The Ragged Hank Of Yarn reel

There are many similar-sounding reels, but this is yet another unique variant of “Eel in the Sink”: https://thesession.org/tunes/1446 Bobbey Casey plays it on “Paddy in the Smoke” CD, and East Galway fiddler Breda Keville recently recorded it as a tribute to the West Clare fiddler.

This transcription is basically a composite of the versions played by the two fiddlers, with some notes changed to suit my fancy. Hope nobody will complain. You can also play it a double reel.

Compare “The Old Man’s Blackthorn Stick,” another variant of “Eel in the Sink”: https://thesession.org/tunes/5774

How can you have “another unique” variant ? 🙂

“another mutant eel in the sink”…

“How can you have ”another unique“ variant ?”

How can a variant be anything but *unique*? If it were the same as another one, it wouldn’t be a *variant*.

So, you’re both wrong.

And I’m right.

According to Alan Ng’s irishtune.info site, this tune appears on McGoldrick’s recent solo album “Wired,” where it’s misnamed as Sporting Nell.

Key signature: D Mixolydian
Submitted on July 8th 2007 by spindizzy.
~ /tunes/7466

X: 2
T: The Ragged Hank Of Yarn
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: D Mixolydian
|: D2 AD (3EFG AB | c2 dB cAGE | D2 AD (3EFG AB | cAGE EDCE |
D2 AD (3EFG AB | c2 dB cAGE | D2 AD (3EFG AB | cAGE EDDA :|
|: d2 Ad dcAB | cded cAGc| d2 Ad dcAB | cAGE EDDA |
d2 Ad dcAB | cded cAGc | Adde ^fded | cAGE EDDA :|

“This is my husband’s current fiddle homework - DH’s teacher learnt it from Pete Carberry…” ~ Chris

# Posted on July 8th 2007 by spindizzy

Thanks for shifting this, C.
ps the F’s in the A part really ARE Fnats. not sharps, so I thought D Dor was a better stab at the key, though maybe not for the B part.

X: 1
T: The Ragged Hank Of Yarn
S: Michael McGoldrick - Wired
N: Mislabelled as “Sporting Nell”
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
D2AD (3EFG AB|cAdB cAGE|D2AD (3EFG AB|1 cAGE EDCE:|2 cAGE EDFA||
~d3e dc~A2|(3Bcd ed cA~G2|Adde dcAB|cAGE EDFA|
~d3e dc~A2|(3Bcd ed cA~G2|Adde =f^fed|cAGE EDCE||

The pipes have the last bar turnaround back into the A-part as |cAGE EDAF||

X: 4
T: The Ragged Hank Of Yarn
S: Michael McGoldrick - Wired
N: Mislabelled as “Sporting Nell”
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
|: D2 AD (3EFG AB | cddc cAGE | D2 AD (3EFG AB |[1 cAGE EDAF :|[ 2 cAGE EDFA ||
|: d2 de dc A2 | (3Bcd ed cA G2 |[1 Adde dcAB | cAGE EDFA :|[2 Adde f2 ed | cAGE EDAF |]

“variation”
|: D2 AD (3EFG AB | cAdB cAGE | D2 AD (3EFG AB |[1 cAGE EDAF :|[2 cAGE EDFA ||

# Posted on December 8th 2010 by Manu Novo
https://thesession.org/members/6432
https://thesession.org/tunes/1781/comments

Bar lines moved to the right as noted by Doc Dow:
“Your barlines are all wrong there in your McGoldrick setting, but not to worry, he misnamed it anyway.”
# Posted on May 30th 2012 by Dr. Dow

Learned this tune yesterday on fiddle. It may be a variant of whatever reel (I personally don’t see the “Eel in the Sink” similarity), but it’s a wicked, wild tune when you get it going. Great stuff.

Would love to find a name for this tune I heard at a session last week. It’s quite similar to “Girls Will You Take Him?” (https://thesession.org/tunes/9612) but different enough to seem to not just be a setting of that one. Anybody know a name for it?

Maybe a cousin of The Ragged Hank of Yarn?
https://thesession.org/tunes/7223

The A part sounds to me like a simplified version of Paddy Kelly’s reel “The New Customs House”.
But if the B part is related to The New Customs House, then it has been so simplified as to be nearly unrecognizable.

Yes, definitely (as Jeff Lindqvist wrote) a version of The Ragged Hank of Yarn.
This tune should be merged with https://thesession.org/tunes/7223