The Rambling Sailor polka

Source: Dan Herlihy - the night of the fair
Transcription: gian marco pietrasanta

I know this polka named after a Wexford musician, Phil Murphy who played harmonica. Phil Murphy lived at Bannow on the Wexford coast. He passed on in 1989 I think and there is a weekend trad. music festival each August down in Bannow named after him.

See also
http://www.philmurphyweekend.com
for more info. on Phil and also reel ‘Trip to Cullenstown’ on this site. Cullenstown is local townland in Bannow.

This tune is fairly well known in Scotland as "The Hopeful Lover". The Mull accordionist Bobby MacLeod noted that the first 8 bars were traditional, while the second 8 bars were composed by him. Source: Bobby Macleod’s Selection (Glasgow n.d.).

This tune is nicely done on the Murphy family album Trip to Cullenstown where it travels under the title "The Wistful Lover". There is a different setting of the tune posted on the site here: https://thesession.org/tunes/4970

That’d be my da, but this transcription is from the squeezin’ of that lovely and considerate box player Jackie Daly, also featured on his recording "Jackie Daly: Domhnach is Dálach / Many’s a Wild Night", track 12, the third polka of three.

X: 2
T: Rambling Sailor, The
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: Amaj
|: E |\
A>B ce | ae fa | A>B ce | fc ee |
A>B ce | ae fa | fa/f/ ec | BA A :|
|: B |\
c2 cB | ce fe | c2 ce | c/B/A B2 |
cc/c/ cB | ce fe | fa/f/ ec | BA A :|

And an enjoyable take on this can be heard here, courtesy of Enda Seery:

http://soundcloud.com/enda-seery/my-aunt-jane-the-gullane-polka-the-rambling-sailor/

Other ways with just that one bar…

Etc… 😉

X: 3
T: Rambling Sailor, The
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: GMaj
|: G/A/ |\
B>^A BG | Bd ed | B>^A Bd | BA/G/ AG/A/ |
B>^A BG | B/c/d e>d | e/f/g/e/ dB | AG G :|
|: D |\
G>A Bd | gd ed | G>A Bd | eB d2 |
G>A B/c/d | gd ed | e/f/g/e/ dB | AG G :|

confusing the B-part with another and then letting fly his fantasies of form ~ also from t’other way round to start…

X: 3
T: Rambling Sailor, The
S: "Brian Hughes: Whistle Stop"
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: Amaj
|: A>B ce | ae fe | A>B ce | f/e/c ef |
A>B ce | ae fe | Ac BA/B/ |[1 cA A2 :|[2 cA Ae ||
ce A>B |ce fe | ce A>B | ce B2 |
ce A>B |ce fe | Ac BA/B/ | cA Ae |
ce Ac |eA ce | Ac ec | dB e>d |
ce A>B |ce fe | Ac BA/B/ | cA A2 |]

That should have read ~ "Brian Hughes has his way with it." 😀

I actually logged on just to find the ABC’s for this tune, and lo and behold, there it was right on the front!…

Perfectly suited to the Scots pipes scale (but for the semi quaver run: <f/g/a/f/ ec | BA A2> : Play it; <fa/f/ ec | BA A2> the tune is still as strong.

The rambling sailor JosephC stumbled on the land of Serendippo!

I’m a psychic… 😎

X: 2 Is how I know it as the Hopeful Lover. Nice on the fiddle.

This may be Scottish in origin, but it would have been written far before Bobby MacLeod’s birth… Tom Billy Murphy of Ballydesmond, Co. Cork gave this to Jack O’Connell of the Lighthouse, north of Ballydesmond. Jack can be heard playing it on the RTE Radio Documentary into the life of Tom Billy. Though many of Blind Tom’s tunes did seem to have roots in Scottish tunes, I would a present a two fold argument: Many Scottish tunes originally came over from Ireland, particularly marches, and many Sliabh Luachra tunes came from returned Yanks that played with Scots-Irish in America, such as one Cal O’Callaghan of Doonasleen, Kishkeam.

"Many Scottish tunes originally came over from Ireland, particularly marches…"

That’s interesting. Which ones?

From the squeezin’ of Pat Sullivan…

"Call the Set III"
https://thesession.org/recordings/5713

From the playing of North Cregg.

Transposed down from Bbmaj.

From the playing of Timmy O’Connor.

I keep thinking of this…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9MDUL-ll1k

play video