Good Morning To Your Nightcap reel

This is a very simple tune which is fun to play, It’s often played as a set following Farrel O’Gara’s

Just to say,Brad,that this tune is also down as ‘Coleman’s’ on Kevin Burke’s ‘If the cap fits’ album and that someone also told me that it’s called the ‘Drunken policecar’.
I like it anyway and I just wonder where all these different titles come from.
I know it does n’t have owt to do with the tune but it’s funny to see what things get transmogrified.I dont know were that word came from but I know it exists.
dave

I first heard this on an early album by Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell, under the name of “Matt’s”, and thought it was a Northumbrian tune until I heard Kevin Burke’s recording of it on his album “If The Cap Fits”. I think it has been popularised more recently by Four Men And A Dog. It is a simple tune, but not necessarily an easy one. It’s hard to know what to do with those long notes on mandolin or banjo. On the fiddle, double stringing the first high E (i.e. playing the open E string and doubling the E on the A string) sounds good - but then I don’t play the fiddle, so what do I know.

The players at thesession I go to roll those two half notes. Seems the obvious thing, I suppose. Of course, they are mostly pipers and fiddlers, so it’s easier to deal with than it would be on a mandolin. I guess one could just do any rhythmic pattern but stay on the same note. Actually, I think sometimes they also slide up to those notes, which sounds very cool. This tune’s great for practicing all kinds of ornamentation, cuz no matter what you do, in what combination, it works.

This tune is strongly associated with Michael Coleman because he recorded it on a popular 78. That’s probably how Burke came up with the “Coleman” name. as far as the drunken police car maybe thase two first long notes sound like a drunk siren??

Just thought I would fill in the last tune for the recording ‘If the cap fits’
Good Luck
Mikea

Well, I tried applying the “Chris Smith” test to it… while my wife played the tune, I droned on A and droned on E. E sounded off. A sounded right.

This is sort of the short form of some other tests I do, like seeing what chords could be constructed from the notes of the individual bars (too much hassle usually).

My first thought on my first accompaniment of this tune was “It’s A Dorian.”

Mick McAuley plays this in concert. It’s scary.

This is a variant setting of this tune: https://thesession.org/tunes/513

popularised by Lunasa (played down a tone on the C whistle) following on after McLeod’s Farewell (transposed to D for the pipes and increectly named the Wedding Reel). I learned it from their recording, which resolves heavily onto the Ador each time, and the high g leading notes back onto e help give it a lift. But I think there’s more interest in the second part of the tune keeping the EAAc BGGB, as Matt Molloy does, rather than Kevin Crawford’s EAAA BGGG. Great tune

X: 1
T: Morning Nightcap
T: loosely based on Lunasa’s version
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Ador
(3Bcd | ~e3c dedB | cBcd eedg | e3c dedB | BAAG A2 (3Bcd |
~e3c dedB | cBcd eedg | e2ga gedB |1 BAAG A2 :||2 BAAG AGED ||
EAAc BGGB | cBcd eedg | eAAA BGG2 | BAAG AGED |
EAAc BGGB | cBcd eedg | e2 ga gedB |1 BAAG AGED :||2 BAAG A2 ||

PS: the set, with Morning Nightcap second, is on YouTube here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOI41Zdb54g

play video

KC’s right it is in A dorian.

Z:DJF
K:Ador
~e3 c ~d3 B | cBcd edd2 | ecec dBdB | (3cBA BG EGD2 |
ecec dedB | cBcd ec d2 | ~g3 e dGBd | BA~AG EGD2 |
~e3 c dGB/2c/2d | cBcd e2 d2 | edce dcB/2c/2d | cABG (3EGE D2 |
ecec d^cdB | cBcd ec d2 | egfa gedB | cABG (3EGE D2 |
~A3 G BG~G2 | cBcd ~e2 d2 | eA~A2 BG~G2 |(3cBA ~AG EGD2 |
~A3 G BG~G2 | cBcd ~e2 d2 |1 ~g3 e dGBd | BA~AG EGD2 :|2 (3efg fa gedB | cABG (3EGE D2 |

Simplified version cobbled together from a few recordings.

https://youtu.be/cah2p1jD4io

play video