The Road To Errogie reel

By Adam Sutherland

Also known as An Rathad Gu Earagaidh, Bóthar Go Earaghaidh, Road To Aeragea.

There are 41 recordings of this tune.

This tune has been recorded together with

The Road To Errogie appears in 1 other tune collection.

The Road To Errogie has been added to 180 tune sets.

The Road To Errogie has been added to 980 tunebooks.

Download ABC

Eleven settings

1
X: 1
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3g dBG2|A3B AGEG|
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3g dBG2|AG F/E/D G2 BG:|
dgg2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|e2dg2de2-|edgd edBc|
dgg2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|e3g dBGE|AG F/E/D G4|
dgg2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|e2dg2de2-|edgd edBG|
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3g dBG2|AG F/E/D G2 BG||
2
X: 2
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3d BAGB|A3B AGEG|
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3d BAGB|AGAB G3E:|
g2g2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|e2dg2de2-|edgd edBc|
g2g2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|e3d BAGB|AGBA G4|
g2g2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|e2dg2de2-|edgd edBG|
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3d BAGB|AGBA G3E||
3
X: 3
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Bmix
|:BG|FB (3BBB cBcd|fB (3BBB cdfB|g4 fdBd|cBcd cBGB|
FB (3BBB cBcd|fB (3BBB cdfb|g4 fdBd|1 cBcd B2:|2 cBcd Bcdf||
|:b3 b- b2c'b|d'2d'c' b2bf|g2gf b2fg-|gfbf gfdf|
[1 b3 b- b2c'b|d'2d'c' b2bf|g2~g2 fdBd|cBcd Bcdf:|
[2 FB (3BBB cBcd|fB (3BBB cdfb|g4 fdBd|cBcd B2||
4
X: 4
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 AGBd|e3g edBG|A3B AGEG|
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 AGBd|e3g edBG|AGAB G3E:|
dg g2 g2ag|ab3 g3d|e2dg2de2-|edgd edBc|
dgg2 g2ag|ab3 g3d|e3g edBG|AGBA G4|
dg g2 g2ag|ab3 g3d|e2d g<dee-|e>dgd edBG|
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 AGBd|e3g edBG|AGBA G3E||
# Added by JACKB .
5
X: 5
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:Add2 edef|add2 efaf|b3d' afd2|e3f edBd|
Add2 edef|add2 efaf|b3d' afd2|ed c/B/A d2 fd:|
Add2 d2ed|ef2e d3A|B2Ad2AB2-|BAdA BAFG|
Add2 d2ed|ef2e d3A|B3d AFDB,|ED C/B,/A, D4|
Add2 d2ed|ef2e d3A|B2Ad2AB2-|BAdA BAFD|
A,DD2 EDEF|ADD2 EFAF|B3d AFD2|ED C/B,/A, D2 FD||
