The Rocky Road To Dublin slip jig

The air of a well-known song, although singers tend to throw in a few extra beats here and there to accommodate the words, which tends to throw the musicians trying to accompany them. Be warned. I’ve heard this played (as a slip-jig) with a third part as well.

Does anyone know the words to this song? If they do, I would be grateful if you could post them.

Beware… a folk song is about to be perpetrated

In the Merry Month of May
From me home I started
Left the Girls of Tuam
Sad and Broken hearted
Saluted Father dear
Kissed my darlin Mother
Drank a Pint of beer
Me tears and grief to smother
In a brand-new pair o’ Brogues
I rattled o’er the bogs
and Frightened all the Dogs
on the Rocky road to Dublin

1 2 3 4 5
Hunt the Hare and turn her
down the Rocky road
and all the way to Dublin
Whack fol lol de ra.


etcc….

An old favourite of the "Dubliners", but if you want an alternative version, listen to Ged Foley sing it with "The House Band".

Do you know the rest of the song? You only gave the first verse and the corous.

http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/d/dubliners6611/therockyroadtodublin249318.html#

Im interested to know what you guys put in a set with Rocky Road to Dublin. I recently put it with a jig called lanigans ball and a reel called sleepy maggie and it works pretty well.

hi mate,
i cant remember what we end up playing it with, but i have a track by Gaelic Storm that plays it with the Kid On The Mountain afterwards.

it sounds alright!
andy

i’ve heard people put The Morning Dew with it.

Johnathan

Here are the lyrics as I sing ‘em:

All in the merry month of May,
from me home I started,
Left the girls o’ Tuam
nearly broken-hearted
Saluted father dear,
kissed me darling mother
Drank a pint o’ beer,
me grieves and tears to smother,
then off to reap the corn,
leave where I was born
Cut a stout blackthorn,
to banish ghost and goblins
[In a] brand new pair of brogues,
I rattled o’er the bogs,
a-frightenin’ all the dogs,
on the rocky road to Dublin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Hunt the hare and turn her down
The rocky road and all the way to Dublin
A-whack-fa-lal-de-rah

In Mullingar that night
I rested limbs so weary
Started by daylight,
next morning bright and early
Took a drop o’ the pure,
tae keep me heart from sinkin’
That’s the Paddy’s cure,
Whenever he’s on the drinkin’
Now see the lassies smile,
Laughing all the while,
At me curious style,
‘Twould set your heart a-bubblin’
Asking was I hired,
Wages I required
‘Til I was almost tired
Of the rocky road to Dublin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 …

In Dublin next arrived,
I thought it such a pity
To be so soon deprived
A view o’ that fine city
When I took a stroll,
all among the quality,
me bundle it was stolen
in that neat locality
A something crossed me mind
When I looked behind
Nay bundle I could finde
Upon me stick a-wobblin’
Inquiring for the rogue,
They said me Connacht brogue
It wasn’t much in vogue
On that rocky road to Dublin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 …

From there I got away,
Me spirits never failing
Landed on the quay
Just as the ship was sailing
Captain at me roared,
Said that nay had he,
When I jumped aboard,
A cabin found for Paddy’s
Doon among the pigs,
I played some funny rigs,
I danced some hearty jigs
The water ‘round me bubblin’
Off to Hollishead(?),
Wished meself was dead,
Or better far instead
On the rocky road to Dublin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 …

The boys of Liverpool,
when I safely landed,
called meself a fool
I could no longer stand it,
blood began to boil,
me temper I was losing
poor old Erin’s isle
they began abusing
"Hurrah me soul!" says I
Shillelagh I let fly,
Some Galway boys were nigh,
Saw I was a-wobbelin’
With a loud "Hurray!"
They joined in the afray
We quickly cleared the way,
For the rocky road to Dublin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Hunt the hare and turn her down
The rocky road, and all the way to Dublin
A-whack-fa-lal-de-rah

In the fourth verse, the name is ‘Holyhead’ - it’s a port on the Welsh island of Anglesey that the Dublin to Liverpool packet used to sail past.

