The Tarbolton reel

Also known as Cooleen Bridge, Droiċead Na Cuilín, Droichead Na Ciulin, Droichead Na Cuilín, Hatton Burn, The High Cross, The Tarboltan, Tarbolten Lodge, Tarbolton Lodge, Tarbottal Lodge.

There are 92 recordings of a tune by this name.

A tune by this name has been recorded together with The Longford Collector (lots of times), The Sailor’s Bonnet (lots of times), The Warlocks (lots of times), Bog An Lochan (a few times) and Malcolm Finlay’s (a few times).

The Tarbolton has been added to 80 tune sets.

The Tarbolton has been added to 1,012 tunebooks.

Download ABC

Seven settings

X: 1
T: The Tarbolton
R: reel

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X: 2
T: The Tarbolton
R: reel

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X: 3
T: The Tarbolton
R: reel

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X: 4
T: The Tarbolton
R: reel

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X: 5
T: The Tarbolton
R: reel

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X: 6
T: The Tarbolton
R: reel

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X: 7
T: The Tarbolton
R: reel

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Twenty-eight comments

Mighty Tune

This is often played as a set
Tarbolton/The Longford Collector/The Sailor’s Bonnet
Michael Coleman recorded this then the Bothy Band recorded a take of it - cementing these three tunes together forever.
Anywho those three tunes are all great on their own as well. This is also known as The Tarbolton Lodge, judging by the name it’s originally Scottish (I Guess) but now it’s Irish as Boxty. I like this tune because it’s not all arpegio’s & not very repetitive, it’s got a flowing melody that’s rock solid.
I’ll post the rest of the reels in due time.

tarbolton lodge is found can the athole collection of scottish fiddle tunes….and no doubt a few other collections

Chieftains 7

There’s a great version of this tune on track 1 of the Cheiftains 7. It simply sounds magical.

Tarbolton

Johnny Doran and John Kelly played a smoking version on "The Bunch of Keys."

Doran

yes, doran and kelly did a good rendition that was followed up by fermoy lasses

Spillane

this set can also be heard by davy spillane’s "one day in june" on his shadow hunter album. his variation deviates a lot from the tune at times but nethertheless it is great hearing.

Cooleen Bridge

Under this name it appears in O’Neill’s 1001.
Fiddler Johnny Allen, County Clare, gave this tune and “The Maids of Feakle” to O’Neill when the latter was visiting in the area. (source: Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, 1999)

The Blue Book and The Orange Book

In these books the tunes are arranged in sets. The tunes are played at a very pleasant speed making learning them easy and enjoyable. I would recommend these two books and accompanying CD’s as the first books to buy for anyone who is serious about Irish music. It has taken me four years to stumble upon them. I could of saved a lot of time and aggravation if I had known of them. The Blue and Orange books are a must!

Blue and Orange Books

I neglected to say that Tarbolton,Longford Collector and Sailor’s Bonnet is a set in the Blue Book.

How do you pronounce this?

is the accent on the first or second syllable?

Second syllable as far as I know.

Missing note

What note is missing at the beginning of the B part?

f#. At least, that’s how Buddy MacMaster and I both play it, and I’m sure we can’t both be wrong.

Davy Spillane’s "One Day in June" set consists of —
My Love is in America / The Galway High / Tarbolton / The Longford Collector / The Sailor’s Bonnet

The Tarbolton

Here it is played at a good session, from about 20 secs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Zx_VSOzfA

play video

How do you pronounce this? If anyone’s still interested…

The village of Tarbolton in East Ayrshire, near which the Lodge was situated (the closest thing now is a caravan park with "pet friendly lodges"!) is locally pronounced Tar-BOW-ton with bow as in the front of a ship, not a bow tie. The inhabitants of the big house probably said "bol", but the stress is still on the second syllable.

One day in june “Shadow hunter” David Spillane Tarbolton - Longford tinker - Sailor´s bonnet

1

2

A valiant effort MN, but what a mess… :-/ I’d go back to the drawing board, like learning a bit more about notation in general, and ABC notation specifically, as well as retuning your ears and giving Spillane a closer listen, several. You could then run your next attempt past one of us here, even in discussion, and seek a bit of help, please, before you add anything more here…

Wishing you the best - ‘c’

:-p

Oh no, you’ve been laying it on thick elsewhere as well… P-l-e-a-s-e - learn ABC notation before you do anymore, learn the basics for starters, like laying out the tune in 4 bar measures, grouping the notes in the usual fashion for the various time signatures, AND - using the headers too, out of respect for the music and those who might stumble across your attempts…

Johnny Keenan Version - The Feekers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmHksw_ubjk&feature=plcp

play video

Tarbolton

Here’s a nice setting on mandolin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQk7RVmZZ0o

play video

Finbar’s version

I learnt this version from an LP I bought many years ago of Finbar Furey.

Tarbolton Lodge

‘Lodge’ refers to a Masonic Lodge, in this case the branch set up by Robert Burns in the Tarbolton Bachelor’s Club. The building is still there, open to the public and containing many original artefacts. Run by knowledgeable guides and you get the run of the place as, in my experience, you’ll be the only one there.

A rousing Chieftains rendition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_kNC6GyJFM

play video

Solo whistle version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMODyd87Ej4

play video

The Tarbolton, X:7

I learned this tune in the early 70s from The Dayhills. I sat in with them occasionally while they were in St. Paul, MN. They spent about half the year there and the rest in Ireland. Always loved their version and I still play it.

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