# Added by giamp .
6
X: 6
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
AF|EA A/A/A BABc|eA A/A/A cefa|f2 fa ecAc|BABc BAFA|
EA A/A/A BABc|eA A/A/A cefa|f2 fa ecAc|BABc A2:|
|:ce|{f}a3 a- aaba|c'3 b a2 ae|f2 ea- aef2-|feae fece|
{f}a3 a- aaba|c'3 b a2 ae|fa a/a/a ecAc|BABc A2:|
# Added by Tate .
7
X: 7
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Bmix
FB B/B/B cBcd|fB B/B/B cdfB|g3g fdBd|cBcd cBGB|
FB B/B/B cBcd|fB B/B/B cdfB|g3g fdBd|1 cBcd B2BG:|2 cBcd Bcdf||
fb2 b-b2c'b|d'2d'c' b2bf|fg2f b2fg-|gfbf gfdf|
fb2 b-b2c'b|d'2d'c' b2bf|fg g/g/g fdBd|cBcd Bcdf|
fb2 b-b2c'b|d'2d'c' b2bf|fg2f b2fg-|gfbf gfdB|
FB B/B/B cBcd|fB B/B/B cdfB|g3g fdBd|cBcd B2B,2||
8
X: 8
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
"G"DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|"C"e3g dBG2|"D"A3B AGEG|
"G"DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|"C"e3g dBG2|"D"AG F/E/D "G"G2 BG:|
"G"dgg2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|"C"e2dg2de2-|edgd "D"edBc|
"G"dgg2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|"C"e3g "G/B"dBGE|"D"AG F/E/D "G"G4|
"Em"dgg2 g2ag|"Bm"ab2a g3d|"C"e2dg2de2-|edgd "D"edBG|
"G"DGG2 AGAB|"Em"dGG2 ABdB|"C"e3g dBG2|"D"AG F/E/D "G"G2 BG||
9
X: 9
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3g dBG2|A3B AGDE|
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3g dBG2|AGED G2 BG:|
dgg2 g2ag|ab2a g2 gd|e2dg2de2-|edgd edBd|
dgg2 g2ag|ab2a g2 gd|e3g dB G2|AGED G4|
dgg2 g2ag|ab2a g2 gd|e2dg2de2-|edgd edBd|
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3g dBG2|AGED G2 BG||
10
X: 10
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
DG GG AG AB|dG GG AG Bd|e2 eg dB GB|A2 AB AG ED|
DG GG AG AB|dG GG AB dB|e2 eg dB GB|1 AG ED G3 E|2 AG ED G3 e:|
dg gg ag gg|b3a g2 d(e|e2) d(g g)d (e2|e)d gd ed Bd|
dg gg ag gg|b3a g2 d(e|e2) d(g g)d (e2|e)d gd ed BG|
DG GG AG AB|dG GG AG Bd|e2 eg dB GB|AG ED G3 E||
11
X: 11
T: The Road To Errogie
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Bmix
d3(d|:cB)cd|fB (3BBB (cd)fb|g3 (g fd)B(d|cB)cd cBGB|
FB (3BBB (cB)cd|fB (3BBB (cd)fb|g3 (g fd)Bd|
[1 cBcd B2 (BG)|FB (3BBB:|2 cBcd Bcdf]
b3 b- b2c'b|((d'2d')c') ((b2b)f)|(g2f) (b2f)(g2|g)fbf gfdf|
b3 b- b2c'b|((d'2d')c') ((b2b)f)|g3(g fd)Bd|cBcd Bcdf
b3 b- b2c'b|((d'2d')c') ((b2b)f)|(g2f) (b2f)(g2|g)fbf gfdB|
FB (3BBB (cB)cd|fB (3BBB (cd)fb|g3 (g fd)Bd cBcd|B4||