The last bit of the last verse is wher he’s after getting into a fight with some liverpool lads and it sys" some Galway boys were by saw i was a swobbling =" which is an old word for fightin in Irish.

You can’t beat Luke kelly for singing that song and i’d wrestle any man to the gropund who thinks otherwise.
He’s a LEGEND….

Luke Kelly most certainly never sang “swobble”. “Swobble” doesn’t seem to exist in the meaning you ascribe to it. Can you direct me to any English or Irish dictionary where “swobble” means “fighting” as you say? The lyric is “saw I was a hobble in”. Do a google search for “rocky road to Dublin lyric” and check it out for yourself. Then do a search for “hobble” – one of the definitions is “ an awkward situation”, and that’s what yer man was in.
By the way, Jacqui McCarthy has a 3rd part for this. I’ll post it if anyone’s interested.

I’d be grateful for the tab for the aforementioned, for the 5 string, thanks.
Swobble. heh heh.

recently heard a great jazzed up version of song by Canadian group McDades on 2002 Cd "for reel". check it out!

Perhaps instead of "swobbling" you may have heard something like "squabbling" although the inferred meaning seems a bit less severe than the context leads me to believe. To my ear the word in question sounds like "hobbling".

A very very similar slipjig is #1116 by the same name in O’Niels.

But I wonder if it is actually the same piece transposed into some mode of the key of "A" because it also begins on "E" and the notes are as though altered to fit the mixolydian mode, which seems a little unusual for Irish music.

The two are so similar I that I tend to think it’s either an editorial error or simply a less popular variation. Has anyone ever run into this?

"The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music, Volume II", 1912
"Hop Jigs" ~ pages 24 – 28

X: 2
T: Rocky Road To Dublin, The
M: 9/8
L: 1/8
R: slip jig
K: Ador
|: efe d2 B A2 c | e2 A A2 A Bcd |
efe d2 B A2 c | B2 G G2 A Bcd :|
|: e2 a a2 f g2 g | e2 a a2 A Bcd |
[1 e2 a a2 f g2 e | d2 B G2 A Bcd :|
[2 efg agf gfe | dBG G2 A Bcd |]

http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/index.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/ROC.htm#ROCKY_ROAD_TO_DUBLIN_[1]

X: 3
T: Rocky Road, The
S: "Stanford/Petrie: Complete Collection", 1905, page 139, #548
M: 9/8
L: 1/8
R: slip jig
K: Ador
e2 c d2 B A3 | E2 A A2 B c2 d |
[1 e2 c d2 B A2 c | B2 G G2 A Bcd :|
[2 e2 g f2 a g2 e | d2 B G2 A Bcd ||
e2 a a2 ^g a3 | e2 a a2 f ged |
e2 a a2 f g2 e | d2 B G2 A Bcd |
e2 a a2 g g3 | e2 a a2 f g2 a |
b2 g a2 f g2 e | d2 B G2 A Bcd |]

"Squabble" means to fight… I suspect that might be the correct term.

X: 4
T: Rocky Road to Dublin, The
S: Michael Gorman
M: 9/8
L: 1/8
R: slip jig
K: Ador
Bcd |:\
e2 A A3 GED | E2 A A2 B c2 d |\
e2 A A3 GED | E2 G G2 F G2 B :|
|: e2 a a2 g a2 g | e2 a a3 g2 e |\
d2 g g2 f g3 | a2 g g2 e d2 g :|

Here’s the version from Tommy Keane and Jacqueline McCarthy - The Wind Among The Reeds - with the 3rd part mentioned by Kenny. I’ve notated it in 3/4 rather than 9/8 to give a better feel for how they play it as a hop jig. If you want to play it as groups of triplets instead of as written, just lengthen the first of each pair of 8th notes a bit.

Kenny - I’d be interested to see the version you have from Jacqui.

