The Lark’s March jig

“browndog” asked about this tune, which I thought would have been here, but if it is, I haven’t been able to find it. I first heard it by “The Boys Of The Lough”, and learned their version of the tune, but it may have changed slightly over the years. There are different versions of the tune in Breathnach’s CRE Vol.1, Bulmer & Sharpley Vol.4, and also at Henrik Norbeck’s website. Sometimes known as “The Geese In The Bog”, but as there’s a more common tune of that name, that just confuses things.

Glad to finally see this here. I was too shy… ;-) Now, if it survives I’ll try to remember to return here and offer up at least one other take on it… Someone had mentioned this 5-parter ages ago, which is what started off the long delay……….. Good on yuh Kenny…

Submitted on April 9th 2003 by slainte.
https://thesession.org/tunes/1580

& browndog’s comment… Hell, he had it in a book, why didn’t he ABC it for us? No matter, now it is here… Hey browndog, if you and Rafferty’s take on this is different, can we please have the notes added here in the comments?

"The Lark’s March" ~ For clarity, while these two melodies share the same name, they are different tunes….

Bulmer & Sharpley, 1976 ~ out of print
Page 22, tune #62

K: D Major
B |:
AFE F3 | DED DFB | AFE FAE | DFA B2 d |
AFE F3 | DED D2 f | gfe fdB | AFA B3 :|
|: A2 d fdB | ABA AFB | A2 d fdB | AFA B2 d |
A2 d fdB | ABA Aef | gfe fdB | AFA B3 :|
|: Add fdd | edd fdB | Add fdB | AFA B2 A |
Add fdB | ABA Aef | gfe fdB | AFA B2 d :|
|: DFA dAF | DFA BAF | DFA dAF | DFA B2 A |
DFA d2 A | dfe def | gfe fdB | AFA B3 :|
|: d3 def | AFF FED | ded def | ~a3 A2 B |
d2 d def | ded def | gfe fdB |1 AFA B3 :|
2 AFA B2 || This second ending is an addition…

Is it related to "The Lark In The Morning"?They certainly share some similarities.

Submitted on May 25th 2001 by Jeremy.
https://thesession.org/tunes/62

Really only the one part, the last/4th part of "The Lark in the Morning" and the 3rd part of "The Larks March", and of course ~ Larks! They are inspiring birds… I don’t have the information at hand for dating either, but it wouldn’t surprise me that either the parts got mixed in, or one was the inspiration of the other. You could, if you were mad enough, just about create one huge tune from the two… ;-)

They each have their repeating phrase endings that are shared between every part, bars four and eight… Here is a comparison of the parts with their respective endings:

"The Lark’s March" ~ Part-C (3rd)
|: Add fdd | edd fdB | Add fdB | AFA B2 A |
Add fdB | ABA Aef | gfe fdB | AFA B2 d :|

"The Lark in the Morning" ~ Part-D (4th and last)
|: Add fdd | edd fdd | Add fdd | edB BdB |
Add fdd | edB def | g2 e f2 d | edB BdB :|

This jig is on Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington’s recent album "Fortune Favours the Merry." The sleeve notes informs Paddy Killoran recorded it in the mid-1930s.

Yes, and a damn fine recording… HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

I should have been specific, as I am unfamiliar with the Horan Harrington recording… I was exclaiming over the Paddy Killoran recording ~ with bias…

There was a discussion about this tune over at C&F a fair while ago. From what I recall, it’s more properly known as the Geese in the Bog (and on the pipes, a couple of the parts have some nice honking low Ds, so it indeed sounds like a goose!).

Seamus Ennis insisted it’s name was the Lark’s March, but Paddy Killoran recorded it as the Geese in the Bog. I for one prefer the Lark’s March, since 1) you don’t get it confused with the two-part Geese, and 2) you get to tell his great story about the competition between two pipers.

"There’s a story, in Ireland, about a competition between two pipers…"

There is also an 8-part "Geese in the Bog" which I submitted a few months back, with the intention of providing a number of alternate names and takes, including 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 part versions and links to relatives, with information attached, and I ahd it all in hand ~ ~ ~ but ~ ~ ~ before I could do that ~ ~ ~ the submission was axed ~ ~ ~ "Poof!!!’ ~ ~ ~ and I never got what I’d call a satisfactory reason for that.

But, I’m glad that someone managed to submit one of those versions, this 5-parter, and it looks like this time it might remain. Let’s hope that with you behind it Kenny it will survive. Anyway Kenny, now you’ll see why I was shy to attempt it again, even with one of the other takes, like the requested 5-part version… Anyway, I’ve added just a little here, and I’ll leave it up to someone else to add all the other many takes and links on this melody set… 2 to 8… I didn’t find anything larger than 8, but that was a fine version and had history…

OK, so ceolachan coaxed me into posting this… :-) I, too, was too shy to post this previously…

The A, B, & D parts were taught by Mike Rafferty at East Durham in 2004. I transcribed them directly from my lesson tape. He called it "Tom Broderick’s" because he got it from Tom Broderick, who was a neighbor of Mike Rafferty’s when he was young. The "A+B+D" setting is the only setting that I have learned so far, but for completeness, I have copied the C and E parts directly from a compilation by Lesl Harker called "300 TUNES from Mike Rafferty".

