The Cliffs Of Dooneen waltz

I couldn’t let that 6/8 thing slide as the only take on this lovely melody… Anyway, I hope this survives… The tune deserves at lease a reasonable consideration. I hope this take in 3/4s goes a little way in that direction… :-/

"Whistle andSing! Book One"
Compiled by Eamonn Jordan
Ossian, 1998 (1974)
ISBN: 1-900428-00-8

Pages 43 - 44: "Cliffs of Doneen / Dooneen" & lyrics

A great Clare song - I think it was made famous back in the early seventies by Christy Moore.

"The Cliffs of Dooneen"
Christy Moore, Planxty, 2004
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc5911S3JAw

play video

& again with a bit of echo and from a different angle ~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29qAUcjQ7_c

play video

Christy Moore’s lyrics

You may travel far, far from your own native home,
Far away o’er the mountains, far away o’er the foam,
But of all the fine places that I’ve ever seen,
And there’s none to compare with the cliffs of Dooneen.

Take a view o’er the mountains, fine sights you’ll see there
You’ll see the high rocky mountains on the west coast of Clare
And the towns of Kilkee and Kilrush can be seen,
From the high rocky slopes of the Cliffs of Dooneen.

It’s a nice place to be on a fine summer’s day,
Watching all the wild flowers that ne’er do decay,
And the hare and lofty pheasant are plain to be seen,
Making homes for their young round the Cliffs of Dooneen.

Fare thee well to Dooneen, fare thee well for a while,
And to all the fine people I’m leaving behind,
To the streams and the meadows where late I have been,
And the high rocky slopes of the Cliffs of Dooneen.

You may travel far, far from your own native home,
Far away o’er the mountains, far away o’er the foam,
But of all the fine places that l’ve ever seen,
There’s none to compare with the Cliffs of Dooneen.

We are obviously on a similar plane Bannerman… You missed the 6/8 take on it… I’m sorry it’s gone, it made an interesting contrast, though extreme… ;-)

What a fantastic place this Yellow Board really is! Earlier on tonight I had a vague recollection of Christy Moore singing the Cliffs of Dooneen some thirty or more years ago and now, thanks to ceolachan, we can see him performing the song and also have the words written out for us - what a marvellous thing this new technology is when used properly!

Dots & ABCs, 3/4 & G Major
http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiCLFFDNEN;ttCLFFDNEN.html

X: 1
T: The Cliffs of Dooneen / Doneen
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
K: G Major
|: GG |
A3 B d2 | B4 AG | E2 C2 E2 | D6- |
D4 dd | d4 ed | B2 D2 GG | A2 G2 A2 |
B4 Bc | d2 d2 d2 | B2 D2 G2 | A3 G A2 |
B4 BA | G3 A Bd | B2 A2 G2 | D2 C2 E2 | D4 :|

Source: gaitazampogna_32 ~ ? :-/
https://thesession.org/members/34084

Here’s what I still had of gaitazampogna_32’s 6/8 transcription, first with the ornaments and the use of > & < instead of as he’d originally had it (3/4 & /2), #2 is minus the ornaments, and finally #3 as 3/4 for the sake of comparison, without changing any of his notes ~

X: 1
T: The Cliffs Of Doneen
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: air
K: D Major
|: {gef}e{A}e/f/a {e}f>ed | {g}B<{e}G{d}B {G}A>{g}fg |
{g}a>ga f<{g}Ad | {gef}e{A}e/d/e {g}f>{g}fg |
{ag}a>ga f<{g}Ad | {gef}e{A}e/d/e {g}fg/{a}f/e |
{g}de/{g}f/a {e}f>ed | {g}B<{e}G{d}B {G}A3 :|

X: 2
T: The Cliffs Of Doneen
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: air
K: D Major
|: ee/f/a f>ed | B<GB A>fg |
a>ga f<Ad | ee/d/e f>fg |
a>ga f<Ad | ee/d/e fg/f/e |
de/f/a f>e/d | B<GB A3 :|

X: 3
T: The Cliffs Of Doneen
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
R: air
K: D Major
|: e2 ef a2 | f3 e d2 | B G3 B2 | A3 f g2 |
a3 g a2 | f3 A d2 | e2 ed e2 | f3 f g2 |
a3 g a2 | f3 A d2 | e2 ed e2 | f2 gf e2 |
d2 ef a2 | f3 e d2 | B G3 B2 | A6 :|

You may travel far, far, from your own native home,
Far away o’er the mountains, far away o’er the foam,
But of all the fine places that I’ve ever been,
Oh, there’s none can compare with the Cliffs of Dooneen.

It’s a nice place to be on a fine summer’s day,
Watching all the wild flowers that ne’er do decay,
Oh, the hare and the pheasant are plain to be seen,
Making homes for their young round the Cliffs of Dooneen.

Take a view o’er the mountains, fine sights you’ll see there;
You’ll see high, rocky mountains on the west coast of Clare,
Oh, the towns of Kilkee and Kilrush can be seen,
From the high, rocky slopes ‘round the Cliffs of Dooneen.

So fare thee well to Dooneen, fare thee well for a while,
And although we are parted by the raging sea wild,
Once again I will wander with my fine Irish lad,
Round the high rocky slopes of the Cliff of Dooneen.

You may travel far, far, from your own native home,
Far away o’er the mountains, far away o’er the foam,
But of all the fine places that I’ve ever been,
Oh, there’s none can compare with the Cliffs of Dooneen.

I was surprised that this was not on the session. Thank goodness you’ve brought a bit of sanity into the proceedings ‘c’. great Youtube link as well. Thanks.