X: 5
T: The Rocky Road to Dublin
M: 3/4
S: The Wind Among the Reeds, Track 15
R: Hop Jig
K: Ador
(3 efe dB AG | EA AB cd | (3 efe dB Ac | BG GG Bd |
(3 efe dB AG | EA AB cd | (3 efg fa ge | dB GA Bd :|
|: ea af gg | ea aA Bd | ea af ge | dB GA Bd |
ea af gg | ea af ga | bb af ge | dB GA Bd :|
|:(3 efe dB cA | eA cA Bd | (3 efe dB cA | BG GG Bd |
(3 efe dB cA | eA cA Bd | (3 efg fa ge | dB GA Bd :|

I always have loved this slip jig as a song…but it’s super hard to dance to, especially if it is played right after another slip jig tune.
Anyway I’m glad I found the sheet music.

I quite like this version of it myself - the lyrics seem to fit the timing more than the traditional slipjig timing (which always seems to have extra beats thrown in at random) imo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QdbeM2JWYE

play video

the Rocky Road rocks

Here is a Youtube clip of the tune (32-bar version) being played for the Stoke Golding Country Dance at a ceilidh in Bath (UK):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=incobjf8FWc

play video

PJ Mcgorvin is pre-occupied with wether it is in a mode of a or mixalodian which he claims is unusual in ( irish ) music, mixylodian is quite common, as are the dorian modes and also the plain natural minors or aeoleon mode as it is also known. off course which key you play it in is dependant on the capabilities of your instrument and ones own ability to play in different modes keys . it seems to be a tune related in some way to the slipjig the Butterfly who knows which came first ,it doesn’t really matter,does it ? like this comment it’s irrelevant

This is an Irish version of a very old Scotch/Border tune in 3/2 called "A Hornpipe" which first appears in 1625. There are many other later versions from Scotland and Northern England called "Key To the Cellar", "Bobbing Joan" (John), "Stoney Batter", "Pawkie Adam Glen" and it was given words in I think 1715, as a rude Jacobite song called "Come Ye O’er From France" which refers to King George going into a brothel.

Thanks for that linkage, John Offord — I’m just getting into learning some 3/2s, and I see where you’re getting the connection to Key to the Cellar. Here’s a video of a ballroom dancing to the tune (warning, period wigs ensue): http://youtu.be/1_UEMm2XfbU

play video

A Caledonian gentleman told me that the song "Come Ye o’er"… is not in fact about a visit to a brothel, but about some Scottish Lairds coming to London after the Act of Union in 1707. The "Kittel Housie" in the song is in fact St James Palace in London. The Lairds mock the affected manners of the courtiers and the only very rude remark is about one of the ladies called "The Goosie" , because of her long neck. This might be one of King George’s mistresses, but I do not know.

"Cam ye o’er" is a mocking song about the House of Hanover, from a Jacobite perspective. The "Goosie" is Melusine von der Schulenburg, half sister and mistress to George I.

A good explanation here:

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/prescotj/data/music/camyeoer.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO8aznI_0xk

play video

My band performing this tune in a high energy video clip!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3wZrOZnMFY

play video

Learning this at the request of my s.o., who loves the song.
Version with a lovely C part, from https://thesession.org/recordings/4841 -
fixed the link too which went to https://thesession.org/tunes/10110 in error.

Can’t now remember which band it was, but somewhere in all my audio collection, I have a recording of a band singing it in 5/4 timing - presumably inspired by the 1 2 3 4 5 in the lyric!

And yes, there are a number of tunes that get played as slip jigs in Ireland, but as 3/2 hornpipes in England and Scotland.

I think the version you’re referring to, trish, may have been by "The House Band", sung by Ged Foley.

Aye, that’s the one, Kenny!

Robert Burns used this melody (the Scottish 3/2 hornpipe version) for his song "Robin Shure in Hairst", which I was taught by Jean Redpath back in 1972.