X:1
T: Tom Broderick’s
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:jig
K:Dmaj
B|:AFE F3|DED D2B|AFE F3|DFA BdB|
AFE F3|DED D2f|gfe fdB|1 AFA BdB:|2 AFA B2A|

|:d2e fed|AFA DFA|d2e fed|AFA b2A|
def edB|BAF ABd|faf edB|1 AFA b2A:|2 AFA b2b|

|:ABd fdd|ede fdB|ABd fed|edA BAF|
A2d fdd|ede fed|faf g2e|edA BdB:|

|:DFA dAF|DFA BGE|DFA d2F|GEF GFE|
DFA d2e|edC def|gfe fdB|AFA b2b:|

|:d2d def|A3 AFA|e3 ede|fed BAB|
d2d DEF|A3 AFA|e3 ede|1 fdC d2a|2 fdC d3:||

This is the 2nd tune I ever learned. The way I had it originally was the first 2 parts as posted by Browndog. A few weeks later Mike told me he remembered another part to it and would I like it, yes please, and I got the third part.

Several years later when we were playing tunes on pipes and whistle (me on whistle mind you) this one came up again, but the third part had disappeared (he felt it sounded too much like the Lark in the Morning) and the fourth part appeared before the 5th part. So nowadays we play it that way, first part, 2nd, 4th and then 5th.

I believe it was Seamus Ennis who called this tune The Lark’s March. I use this as my reference title because the Geese in the Bog is the name for another tune I have, as Kenny also mentioned. But I mainly call it Tom Broderick’s Jig. I did find this tune in Breathnach and in Henrik Norbeck’s collection with the third part included (also there are even more parts as Ceolachan mentioned, I think I found up to 7 myself) so when I did the book I left in that third part.

As Slainte mentions it is on the Fortune Favours the Merry with Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington. Was I surprised one day listening in the car "sheesh they’re playing Tom Broderick’s Jig!"

A small anecdote on Tom Broderick - he and Barrell Rafferty used to go over to the Ballinasloe fair (30 miles, walking "by shank’s mare" or getting a ride in a cart) to see and hear the blind piper Dinny Delaney.

Lesl

My ‘b’s are supposed to be ‘B’s. I apologize for the typos.

~ with a few adjustments to an unintended low C here and there, and that DEF and an a and a repeat in a strange place… ;-)
T: Tom Broderick’s
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:jig
K:Dmaj
|: B |
AFE F3 | DED D2 B | AFE F3 | DFA BdB |
AFE F3 | DED D2 f | gfe fdB |1 AFA Bd :|
2 AFA B2 A ||
|: d2 e fed | AFA DFA | d2 e fed | AFA B2 A |
def edB | BAF ABd | faf edB |1 AFA B2 A :|
2 AFA B2 B ||
|: ABd fdd | ede fdB | ABd fed | edA BAF |
A2 d fdd | ede fed | faf g2 e | edA BdB :|
|: DFA dAF | DFA BGE | DFA d2 F | GEF GFE |
DFA d2 e | edc def | gfe fdB | AFA B2 B :|
|: d2 d def | A3 AFA | e3 ede | fed BAB |
d2 d def | A3 AFA | e3 ede |1 fdc d2 A :|
2 fdc d2 ||

Seamus Ennis recorded this tune a number of times, this 5 part version appeared as The Lark`s March on Forty Years of Irish Piping, a 2 part version titled An Buachaillin Bui appeared
on The Return From Fingal.

Robbie Hannan also recorded a 2 part version as An Buachaillin Bui on Traditional Irish Music Played on the Uilleann Pipes.

Hey gardener2 (is there a gardener1, 3 or more?) ~ what about some ABC’s, if there are any interesting differences? Ennis was also familiar with the 8-part version… Robbie is a fine piper and I’d love to see a transcript of him playing this, but maybe better in the comments for the two-part contribution ~ the link is given up top…

The Burnt Old Man: https://thesession.org/tunes/1029

Noel Hill & Tony Linnane also recorded it under the title "Geese In The Bog" - confusing, as Kenny points out.

