The Silver Vale jig

I don’t know too much about this tune - I learned it very early on in my playing from the "Sully Banjo Tudor". This was the first tune I ever started at a session. I knew it must have been obscure as I never heard anyone play it, (that’s not why I picked it, I picked it because it was the only tune I could pull off at the time) but everyone jumped in & it made me feel like a million bucks. If anyone knows anything about this tune it would be appreciated. I know that the Banjo Tutor I had was off on the names alot so this could be misnamed.

PS this is a great beginer Banjo/Mandolin/Bouzouki/fiddle etc tune.

God Bless,
Brad

oops, tutor not tudor - right?

I just entered a "contour" on JC’s tunefinder & the tune came up as "Charlie Mullvihill’s" & "Burke’s" The notes from Alan Ng’s (Cool name, huh?) said…
Notes: Cf. Bulmer & Sharpley, "Burke’s". transcribed by Alan Ng
Brendan found the manuscript in a certain Charlie Mulvihill’s attic (as part of Charlie’s estate, not related as I recall).

I don’t know who Charlie Mulvihill was, but I’m assuming he’s related to the famous Mullvihill’s of Philladelphia (Brendan, his father Martin etc) & I don’t know if the Burke reference refers to Kevin (fiddle) or Joe (acc.)

I also looked up Nigel Gatherer’s Listing of Bulmer & Sharpley’s tunes & he has

"Burke’s B2,42 From Joe Burke. ABC notation: 1, 2, 3.
PdG: Aka Connie O’Connell’s from Matt Cranitch’s ‘Irish Fiddle Book’.
PdG: While going through the photocopied copy of the Martin Mulvihill collection which a kind friend sent me, I noticed a hand-written comment next to Burke’s Jig (jig no. 79): "a Donegal tune from Lad O’Beirne’s crowd". I’m not sure if this comment appears in the original. The tune is otherwise associated with Joe Burke.
Paul McEvoy: My teacher, Pete Kelly, claims to have composed what is known around here as Burke’s Jig. I believe he calls it The Shannonairs Jig, after a childrens group that organized in NYC in the 60’s and took on tour.
Lesl Harker: Aka Matt Molloy’s Jig, Coughlan’s, Charlie Mulvihill’s. Recordings: Molloy/Keane/McGlynn, Contentment Is Wealth"

I’m very familier with the Molloy/Keane/McGlynn album I know it’s not on there. So all this info could be hogwash.

As I said before - If you know anything about this tune let me know

Brad

Brad, I don’t play this tune (yet), but I have seen it by the same names you give here, including the Silver Vale. I don’t know why, but it has a distinctive quality peculiar to Mulvihill tunes—similar to jigs attributed to Martin.

My copy of "The Companion to Irish Traditional Music" by Fintan Vallely says that Charlie was an accordion player born in New York in 1917 (d. 1975). His mother was from Shanagolden, Co. Limerick, whereas Martin was born in Ballygouhglin, Co. Limerick, so there may be some relation. (Or maybe not: Mike Rafferty says there were 7 families of Rafferty’s in the small town of Larraga, Ballinakill, many of them not related to each other.)

Nice jig, anyway.

This was the first tune I ever learned - I know it as Charlie Mulvihill’s - and I was lucky enough to learn it from Brendan Mulvihill himself - he plays f-natural at the end of the 2nd measure in the B section and it’s a bit different than the version here. If I can figure how to post the ABC of it I will.

To answer the question above about the Mulvihill’s - Brendan said Charlie was an uncle.

One of the first jigs I ever learned. I Learned it David P - an american Bouzuoki and Fiddle player. It has a great melody line despite it’s simplicity.

In other versions that I have seen the third bar on the B part makes use of a c natural instead of the the c sharp

Another great jig which fits nicely between the Kerry (https://thesession.org/tunes/588) and the Bush on the Hill jigs (https://thesession.org/tunes/1305), although we normally play the last one in "G" and not "A" as posted on the site

Popularized by Andy McGann, Joe Burke and others who learned it in New York from James "Lad" O’Beirne, who seems to have acquired this jig from Ed Reavy, who in turn picked it up from Donegal fiddlers in Philadelphia.

It was recorded as "Neil Doherty’s Jig" from Donegal fiddler John Gallager on Sean O’Riada’s "Our Musical Heritage," a 1960s RTE multi-LP collection of unaccompanied singers, fiddlers, pipers, etc.

