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Down The Hill jig

There are 19 recordings of this tune.

This tune has been recorded together with The Brosna (a few times).

Down The Hill appears in 2 other tune collections.

Down The Hill has been added to 22 tunebooks.

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Three settings

1
X: 1
T: Down The Hill
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Gdor
G/F/ | DGG G2A | B/A/G/A/B/G/ A/G/F/G/A/F/ | G/F/D/C/D/E/ F2G |
A{dc}BG FDC | DGG G2B | A/G/F/G/A/B/ cAc | d/e/fd cAd | ~G3 G2 :|
|: B/c/ | dgg g2a | b/a/g/a/b/g/ afd | cff f2g | a/g/f/g/a/f/ gfd |
dgg g2a | b/a/g/a/b/g/ a/g/f/g/a/f/ | gfd cAd | ~G3 G2 :|
|: =B/d/ | gd=B G>Bd/B/ | G>=Bd/B/ c_BA | fcA F>Ac/A/ | F/G/AB cBA |
B/A/G/A/B/G/ c/B/A/B/c/A/ | dg^f gab | gfd cAd | ~G3 G2 :|
# Added by gone .
2
X: 2
T: Down The Hill
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Gdor
|: G/F/ | DGG G2A | B/A/G/A/B/G/ A/G/F/G/A/F/ | G/F/D/C/D/E/ F2G | A{dc}BG FDC |
DGG G2A/B/ | A/G/F/G/A/B/ cAc | d/e/fd cAd| ~G3 G2 :|
|: B/c/ | dgg g2a | b/a/g/a/b/g/ afd | cff f2g| a/g/f/g/a/f/ gfd |
dgg g2a | b/a/g/a/b/g/ a/g/f/g/a/f/ | gfd cAd |1 ~G3 G2 :|2 ~G3 G=Bd ||
|: [M:9/8] gd=B GB/d/G/B/ d/G/=B/d/{A_B}c | [M:6/8]fcA F>Ac/A/ | F/E/F/G/A/B/ cBA |
B/A/G/A/B c/B/A/B/c/A/ | dgg g-g/a/b/a/ | gfd cAd |1 ~G3 G=Bd :|2 ~G3 G3 ||
# Added by sheaR .
3
X: 3
T: Down The Hill
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
B/A/G/ | EAA A2B | c/B/A/B/c/A/ B/A/G/A/B/G/ | ~A/G/E/D/E/F/ ~G2A |Bc"dc"A GED |
EAA A2c | B/A/G/A/B/c/ dBd | e/f/~ge dBe | "(~)"A3 ~A> :|
|: Bc/d/ | eaa a2b | c'/b/a/b/c'/a/ b"(dc)"g"(dc)"e | dgg g2a | b/a/g/a/~a/g/ ~age/d/ |
eaa a2b | c'/b/a/b/c'/a/ b/a/g/a/~a/g/ | a"(dc)"g"(dc)"e dBe | "(~)"A3 ~A> :|
|: B^c/e/ | ae^c A>ce/c/ | A>^ce/c/ d=cB | "(dc)"gdB G>Bd/B/ | G/A/Bc dcB |
c/B/A/B/~B/A/ dB/c/d/B/ | ea^g abc' | age dBe | "(~)"A3 ~A> :|
# Added by cac .

Twelve comments

Not a jig

This, of course, isn’t a jig. It’s a set dance. (I’m hoping ceolachan will have the steps …)

This is almost identical to the tune as notated in O’Neill’s 1001 Gems (no 995), except I have written it out in Gdor (inflected) rather than Gmin, as written in O’Neill’s.

I think I originally learnt the tune from O’Neill’s - simply because I saw it written out and was immediately entranced by it - have been ever since. But I heard it played once, a long time ago, by someone over in Clare, and they played E naturals rather than E flats, and that’s what stuck with me ever since. (I can’t be 100% sure who it was that played it like that, but I think it was John Kelly, and I notice there’s a recording listed here with James Kelly somewhere on the record, and it has this tune - don’t know whether he’s playing it or not …)

Posted by .

Another one I have a second part for …

I was reminded of this tune because of posting Morfa Rhuddlan, which I play on fiddle in 2-part harmony (very basic, mind you). And I also have 2 parts for this one, so, again, when I have the time, I will post the other part, assuming anyone’s interested …

Posted by .

Tempo

Oh, forgot to mention. This is taken at a nice easy pace, not too fast, just kind of rolling along …

Posted by .

Great tune. Yes, James Kelly and Paddy O’Brien (Co. Offaly) recorded it together.

Harp tune

Not a set dance but a harp tune.

I wish Ben, but alas no…

Down the Hill in the Petrie Collection

This is in Petrie’s without bowing marks, slurs, grace notes, or the B naturals in the 3rd part. A source is given, and an F# in a pair of pickup notes is noted as being sometimes played as Fnat, so there were multiple sources. No information is given as to what kind of tune it is - it could be a dance tune, much of the dance music in Petrie is shown in rather distorted form.

O’Neill’s setting lends credence to the notion that this is a piece or harp tune, though; his setting differs here and there in placement of notes, it has that lovely modulation in the 3rd part, and includes graces and slurs. My money would be on this as a piping piece, as the old Irish harps couldn’t sharpen a note in the middle of a tune; a piper could play this in A minor and sharpen/flatten C with ease. It certainly comes out sounding like other pieces, such as the Humours of Glynn or Nora Criona.

Lovely tune

And I tend to think of it as a kind of slow march - I don’t know if that makes sense; it does to me.

Anne Conroy-Burke plays this one beautifully and flawlessly.

David

Re: Down The Hill

I tend to think of it as very free and lyrical, not at all like a normal jig or march. Almost like a baroque Sarabande or Minuet.

Down The Hill, X:3

This is the version played by Paul Smyth in his album _Paul Smyth_. He calls it a set dance and plays it at approximately (in abc-notation) Q:1/8=140. The version is substantially the same as that posted by gone except that it is transposed up a step to A dorian. Chet

Posted by .

Re: Down The Hill

I’ve revised my transcription after a little more careful listening. Paul Smyth avoids the cloying effect of the sequences by making a few subtle changes in a number of places (e.g. measures 4 and 6 of the 2nd part and measure 5 of the 3rd part). All of the ornaments indicated by ‘~’ are cuts, including those at the ends of each part. The notation ‘dc’ indicates a ‘delayed cut’ (a term introduced by June McCormack), i.e. a note is played and then the cut is made, unlike the normal cut which is right at the beginning of a note and on the beat. Round brackets, e.g. (~) and (dc), indicate ornaments played sometimes and not other times.

Posted by .