Listen to Mairead Hurley of Ballymote play a gorgeous version of this jig on the concertina: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/thebloomofyouth/rams/2007/4august.smil (starts around 35:20)
From The Bloom of Youth 2007: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/thebloomofyouth

Michael Coleman’s version: https://thesession.org/tunes/2272

X: 1
T: Geese In The Bog
S: Paddy Killoran
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Dmaj
dB |: AFF EFE | DB,D D2B | AFF EFE | DFA BdB |
AFF ~E3 | DB,D D2f | gfe fdB |1 AFA BdB :|2 AFA ~B2A ||
|: Add fdB | AFA AFA | Add fdB | AFA ~B3 |
Add fdB | AFA A2f | gfe fdB |1 AFA ~B3 :|2 AFA ~B2A ||
|: Add fdd | edd fdB | Add fdB | AFA ~B3 |
Add fdd | edd fdd | faf edB | AFA ~B3 :|
|: DFA dAF | DFA AFA | DFA dAF | DFA ~B3 |
DFA dAF | DFA def | gfe fdB | AFA ~B2A :|
|: def def | dAF DFA | def dAF | DFA ~B2A |
def def | ~d3 def | gfe fdB |1 AFA ~B2A :|2 AFA BdB ||

X: 2
T: Lark’s March, The
B: Bulmer & Sharpley’s "Music from Ireland: Volume 4", 1976, Page 22, tune #62
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Dmaj
B |:\
AFE F3 | DED DFB | AFE FAE | DFA B2 d |
AFE F3 | DED D2 f | gfe fdB | AFA B3 :|
|: A2 d fdB | ABA AFB | A2 d fdB | AFA B2 d |
A2 d fdB | ABA Aef | gfe fdB | AFA B3 :|
|: Add fdd | edd fdB | Add fdB | AFA B2 A |
Add fdB | ABA Aef | gfe fdB | AFA B2 d :|
|: DFA dAF | DFA BAF | DFA dAF | DFA B2 A |
DFA d2 A | dfe def | gfe fdB | AFA B3 :|
|: d3 def | AFF FED | ded def | ~a3 A2 B |
d2 d def | ded def | gfe fdB |[1 AFA B3 :|[2 AFA B2 ||

& Browndog’s again ~

X: 3
T: Tom Broderick’s
B: "300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty", compiled by Lesl Harker
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: DMaj
B |:\
AFE F3 | DED D2 B | AFE F3 | DFA BdB |
AFE F3 | DED D2 f | gfe fdB |[1 AFA BdB :|[2 AFA B2 A ||
|: d2 e fed | AFA DFA | d2 e fed | AFA B2 A |
def edB | BAF ABd | faf edB |[1 AFA B2 A :|[2 AFA B2 B ||
|: ABd fdd | ede fdB | ABd fed | edA BAF |
A2 d fdd | ede fed | faf g2 e | edA BdB :|
|: DFA dAF | DFA BGE | DFA d2 F | GEF GFE |
DFA d2 e | edc def | gfe fdB | AFA B2 B :|
|: d2 d def | A3 AFA | e3 ede | fed BAB |
d2 d def | A3 AFA | e3 ede |[1 fdc d2 A :|[2 fdc d2 |]

Mike Rafferty also has this in G called "The Mist in the Meadow"

X:988
T:Mist In the Meadow, The
S:Book-Mike Rafferty, Second Wind
Z:Nigel Gatherer
L:1/8
M:6/8
K:G
gdB BAB | GBA GBd | gdB BAB | GBd ezd |
gdB BAB | GBA GBd | gfe fdB | ABd ezd :|
g3 bag | fdf afd | g3 bag | afd e2d |
g3 bag | fdf afd | gfe fdB | ABd e2d :|

I have recorded the G version myself as the Mist on the Meadow, Nigel. I have come to the conclusion however that’s a mistake. The oldest recording of the tune I can think of is that by McKenna. He paired two tunes if I remember correctly, The Mist on the Meadow and the Castlebar Traveller. This one is in fact the Castlebar Traveller. Never made the connection with the Geese in the Bog/Lark’s March before so that’s my new insight for the day.

Link to the similar tune in G: https://thesession.org/tunes/1205

Also do you mean Castlebar Races, not Castlebar Traveller?

"I have recorded the G version myself as the Mist on the Meadow, Nigel. I have come to the conclusion however that’s a mistake."

Well, you’re in good company. Would I have heard your recording, prof?

Yes, thanks prof for the heads up on that one.

PS it was James Morrison who recorded the Mist On The Meadow/Castlebar Races set in 1922. A decade later, it seems John McKenna recorded Castlebar Races under the Mist title.

Yes, sorry. My memory had gone a bit fuzzy on the details and I only half remembered the McKenna one and a reversal of names in a set.

I got the tune from playing it with Jackie Daly week after week after week. In fairness, he called the the Mist on the Mountain. It was a long time after I worked back to the Castlebar Races as it’s name.

http://youtu.be/TRwZQiM7kfo

play video

First jig, 2nd is "The Monaghan".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k68EExhy-3c

play video