Hello all

Just wondering how you more advanced players would tackle the Cliffs of Dooneen on whistle. It is in the key of G but has a low C and a high E which makes it a bit difficult on a D whistle. Would you change some of the notes, attempt to play in three octaves, or would you go for a G whistle?

I don’t have a G whistle but if that’s the best option I can pick one up easily enough.

https://thesession.org/tunes/7157

Thanks,
Tim

X : 4
T: The Cliffs Of Dooneen / Doneen
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
R: song air
K: Amix
|: E FA |\
B3 c e2 | c2 B3 A | F2 E2 D2 | E4 cd |
e3 f e2 | c2 E2 FA | B3 A B2 | c4 cd |
e2 f3 e | c2 E2 A2 | B2 c>B AB | c4 (3dcB |
A2 AB ce | c2 (BcB A2 | FE- E3 E | E3 :|

https://thesession.org/tunes/7157/comments

Sorry, I got distracted and forgot to add that take on it… Thanks for the reminder. Now you can play it with D-fingering on whatever key whistle or flute you choose…

So just to be clear, your suggestion would be to change the key from G to D?

Sorry, I got distracted and forgot to add this take on it back in May… Fortunately ‘drinkybanjo / Tim’ reminded me with a request in ‘Discussions’. Now you can play it with D-fingering on whatever key whistle or flute you choose…

Discussion: Cliffs of Dooneen on Whistle
# Posted on March 24th 2008 by drinkybanjo (Tim)
~ /discussions/17148

The original transcription given here was based on another source and my own knowledge of the melody. I personally prefer it even lower…

Another option for whistles and flutes that do not dip below D ~

X: 1
T: Cliffs Of Dooneen, The
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
R: waltz
K: Dmix
|: (3DEG |\
A3 B d2 | B4 AG | E2 D2 D2 | D4 Bc |
d3 e d2 | B2 D2 EG | A3 G A2 | B4 Bc |
d2 e2 d2 | B2 D3 G | A3 B/A/ G>A | B4 BA |
G3 A Bd | B2 A3 G | E3 D D2 | D3 :|

Mistake on key signature just before the last, which should read K: Emix…

The ‘relative key’ is A Major… Just realized I screwed up on more than one point, so here it is again…

X : 4
T: The Cliffs Of Dooneen / Doneen
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
R: song air
K: Emix
|: E FA |\
B3 c e2 | c2 B3 A | F2 E2 D2 | E4 cd |
e3 f e2 | c2 E2 FA | B3 A B2 | c4 cd |
e2 f3 e | c2 E2 A2 | B2 c>B AB | c4 (3dcB |
A2 AB ce | c2 (3BcB A2 | FE- E3 E | E3 :|

X : 5
T: The Cliffs Of Dooneen / Doneen
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
R: song air
K: Amix
|: (3A,B,D |\
E2 F3 A | F3 E D2 | B,2 A,2 ^G,2 | A,4 FG |
A2 B2 A2 | F4 A,D | E2 D3 E | F4 FG |
A2 B3 A | FA- A2 D2 | E2 FE DE | F3 F FE |
D3 E FA | (3FGF (3EFE D2 | B,2 A,2 A,2 | A,4 :|

The best way to learn to play any song air is to learn the song, to listen to and learn from a good singer’s take on it…

You’ve two choices, check out the notes. You don’t have to drop to C, or you could raise it a step. Either way allows you to use D-whistle fingering on whatever key of whistle takes your fancy. So you have choice, a lot of choice, this being an ‘air’…

Actually, you could also, within the confines of six holes, whistle or flute in D, take the low transcription, K: Amix, and play it an octave up… The highest note being g…

Correction ~ bar 10 ~ | FA,- A,2 D2 | ~

Actually, you could also, within the confines of six holes, whistle or flute in D, take the low transcription, K: Amix, and play it an octave up… The highest note being b…

X : 6
T: The Cliffs Of Dooneen / Doneen
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
R: song air
K: Amix
|: A Bd |\
e2 f3 a | f3 e d2 | B2 A2 ^G2 | A4 fg |
a2 b2 a2 | f4 Ad | e2 d3 e | f4 fg |
a2 b3 a | fA- A2 d2 | e2 fe de | f3 f fe |
d3 e fa | (3fgf (3efe d2 | B2 A3 A | A3 :|

The highest note being b…
(I have a lot of lost sleep to make up… :-/ )

Hopefully that gives you more than enough options and possibilities…

I reckon it’s fine on whistle if you just substitute an E for that low C. Only make it a quaver, so it doesn’t stand out too much. Problem solved.

Hate to be picky, but I’m not diggin’ the sharpened fith bar 3. Just doesn’t sound right. Now I change my G2 to a GB as you’ll see in my version, but I took the B out, and the natural sounds more on to me ear. Just a friendly suggestion. If it was an experiment, another version you might of heard or even a mistake then I apologise! But alas, here’s what I have, taken from Christy Moore’s "Prosperous" album with Liam O’Flynn on pipes. Lovely song, by the way. Great album to boot as well.

Cheers,

X:1
T:Cliffs of Dooneen
R:Waltz
L:1/8
M:3/4
K:A Mix
Z:EW
Bd | e4 fa | f4 ed | B2 A2 GB | A4 fg |
a4 ba | f2 A3 d | e4 de | f4 fg |
| a4 ba | f2 A3 d | e4 de | f4 fe |
d3 efa | f4 ed | B2 A2 GB | A4 |

The original transcription, and most of those following it, do not have the raised fifth in the 3rd bar, that’s an alternative you can choose to take or not. No apologies needed and damned nice transcription you’ve added here tin_whistler, thanks…