Coen’s Memories reel

I’ve heard to different recordings of this tune with this name. One was De Dannan and the other Paul McGrattan and Paul O’Shaughnessy.
I hope this is the one you were after.

Barney, this is the other tune that I know by this name, learned from that old DeDannan album. Now I call it Tommy Coen’s, a name I’ve seen it listed under in many other sources. Strikes me that these two Cottages in the Glen are of the same tune family—different but similar in many respects.

Will I think you’re right on the Tommy Cohens front. That rings a bell with me now.

I know this same tune as Cottage in the Grove. The history of tune names is very interesting. On the liner notes of Vincent Griffin’s (Clare fiddler) solo album it is noted that those tunes that were unnamed were arbitrarily given names for use in the liner notes. I’m not saying that’s common practice but often tune names vary from session to session and place to place.

Felix Doran’s piping of this tune and Paddy Ryan’s fiddling, both in A minor, is transcribed in Ceol Rince II, #221 and #226. I have a Paddy Carty session tape with it in Gminor. Versatile tune!

https://thesession.org/tunes/1170
This might be a Clare setting of "Down the Broom."

Oh blimey, you’ve missed the bar that really makes this tune for me. In the De Dannan version, that 1st bar is just beautiful. The following transcription is from Frankie Gavin:

X: 1
T: The Cottage In The Grove
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
S: De Dannan - The Mist Covered Mountain
K:Edor
F|EDB,A, B,EFA|B2eB dBAF|DEFD E2DB,|A,B,DF EDB,A,|
B,E~E2 DEFA|Be (3eee dBAF|DEFA dBAF|EGFD ~E3:|
|:A|Be~e2 fedB|egfe dBAF|~A3B d2fd|edef d2BA|
Be~e2 fedB|egfe dBAF|DEFA dBAF|EGFD ~E3:|

Great tune indeed. Works well on banjo and reed instruments I think. I first came across from the playing of John Carty (on Banjo) on TV where Nicolas O Carolan named it "Coen’s Memories" or "The Crosses of Annagh". On Kieran Hanrahan’s album (which I learnt it from), he simply calls it "Tommy Coen’s". But as there are other tunes under the "Tommy Coen’s" , "Cottage in the Glen" and "Crosses of Annagh" title, I usually refer to it as "Coen’s Memories" for a safe bet.

Key signature: A Dorian
Submitted on October 23rd 2006 by Effie.
https://thesession.org/tunes/6287

Alas #6287 is no more, but I was suspecting this might go ‘POOF!’ That is not always an easy thing to determine, some things very different than others disappear by virtue of the same name, some survive that are note-for-note identical, but this had mixed problems, with duplication and with the notation. I think the effort deserves space anyway, so I’ve cleaned it up just a little and am giving it here as it pretty much was on October 23rd when Effie submitted it. It offers some nice alternative ways with this lovely air:

R: reel
K: A Dorian
AGED EABd | ea (3aaa gedB | G3 B AE E2 | DEGB AGED |
EAGB ABcd | ea (3aaa gedB | G2 {GB}d2 e2 dB | GABG ABAG |
EA (3AAA ABcd | eaaf gedB | G3 B AE E2 | DEGB AGED |
EAGB ABcd | eaaf gedB | G2 {GB}d2 e2 dB | GABG ABcd |
Ea (3aaa bage | a3 a gedB | d3 e g2 gb | a3 e g2 ed |
ea (3aaa bage | a2{ga} ba gedB | GABd egdB | GABG ABcd |
ea (3aaa bage | ~a2 ba gedB | ~d2 de g2 gb | a3 e ~g2 ed |
ea (3aaa bage | a2 ba gedB | G2 {GB}d2 egdB | GABG A2 AG ||

Source of ‘unknown’ (the above transcription)
Cathal Hayden’s album "Cathal Hayden" track 2, tune 2:
https://thesession.org/recordings/451
# Posted on October 23rd 2006 by Effie

This is A dorian!!! ( ~ with a bit of liberal editing! 😉 )
# Posted on October 23rd 2006 by The Phantom Button

Key signature: A Dorian
Submitted on January 22nd 2002 by Josh Kane.
https://thesession.org/tunes/514

I’ve read that this tune was composed by Tommy Coen as "Coen’s Memories".

In the sleeve notes of Mary MacNamara’s second album, David Taylor writes about the origin of the title:

"The first of this selection was composed by east Galway fiddle player Tommy Coen. Published in several collections under such titles as Coen’s Memories, Collin’s Reel, Jack Doyle’s Favourite, the most common name is Cottage in the Grove. A tune by the latter name which appeared in the Roche Collection volume three has remarkable similarities to Coen’s tune; this may account for the confusion. Like many composers, Coen never gave his tunes names…."