Forty-two comments

This is a great tune. Simple and powerfull. It’s on Flooks “haven” and Shannons an McGoldricks “tunes”. Sounds to be a new one, but I have no infos about the composer. The “tunes” version is slightly different:

X: 1
T: The Road to Errogie
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3d BAGB|A3B AGEG|
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3d BAGB|AGAB G3E:|
g2g2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|e2dg2de2-|edgd edBc|
g2g2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|e3d BAGB|AGBA G4|
g2g2 g2ag|ab2a g3d|e2dg2de2-|edgd edBG|
DGG2 AGAB|dGG2 ABdB|e3d BAGB|AGBA G3E||

The Road to Errogie B major

The Road to Errogie was composed by Scottish Fiddler Adam Sutherland. It was actually written in the the key of B major…yes…B major.
Some other recordings this tune appears on is the “Scottish Stepdance Company - Sole Music” and Adam’s own band “Croft No. 5 - Attention All Personnel”

Posted by .

B major shmee major

Aye it was written in ‘B’ first but each to their own like.

Posted by .

I was just learning this tune tonight, I got annoed because Tunes has it in Ab and Haven’s got it in Bb. The Flook version is most like the one on Tunes.

Posted by .

Hi my name is Adam and I wrote this tune in 1999 in the key of ‘B’, just because I couldn’t think of any other tunes that I had ever heard in that key and also because ‘B’ is unbelievably happy! It came after about 20 minutes of free jamming with my guitar playing mate Dave Sutherland of Lochaber (no relation) and took as long to write as it does to play. Essentially it is an improvisation. Look out for it on an up-coming album by ‘Session A9’ and also another up-coming album by ‘The Peatbog Faeries’. cheeeeers

Posted by .

It’s quite an easy tune to pick up but a bugger to play in Bmajor!! One of my friends from Shetland plays it in B and then the last time through the last part she modulates into C#major… a bugger to get in tune on the fiddle!!! Typical Shetlanders for you! hehe!!:P

Posted by .

I learnt it in A, is that ok Ad?

Shoz said; ‘I learnt it in A, is that ok?’
Shoz, I’m just delighted that ye like playing it in the first place. Anyway, different is good. Cheers

Posted by .

Bat?

Brian Finnegan said you composed it after a bat flew into your head while you were cycling back from the pub along the road to Errogie - myth?

Posted by .

Road to Errogie - what key do you play it in?

I about to learn Road to Errogie by Adam Sutherland - I love the tune. Now I know its written in B but that may be an effort for me to play on the fiddle. So a quick question to find out what is the most popular session key for it - G or A? Or do people just go for it and learn it in B ;)

thanks

Toby

Posted by .

Re: Road to Errogie - what key do you play it in?

Adam plays it in A himself. In Scotland that’s the key it’s normally played in sessions.

Re: Road to Errogie - what key do you play it in?

I have heard two versions one is Flook they do it in Bb which is G on the F whistle they play it on and there is also the version on “Tunes” where they play it in Ab which is really G on Eb instruments. I think if you played it in a session no one would even know the tune so it really doesn’t matter what key you play it in. I play it in G myself.

Posted by .

I know several people that play it in E, just because it’s a happy key, but one night there were just a few of us at a session, and we played it in nearly every key we could think of. its a great tune! way to go adam for writing it!!

So Ad do you get payed royalties now it’s on Comhaltas’s website?

Glad to hear that it’s played more in A in Scotland, it’s a great flute key.. I should come over there for a session 🙂 I find that although people know it here (Limerick, Eire), a lot of them seem to like to play it in G… it’s just not as uplifting, somehow.

Road to Errogie

Wonderful tune Adam! I wonder if you have recorded your official version of the tune. I also have learned it in A simply because I am musically challenged in the first place so I take all the easy paths I can find. What is special about the road (actual highway) to Errogie? Anyway it is a favorite of mine for sure!

Great reel

Was used in the Doherty School of Irish Dancing winning senior mixed figure……great tune for Dancing

The Key

Dear Adam,
thank you SO much for this tune, is one of my favourites.
Having said that, B ! really ? LOL
For mando players out there, I highly highly recommend A, it dam flies.

Setting #3 is an approximate transcription of Adam Sutherland’s own rendition in his solo clip, posted above - which is in B. (The tune submission facility only allows B mixolydian, but there are no A#s in the tune, anyway. Also, the 1st & 2nd time bars are not displayed properly in the sheet music.).

Note that the rhythm in bb. 3-4 of the B-part is different from that in the other settings (which are more like the way I have heard it played in sessions):

Adam Sutherland: | g2gf b2fg-| gfbf gfdf |
Other settings: | g2fb- bfg2-| gfbf gfdf |
I have also heard some young upstarts playing it thus: | g2fb- bfg2 | fb2f gfdf |
(I have written all of these examples in the same key for ease of comparison. I have never actually heard it played in B in a session).

The original has the least syncopation in that phrase, so I prefer it to the standard session version which makes my skin crawl. I would be inclined to just chuck out the syncopation altogether because I’m a grumpy barstard and go | g2gf bf~f2| gfbf gfdf | 🙂

In Canada, this tune is played in the key of A in started situations, although at Leahy Camp during both the pub session and the Grand Jam, it was played in A, then Bb, then finishing in B.

