Paddy Jim Frank’s reel

Thanks to Hiroyuki for finding and posting the link to a clip of fluter Kevin Henry playing this and two other tunes (see Dermot Grogan’s: https://thesession.org/tunes/4854).

JC’s tunefinder has a slightly different setting, with the source given as "The Killavil Sessions" (Ceoltoiri Coleman), as follows.

X: 161878
T: Paddy Jim Frank’s
L: 1/8
M: 4/4
K: G
GA | B2 eB dBBA | G2 BG AGED | B2 eB dBBA | GABG A2 GA |
B2 eB dBBA | G2 BG AGED | g2 fg edBA | GBAF G2 :|
ef | gdBG D2 GB | e2 dB GABd | gdBG D2 GB | egdB A2 Bd |
gdBG D2 GB | e2 dB GABd | g2 fg edBA | GBAF G2 :|

I like Kevin Henry’s version better, at least on flute. It’s a great lesson in jumping octaves to add spark to an otherwise simple tune, and I like how he often blows a note in the lower octave only to shift it up to the higher octave and continue the melody line from there.

Sounds like a version of "The Navvy on the Line".

Great work, Will. Very precise.

LongNote, I was thinking the same thing.

Hiroyuki, the only thing I couldn’t capture in the abcs is the way Kevin pushes some notes into the higher octave. You have to listen to the clip to get where that happens, starting from the lower octave. Very Conal O’Grada-esque. Sounds to me like he starts a note, overblows it to start the shift into the second octave, and then holds the second octave with the usual change in embouchure, to get a cleaner note. The resulting overtones and "bark" give the tune energy and a wildness it would not otherwise have.

I agree with Paddy, it’s Navvy on the Line.

Well, Jeremy can move whatever’s worth keeping to Navvy on the Line, as he sees fit. Okay by me.

About every other time I start this tune in a session, some yahoo starts playing Navvy on the Line, and they are not compatiable, at all, it’s a trainwreck every time. They’re similar tunes, but very clearly different.

Course, the version I play is the version Peter Horan and Fred Finn play, which is a bit different from the one given here… probably closer (but not identical) to the Killavil Sessions one given above.

BTW, another name for ths is "The Pride of Cluinte", according to _The Mountain Road_ and Celtic Fiddle Festival.

Telling us something we already know. I think I stated above that this tune is not "The Navvy on the Line", but rather a version of the tune usually known by that name. Or "The Navvy on the Line" is a version of this tune, whichever you prefer. Yes, versions or settings are often similar, but completely incompatible. Personally, I would prefer that distinct and interesting settings of well-known tunes not be banished to the comments section. To me they are different tunes.

LongNote, I’m not sure that anyone else who replied read your comment the way you intended it to be read, but no matter — we’re in complete agreement that this tune should stay.

Um, don’t you mean the Navvy On The Shore anyway? Navvy On The Line is a James Hill hornpipe and bears no resemblance to this tune whatsoever.

https://thesession.org/tunes/1273

I learnt this tune this summer from a whistle- and mandola- playing friend living in Clare. I am hoping he will supply me with a little more information in due course. To my ear, it sounds more Cork/Kerry than Clare in origin.

https://thesession.org/tunes/1273

Blankety - I agree that the two tunes are closely related, (although I didn’t notice when I learnt this tune). But are there not enough differences to make it a different tune? I did a thorough search through the tune archives and couldn’t find a match. So I took that as an all clear for posting it.

Incidentally, I’ve just had it, hot off the press, from my source, that he learnt it from Mary the West Corker. So it could be a West Cork tune.

Of course it’s a matter of opinion. I think they’re just different settings of the same tune though. The fact that this setting happens to have a different name makes it easier to think of it as a different tune, that’s all. But in the end, names mean nothing. If your friend had given this tune to you as "The Navvy", I’d have been surprised if you’d posted it separately. I doubt if you’d get away with this as a separate tune in a session; I’d be willing to bet the Bothy Band setting is too well known for this one to get a look in. That’s a shame really because this is a more interesting setting, and I see from the Fiddler’s Companion that it was popularised by Fred Finn. I particularly like how it goes down to low D in the B-part.

Kevin Burke plays this as the last of a set of reels on Rendezvous — really great unaccompanied fiddle playing!

And here’s another transcription of the tune: https://thesession.org/tunes/4857

This is just a version of ‘The Navvy On The Shore’ and belongs in the comments section there. The title ‘Pride of Cluinte’ should be listed as an alternate name. Having versions of tunes with such subtle variations listed separately in the tune database just adds to the confusion here IMHO.

Even though this is a unique version of ‘The Navvy on the Shore’ and couldn’t be played at the same time without a train wreck ensuing, I still think it’s just a version nonetheless. Many versions of tunes can’t be played at the same time as the more common versions, but I disagree that it means they should have their own page in the database. I think it’s more useful if tune versions appear in the comments section with the title listed as an alternative for tune research sake. For example: if I was looking for ‘Paddy Jim Frank’s’ reel, I’d want to be able to find it, but I think it would be beneficial to know that it’s related to a nearly identical tune that’s more common. Of course it’s ultimately up to Jeremy how to resolve these issues.

What makes me argue the case for the autonomy of this tune is the Es in place of the high Gs in the A-part, which, to my ear, suggests E-minor, giving it an entirely different character from its more strident sister. Furthermore, this makes for a much more marked contrast between the A- and B-parts than in ‘Navvy’, the B-parts of both tunes being unequivocally ‘major’ in character.

Incidentally, I apologise for the intrusive ‘a’ in the title.

The issue of when a variant of a tune becomes another tune is a hazy one, and has already been flogged to near-death on this site, so I shan’t argue any further as to whether or not ‘Cluinte’ is or is not just a version of ‘Navvy’. However, I disagree with Phantom that the title of the present tune should simply be listed as an alternate title for the other tune, since the title ‘The Pride of Cluinte’ (as far as I am aware) belongs specifically to this variant of the tune.

Spoon, if you want, you can edit the title, but you’re the only person who can do it because you’re the original poster. Just go to "edit details".

Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? I’ll go right ahead and do it. For a noxious blanket you don’t half have some good ideas.

BTW thanks for that bit of Fred Finn info. I was too flustered with the tune identity thing at the time to notice what you had written.

Settings close to this one are (or at least were) played by many musicians in the south Sligo/north Roscommon/east Mayo area. Cloontia, by the way, is in Mayo, not far from Carracastle. With all due respect to Matt Molloy and the Bothy Band, I like this setting better than their "Navvy."

That’s exactly why I think it belongs in the comments section of Navvy. Some folks researching that tune might enjoy finding what Don calls a, "Superior setting." It’s a pity they won’t find this setting from the south Sligo/north Roscommon/east Mayo area included in the comments there.

They will now that I’ve bothered to post a link there instead of sitting around moaning.

I was actually taught this setting under the name Paddy Jim Frank’s when I visited Tubbercurry last year. I brought it home to local sessions and decided to research it a little more because of note discrepancy. But, it is a great tune to play on fiddle, the string crossings are really fun!

Listen to John Carty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff4gnGkbApI

play video

P.