Cottage in the Grove in the Roche collection is the tune now often called McGovern’s Favourite: https://thesession.org/tunes/2430

This appears under the title "Joe Bane’s" on Kate McNamara’s "Are You The Concertina Player?" (track 6)
https://thesession.org/recordings/3033

Here’s my transcription of Kate McNamara’s version:
X:1
T:Joe Bane’s
t:The Cottage In The Glen
X:Tommy Coen’s
S:Kate McNamara
D:Are You The Concertina Player
Z:Gary Martin
L:1/8
M:C|
R:reel
K:EDor
B,2ED EFGA|BBef dBA2|F2EE FDD2|EGFE DB,A,2|
B,2ED EFGA|BBef dBA2|FEDE FABA|FEDE [1 FEE2:|[2 FEEA||
Beed e2de|f2ef dBA2|F2EE FDDD|EGFE DB,A,2|
[1 Beee fddd|edBc d2de|fdef dBAF|DEFD EFGA:|
[2 B,2ED EFGA|BBef dBA2|FEDE FABA|FEDE FEE2|]

Hi

David Taylor here. I admit to not knowing that much about Tommy Coen but some years ago I had a phone conversation with someone who did who told me that Tommy had only written a few tunes, possibly as few as three, this being one of them.

Tommy also wrote ‘Christmas Eve’, though he didn’t give it any name.

I’ve since spoken to Patsy Lewis, Liam Lewis’s sister, who said that Tommy did write quite a few more tunes but for "family reasons" - to be tactful - they’re not out there.

Anyway…Sean Moloney plays several Tommy Coen tunes, as his dad, Eddie Moloney, was a great friend and playing buddy of Tommy’s.

I may try to get more Coen tunes together: Patsy believes that "The Bluebells" in CREII may well be one of his.

All the best
David Taylor

here’s a suggested simplified first part for the wind players:
E3D EFGA |B2 ec dBAF |D3 F EFDE|FAFE EDFD|
E3D EFGA |B2 ec dBAF |DEFA dBAF |1DEFD E2 ED :|

This is how I play it on the Whistle. It has originally been Norbeck’s Transcription, which is very close to DeDannan’s Version, and still has this cool opening phrase.

T:The Cottage in the Grove
R:reel
M:C|
K:Edor
edBA BEFA|B2eB dBAF|DEFD E2GB|Adfd edBA|
BE~E2 DEFA|B2eB dBAF|DEFA dBAF|1 DEFD E2EF:|2 DEFD E2EA||
|:Be~e2 fedB|eBfe dBAF|~A3B d2fd|edef d2BA|
Be~e2 fedB|e2fe dBAF|DEFA dBAF|1 DEFD E2EA:|2 DEFD E2EF||

As far as I cane tell it’s listed as "Cone’s Memories" and it’s in D dorian, not in E dorian. The De Dannan version is in E dorian.

There is also a tune on the same album that is similar, but it seems like a different tune.

http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_421_9_sorcha_costello/

X:1
T:Tommy Coen’s Reel
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Gdor
|:GFDC DGAc|dggg fdcA|FFFA FGFD|CFAF GFDF|
|CFAF GABc|dggg fdcA|FGAc dAcA|1FGAF G2GA:|2FGAF GABc
|:dggg agfd|ggag fdcA|cccd fffa|gfga gfdc|
|dggg agfd|ggag fdcA|FGAc dAcA|1FGAF GABc:|2FGAF G2GA|

This is the way i play the reel according to Thierry Denni variation below :
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8d27uvk99ts5i7o/2014-03-06_17-28-45_110.wav

Apologies if my setting in too redundant, but it seems closest to the banjo part in DeDannan’s version.

East Clare G dorian version.

Ceol Rince na hÉireann vol. 2 tune 226 (gan ainm) is this tune, as is “Jack Doyle’s Favourite”, transcribed from Shaskeen’s playing, in the book Crossroads Dance.

A versatile tune, I’ve heard it and played it in D minor, E minor, G minor and A minor.

Thanks to "GaryAMartin" for adding the Gdor version of the tune. The soulful version of the tune!

This G dorian setting is based on the playing of Rowan Piggott who got it from his dad who played it with De Danann as The Cottage In The Grove.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T4RVmfsTU4

play video

One of my favourite tunes - my transcription of Charlie Piggot’s version (with De Dannan) on The Mist Covered Mountain. Charlie will always be my banjo heroe!

X:13 is the setting given in the appendix to Maria Holohan’s thesis on the music of Paddy Fahey, where she includes a few other tunes associated with what has been described as an East Galway style. (The thesis considers the merits of this attribution as a regional characteristic).

Apart from the C-major key sig, it only seems to differ from some of the settings above in a few details of phrasing. The chord suggestions are mine and are in no sense authentic.

I love the De Dannan version of this tune but it seems none of the transcriptions are entirely accurate. There’s a lot of flats in this tune, the first notes are G F Eb C Bb C Eb G Bb C

Actually the second setting is pretty accurate if you take into account that they play instruments tuned a semi-tone higher.

https://thesession.org/tunes/558#setting13522

A low version in D Dorian, suited to the tenor banjo.