Miss Galvin’s hornpipe

A nice little hornpipe, not very hard & you can get your teeth into it.

PS watch out for those pesky C naturals in the ends of the high bar.

I play it a bit differently, without the c-naturals - I may just hae misremembered it, as I don’t hear it played very often. It is a lovely tune, and unusual among hornpipes in that it only has 8 bars per strain, like a single reel, as opposed to the usual 16 bars.Less is more.

Those C naturals are 6 of each & a half dozen of the other, I often forego them & play it with C#’s. This is the setting I got of it & thought it was nice.

I picked this setting up from a soundfile of Cincinnate (Ohio) flute player Tim Benson. (He called it Miss Thornton’s.) I really like the c nats and also the little fAeA downhill run in the second half. I also prefer to play this smoothed out as a slow-ish reel, rather than hornpipey.

T: Miss Galvin’s
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
gfe | d2 cA GEFE | D2 FA dAFA | d2 cA GEED | (3Bcd ef g2 fe |
| d2 cA GEFE | D2 FA dAFA| d2 cA GEED | (3Bcd ec d3 g |
| fgaf d3 g | fgaf g2 ag | fgaf d=cAB =cdef (3gag fe |
| fgaf d3 g | fgaf g2 ag | fAeA d=cAB | =cdef g2 fe |

And here’s a setting from my local session:
|:d2cA GEFE|D2FA DAFA|d2cA GE~E2|1 (3Bcd eg fdef:|2 (3Bcd ec d3e||
faaf ~d3e|faaf ~g3a|fgaf dcA2|(3Bcd ef g2ag|
faaf dcde|fzaf g2ag|fAeA dcA2|(3Bcd ef g2fe||

Well, what can I say. No, the second part doesn’t repeat; no, it isn’t a hornpipe; yes, there are specific dances that accompany this form; and yes, I’ve no doubt that these are being dumped under ‘hornpipes’. Since there’s no place for the form, the nearest thing would probably be ‘barndance’, though the deserve their own category.

Damn dog, get up will you and do some howling. Where did all these maggots come from and these damn bot flies?

Apologies: I hadn’t meant ‘SHOUTING’ in the use of capitals, my inexperience. Rereading this one it sounds pretty judgemental, but my mind set wasn’t there, again apologies if it was taken that way. I can see how this one would be. I now know and will curb this tendency to capitalize headers and the like, and will watch my tendency toward bluntness. The capitalized header was part of an experiment that didn’t work, trying with three examples of highlands to find some way to search out that tune form on site, that might help others who would like to see them under the ‘collective’ term. They make damned nice ‘single reels’ too, and better that they survive that way or in whatever form someone makes of them, than that they die out all together…

The alternative title of the tune should be *Mrs.* Galvin’s. According to Pat Mitchell, she was Thade Carthy’s sister and her maiden name was Nell McCarthy.

Key signature: D Major
Submitted on December 21st 2002 by quirl.
https://thesession.org/tunes/1234

This is the first of "Two Woodford Flings" Jack and Charlie Coen recorded on "The Branch Line."

Also recorded by Andrew MacNamara, who calls it "Mary Bergin’s".

X: 1134
T: Mrs. Galvin’s Highland Fling
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: highland fling
K: D Major
|: (3edc |
(3ddd c>A G>EF>E | D2 F>A D>A (3FGA |
d2 c>A G>E (3EEE |[1 (3Bcd e>g f>d :|[2 (3Bcd e>c d3 A ||
f>g (3agf dcdA | f>ga>f g>ba>g |
f>ga>f d2 d>A | (3Bcd e>f g2 (3gfe |
f>ga>f (3ddd d>A | f>ga>f g2 (3bag |
f>d (3edc d>BA>d | (3Bcd e>f g2 |]

Tim Benson version’s B part is fantastic! I’m so glad I’ve stumbled across it—Thanks so much for posting it!

X: 5
T: Mrs. Galvin’s Highland Fling
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: highland fling
K: D Major
(3gfe |:\
d2 c>A G>EF>E | D2 F>A D>AF>A |
d2 c>A G>E E2 |[1 (3Bcd e>g f>d (3edc :|[2 (3Bcd e>c d3 A ||
f>ga>f d2- d>A | f>ga>f g>ba>g |
f>ga>f d>BA>d | (3Bcd e>f g2 g>e |
f>ga>f d2- d>A | f>ga>f g>ba>g |
f>Ae>A d>BA>d | (3Bcd e>f g2 |]

Happy little carefree melody!
I like the cascading opening notes: d2 cA GEFE ! with that c# in an unusual ‘early’ position!

Mcsherry´s version
X: 1
T:Mary Bergin´s
M:4/4
L:1/8
S:John McSherry "Soma"
R:reel
Z:M.Novo
K:Amix
|:A2 eA (3Bcd ed | BG~G2 dGBG | EA ce a2 ed |1 c/d/e dB BAAG :|2 c/d/e dB BAce ||
a2 ea~a2 ba|g~e3 ~g3b|a~e3 aged|(3Bcd GA B~A3|
a~e3 agef|g~B3 ~g3a|~b3 a~g3f (3gfe| dged BGA2||

And golly here I am, learning about this tune online, when I could have just asked my husband sitting several feet away for his version.

Oh what a time to be alive 😛

d2 cA GEF <=> dcAG EF~F2 |
the second element here is also a 1st bar, it is the 1st bar of Teampall An Ghleanntáin https://thesession.org/tunes/1988 , albeit less cascading and more rolling.
What a lovely starting run for a tune, one could almost leave these tunes at that, beautifullly suspended!

Follows nicely with Garrat Na Bhfeileoig on a Bb whistle. That’s how Kevin Quinn (now of Boston, formerly NY) taught them to me.

Often associated with Mary Bergin as it appears in a pair of ‘Hornpipes’ on Feadoga Stain (on a Bb whistle)
https://youtu.be/MJlOspqiYPY

play video