The Morning Mist reel

Apparently attributed to Joe Burke. This transcription is based on the playing of Brid Harper & Dermot Byrne. For a transcription of the Paddy Fahy’s reel they play after it, go here: https://thesession.org/tunes/4074.

I was told that this was a Paddy Fahy tune. But then, you shouldn’t believe everything you hear down the pub - we all know how Porter can alter history.

The version I have comes from an anglo-concertina-playing friend, who, I think, got it from Mary McNamara. It goes approximately thus

M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
d2BG dGBG|dGBG dGBd|c2A=F cFAF|c=FAF CFAc|
d2BG dGBG|dGBG D\dGBd|cBAB cedc|1 BdAF G2Bc:|2 BdAF GABd||
|:g2dc Bcdc|BG~G2 DGBd|aged ^ceag|fdad bdaf|
g2dc Bcdc|BG~G2 dGBd|cBAB cedc|1 BdAF G2Bd:|2 BdAF G2Bc||


I heard Frankie Gavin play it when he was in London a couple of weeks ago. His version had a slightly different A-part, very approximately like this:

d2BG dGBG|dGBG DGBd|c2A=F cFAF|c=FAF CFAc|
d2BG dGBc|dgfa gdBd|cBAB cedc|1 BdAF G2Bc:|2 BdAF GABd||

Sorry, bar 6 of the first abc above should read the same as bar2.

Well, it has a name, so it’s unlikely to be a Paddy Fahy tune 🙂 I thought it sounded very Paddy O’Brien-y, actually. Can anyone confirm who the composer was? I like Frankie Gavin’s bar 6, David. Perhaps I’ll try and work it into my own setting. On my concertina, the pattern DGBG dGBG is difficult, so do a sort of flutey thing and cut onto the A instead, allowing me enough time to swap rows: DG{B}AG dG{B}AG etc.

X: 1
T: Morning Mist, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
d2BG DGAG|dGAG DGBd|c2Bd c=F~F2|C=FAF CFAc|
d2BG DGAG|dgfa gdBd|c2AB cedc|1 BdAF G2Bc:|2 BdAF G2Bd||
|:g2dc Bcdc|BG~G2 DGBd|eaag ~a3g|fdad bdaf|
g2dc Bcdc|BG~G2 DGBd|c2AB cedc|1 BdAF G2Bd:|2 BdAF G2Bc||

Sleeve notes for “Tracin‘ ” by Gearoid O’hAllmhurain & Patrick Ourceau say “The Morning Mist” was composed by Joe Burke. Pretty reliable source, Id say, as the sleeve notes to all the tunes are very detailed.

Fiddler’s Companion concurs. Go with that then eh?

This tune provided the title for Joe Burke’s most recent recording, on which he plays it and identifies it as his own composition. It was published first in Martin Mulvihill’s collection.

The morning mist goes brilliant in a set with the Dawn and I am sure that Joe Burke did compose it.

Transcribed from the playing of Joe Burke

From the playing of Danny O’Mahoney and Liz Kane live in Birmingham (youtube)

A version from Oisín Mac Diarmada and Michael Rooney

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3FadtQUff4

play video

The Morning Mist / Patsy Touhey’s
https://youtu.be/tFbn4D7LcwA

play video

John Cunningham: flute
Conor Tully: fiddle
Anne Conroy Burke: accordion

Incidentally, Patsy Touhey and Joe Burke were both from around Loughrea, Co. Galway.

Setting for Englitina.

What is Englitina? It is a mobile application created by Michael Eskin, member of thesession. I play the free version of this app quite a lot.

I like to play the same tune in different keys, but for this tune, I was surprised to see that A Major is the only key that can be played without having to do any change of octave. The key of A Major covers the whole range of notes of this instrument (yes, I consider this app an instrument on its own) that goes from D to ^c’ (in abc notation terms).

As per the melody, I suppose I got it from sessions or/and recordings. I play it adding quite a lot of cuts, in the setting I only added one.