The comment above, that info on my site is hogwash,
is probably correct - only in that the tune on
"Contentment Is Welath" LP is not the one in question. I’ll amend that info soon.

Nigel Gatherer

Just came across this message somewhat belatedly. I learned this only as Matt Molloy’s jig, and no its not on the Contentment cd, but I like Nigel’s site just fine. Anyway, later on I found it is named the Shannonaire’s jig. "Fiddler Pete Kelly, County Galway, has laid claim to composing the tune, which he called "The Shannonaires Jig," named for the Shannonaires Ceili Band, a children’s group organized in NYC in the 1960’s for a tour. Kelly lately plays with the Premier Ceili Band, with button accordion player Martin Mulhaire." Now if only I’d noted where I found that information. Fiddler’s companion maybe.
Lesl

There’s really a great version of this tune on the Flute Geezer’s CD that’s floating around the internet (http://www.lafferty.ca/music/irish/flute-geezers/ - check it out. good stuff). I’ve heard it called Jack Coen’s, although I feel that that is a mistake, as there’s a very distinctly different Jack Coen’s tune floating around too.

Here’s the version I play - I think it’s a nice one:

X: 1
T: The Shannonaires’
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Dmaj
|:A|~d3 AGF|dAA AGF|~E3 GFE|A,CE GFE|
DFA GAB|Ace d2e|fed cBA|Gfe d2:|
|:e|fdf ~a3|f/g/af def|eBe ~g3|e/f/ge Ace|
fdf gBg|aAa bag|fed cBA|Gfe d2:|

I heard that this jig was just played by Joe Burke but was likely composed by Lad O’Beirne and that it was very popular in New York in the 60s. Does anyone know for sure?

Brian Conway taught me this jig a year or so ago, and he called it Joe Burkes. Unfortunately, I didn’t ask him if he knew anything about its source.

i LOVE this tune…
ever since i played piano accomp. for it @ the
Mid-Atlantic Fleagh…
got me first!!
i didnt go to ireland though.. :(

My understanding is that this tune was composed by fiddle player Pete Kelly (Pete Kelly Ceili Band in the NYC area). I confirmed this with him recently — he said he composed it as an exercise for his fiddle students many years ago.

I spoke to Pete Kelly a few months ago. He confirmed that he composed it "many years ago" for use as an exercise for his fiddle students.

I believe Joe Derrane playes this tune on his album ‘The Tie That Binds’ (track 8). He calls it The Short Road.

X: 3
T: The Shannonaires’
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Dmaj
|: A |\
dFF AGF | dFF AGF | A,CE GFE | A,CE GFE |
DFA GBd | Adc d2 e | fed cBA | GFE D2 :|
|: g |\
f^ef a^ga | fdc def | e^de gfg | e2 d cde |
fef gfg | a^ga ba=g | fed cBA | GFE D2 :|

This is an old Donegal jig. It was recorded without a title by an Donegal fiddler (Vincent Campbell , I think) on the early 1960s LP box set "Our Musical Heritage" produced by Sean O Riada, who also presented a 14-part radio program of that title for Radio Eireann. Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh has a great setting of it with an F natural in the turn, which she acquired from a Donegal source.

The older fiddlers in New York, including Pete Kelly, all played this tune, and passed it on to Joe Burke, for whom it is often named. Paddy Reynolds told me that got it from Ed Reavy, and he thought Ed had composed it. Paddy was mistaken on that, and Reavy probably picked it up from Donegal musicians in Philadelphia. Pete Kelly may have created his own setting, but I am quite confident that he did not compose this tune, which long predates the existence of the "Shannonaires."

Pete Kelly never wrote an "original" tune in his life…ALL of his "original" tunes are but memories of older tunes, written by much more accomplished musicians….see the notes above by "blarneystar"

I went back to the O’Riada-edited box set "Our Musical Heritage." On that recording it was titled "Neil Doherty’s Jig" and played by Donegal fiddler John Gallagher. Neil Doherty was an immigrant fiddler in Philadelphia, originally from Glenties, Co. Donegal. There is a nice photo of him with Ed Reavy, Lad O’Beirne and Andy McGann on the back of Brian Conway and Tony DeMarco’s "The Apple in Winter" LP/CD. Reavy and his friends got this tune from Doherty and passed it on to the wider Irish musical world, including Pete Kelly and Joe Burke.

http://youtu.be/_b5ZjwzVWis

play video