neill’s 1001.

Setting 4:
I just heard this setting of the tune played by Andy O’Sullivan and Meabh Begley in a session. They played it as a reel.

the A part is basically identical to the A part of a metis reel called Gilbert Anderson’s Road Song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcVu9I5irkU&ab_channel=PattiKusturok

play video

Just a straightforward version, admittedly with only slight, hardly significant, variations, but without the dots and cuts, which to my mind, don’t quite reflect the casual hornpipe “swing” found in Irish playing. 😊