So here is the Steeleye Span version of "Cam Ye O’er Frae France": certainly seems to be a 3/2 hornpipe very similar otherwise melodically to RRTD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NrHkf7rB34

play video

And in case you didn’t pick up a’ the wurds (but ye micht need a translator!):

CAM YE O’ER FRAE FRANCE
Cam ye o’er frae France, cam ye doon by Lunnon
Saw ye Geordie Whelps and his bonnie woman
Were ye at the place ca’d the kittle hoosie
Saw ye Geordie’s grace ridin’ on a goosie

Geordie he’s a man, there is little doubt o’t
He’s da’en a’ he can, wha can dae wi’oot it
Doon there cam a blade, linkin’ like my lordie
He would drive a trade at the loom o’ Geordie

Though the claith were bad, blithely may we niffer
Gin we get a wab, it makes little differ
We hae tint our plaid, bonnet, belt and swordie
Ha’s and mailins braid … but we hae a Geordie

Jocky’s gone to France, an’ Montgomery’s lady
There they’ll learn to dance - Madam, are you ready
They’ll be back belyve, belted brisk and lordly
Brawly may they thrive tae dance a jig wi’ Geordie

Hey for Sandy Don, hey for Cockolorum
Hey for Bobbing John and his Hieland quorum
Many a sword and lance swings at heel and hurdie
How they’ll skip and dance o’er the bum o’ Geordie

Repeat verse 1

This is Mickey Doherty’s setting of the tune. I wrote both parts twice to show his variations, although I took them from different repetitions of the tune. Rather similar to X:7 above.

This is just the version ceolochan added in the notes in 2009. Wanted to see it in notation and my conversion program broke.

This is my attempt at notating a version that’s mostly like the High Kings do the song, with some lyrics. However, when they do it, they throw some extra beats in (as somebody further up mentioned).

The rhythm and extra beat is like this:
fright-nin’ all the do-gs| (9/8)
on~the Roc-ky|Road to Dub—lin, (2 x 6/8)

You’re right, Jeff. The reason I posted it this way is that I’ve found the extra beats throw off people when they’re trying to play together. Maybe this is more like the way the Orthodox Celts do it in that sense.

An A mixolydian version taken from ‘A Fine Selection of Over 200 Irish Traditional Tunes for Sessions’, compiled by David Speers with a Forward by Matt Cranitch.

first version almost identical to the butterfly jig?

Good version, fairly easy. From "The Celtic Fiddler" arr. Edward Huws Jones - 1st tune in the book and I really loved it. (cd comes with book)

A bit of Seamus Ennis at the end

I learned Rocky Road from O’Neill’s - the problem often with slip jigs is that they never end, so you find a compatible jig that has an ending to follow it, or you’ll be playing it for eternity. I follow it with "The Coach Road to Sligo", it slides nicely onto it. We often end sets with it, after a hornpipe set - Listowel/Harvest Home/Fairies. All in O’Neill’s. Butterfly Jig is similar, I follow it with "Red Stockings".

Hi all. I’ve been hearing the song for years as well as many instrumentals of it. But, I’ve not heard a third part until recently. Has that always been a part? Or was it added, maybe in "modern" times to add interest if it’s not being sung?

Just askin.

Thanx
Mike

Well, I don’t know where you intend to place border beetween old and modern time, but 3rd part version of Rocky road to Dublin was played by Seamus Ennis at least 40 years ago.
So, I would not consider 3 part version as modern thing.
Marin

Hi Mike - I was browsing through "Irish Folk Music - A Fascinatiing Hobby" - by Capt. Francis O’Neill, originally published in 1910. He has this to say about "The Rocky Road To Dublin" [ page 107 ] :
"The Rocky Road To Dublin", probably the most widely known of Hop or Slip jigs, is not one of the oldest. The earliest printed versions which we have found are in "The Citizen" magazine, published in Dublin in 1841".
He goes on to mention the 3-part version thus :
"Our setting of this famous tune, obtained from John McFadden, consists of three instead of the ordinary version of two strains".
So a 3-part version was certainly being played in Chicago before 1910. Hope this helps, Kenny.

From my childhood days holidaying in Ireland, I tried to learn the Irish place names. "Baile Ath Cliath" (Dublin). As for "rock", the Blackrock sign was "Carraig Dubh". That right?
Perhaps Scottish Gaelic words are similar.