Posted by .

The Road To Errogie, X:6

Here is a cross between the version they play at Leahy Camp and what Andrea Beaton taught me. Andrea and I primarily play it in B major, but at Leahy, they play it in A, Bb, and B, one right after another.

Posted by .

🙂

Dear Adam,
You played this for us at the fiddle school in Robert’s Creek this year (2015) and it’s a brilliant, happy piece. Thank you so much for sharing your tune in the key of B. I’m going to learn it in this key ;)
Thanks for posting your video. That speaks loud and clear !!
Cheers from Vancouver, BC CANADA

Re: The Road To Errogie

Does anyone have a version of this in B major?

The Road To Errogie, X:7

The Road to Errogie in B major. I know it says B mix but that’s because B major is not an option.
A rough transcription from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kySYfeKAnHs.

On the fiddle each line in the B part starts with a first finger slide from the F# to the B note. To get back down the crotchet/quarter note B with first finger is followed by a quaver/eighth note B with the pinky and first finger F#.
Hope this fits the bill, Michael.

Re: The Road To Errogie

In retrospect, nearly identical to version posted by CreadurMawnOrganig in April 2013.

Re: The Road To Errogie

Thanks very much DonaldK

Re: The Road To Errogie

There’s a score in B major (yes, 5 sharps) over on Ian Lowthian’s (piano accordion) website: see http://www.ianlowthianaccordionweekends.com/tunes
It’s in the Advanced Guide Tunes section, (bottom right of the tunes section), no 7 of 29

Must try it on my box: you don’t often get a chance to put the B row of a B/C to full use! (Usually only when a singer lands on that key.)

If I may………

The Errogie Collection Volume 1, by Adam Sutherland is available for purchase.

The book can be had from:

Adam’s site: http://www.adamsutherland.co.uk/the-errogie-collection/

His publisher: http://www.musicscotland.com/cd/Adam-Sutherland---The-Road-To-Errogie-Collection-Volume-1.html

Also, and rather helpfully, Adam (accompanied by Hamish Napier and Mike Bryan on different tracks, piano and guitar respectively) has put up the tunes from the book on his youtube channel, some as sets and some in and of themselves, great resource for those interested and can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdEyCbkEbni1lZ_c4D3m_wQ

I know it’s a bit of a plug but then Adam himself has never objected to his material being posted on the session.org, indeed you can see that by his contribution to the discussion at the top of this thread.

Sláinte

Re: The Road To Errogie

My transcription of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJpbQIDywWc

I made a midi of it as well, and it’s as true to this version as I can make it (Adams performance variations notwithstanding).
And no, I won’t play it in B either, but this makes the midi match almost perfectly with how Adam plays it.

T:The Road To Errogie
C:Adam Sutherland
R:reel
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/2=100
K:Bmaj
%%MIDI program 40
|:BG | FB B/B/B {d}cBcd | fB B/B/B cdf[Bb] | {f}g3g fdBd | cBcd cBGB |
FB B/B/B {d}cBcd | fB B/B/B cdf[Bb] | {f}g3g fdBd |1 cBcd B2 :|2 cBcd Bc||
df | {g}b3 b- bbc‘b | {c’}d‘3 c’ b2 be | fg gf bz fg- | gf bf gfdf |
{g}b3 b- bbc‘b | {c’}d‘3 c’ b2 be | fg g/g/g fdBd | cBcd Bc ||
df | {g}b3 b- bbc‘b | {c’}d‘3 c’ b2 be | fg gf bz fg- | gf bf gfdB |
FB B/B/B {d}cBcd | fB B/B/B cdf[Bb] | {f}g3g fdBd | cBcd B2 ||

The Road To Errogie, X:11

Version played by Session A9 during their Live at Celtic Connections performance (Last tune in the Sporting Paddy set).